braids into dreadlocks?

I currently have a head full of pretty thin braids and I want to turn them into dreads.

I'm trying to decide if I want to go about either:

a) Leave the braids alone, let them turn into dreads over time. I like the way they're boxed and wouldn't mind thin braids. However, I'm not sure if I'll dig the style because I never saw them before so if anyone has any visuals on that you rock. Any comments on this would also rock though.

b) Take the braids out and just give it time naturally as suggested.


I'm already against the whole beeswax thing and I'm undecided on the backcombing. My hair with the braids is only about five inches long and is pretty thick just to give you an idea with what I'm working with.

thanks

 

braids don't really dread..
don't use wax...ever.

 

I don't know from personal experience but I did read an account of a guy who's had several "sets" of dreads and he said the best time by far was when he got his whole head braided and then left it. I don't know how much truth there is in that but that was one guy's opinion.
I say try it, what's the worst that could happen?x

 

i've heard that braids work really well with nappy afro hair, but not so much with straighter "caucasian type" hair. however, i think the braids will make it difficult for the dreads to be fully dreaded... i would think it would be a braid on the inside with a matt of dreadiness on the outside, which wouldn't be a full, fat dread. and if you ever wanted to rip them into smaller pieces, you'd never be able to.

i don't know what type of hair you have, but my advice is to get the braids out and then let them dread on their own. but ultimately, it's all your choice! good luck whatever you choose.

 

I have one braid... somewhere... cant seem to locate i at the moment for a picture...
But ya.... the tips of my hair at the end of the braid were back combed to hold the braid.
The new hair growth at my root is knotting and locking....
but the braid... is still... just a braid.

 

u could try braiding em while wet..then not puttin anything in the ends to hold emn together and shake em out let em fall apart the wet braid should give em a lil bit of a waviness and help em stay in the sectiuons
while not holdin the actual braid the ziggyzaggynessfrom the braid may help them to grab onto surrounding hgairs and start to knot...maybe...seems worth experimenting with anyway

 

that was one of the ways i had heard of starting locks, using super tight rather small braids. let them set in a while then take them apart.

 

I found this picture. It looks like she had braids which dreaded.

 

if you braid your hair and leave it to grow out then the hair at roots will dread together.several of my friends with afro hair have used this method

 

no offense to the woman in that picture, but all that hair looks fake as hell. don't look like dreads at all. not to mention it is somewhat hideous. different strokes for different folks i guess.

 

That is how my dreadlocks came about. I got my hair braided and left it in for about 2 months. the roots all knotted really well.
I gradually let 2 or 3 out at one time and backcombed them over about 3 months.
I didnt need to backcomb most of them though as I had alot of natural forming ones

here are a few pics of my timeline. from braids to dreads the last pic is about 2 months old....which reminds me I need to take some more recent pics

 

here are the 2 most recent at 7 and 9 months on

 

wow, arlia! i hadn't realized that was how you were going about doing your dreads... what a phenomenal idea. i just thought you looked wicked cool with some braids and some dreads! they're looking bangin' mamma... and i don't know if i've ever seen your eye color before, but damn... you're bloody frikkin gorgeous.

 

I still have one braid at the back of my hair with a bead on it so I can see how long my hair used to be.

and thank you
you are rather beautiful yourself

 

awww, thanks. your hair is nice and long all over, it looks like. which is awesome. i can't wait until mine is down my back like yours. anyways... yeah... your dreads rock! i hadn't seen any progress pics from you, and it's cool to see a different method of going about it. did you just decide to do it that way on your own, or did someone recommend it?

 

I had my hair braided when I was in Ghana. The main reason being it was hot, and also water is quite limited and I had long hair and didnt want to use up all the water that the rest of the family could have used to wash. So the braids helped make washing easier.

When I got back here in the UK I just left them in. I had wanted to get dreads anyway and it seemed to be naturally moving that way.

I havnt yet met anyone who has done them the way I have but I would recommend it. It may take a little longer and you get alot of loopies, but they do come out well in my experience.

Im sure your hair will grow soon enough.
Its amazing how much length I lost actually

 

well, i think your dread journey is pretty awesome! i never would have thought of going that way, but i think it's a neat way to be in transition. instead of all the "dreads" being all poofy and crazy looking (like mine looked when i first backcombed, lol!) you can go a bit at a time. and i like the loopies, personally. if i ever get to the point where i start over again, i'll probably try what you did. it's a great idea!

my hair is actually starting to grow pretty rapidly i've noticed. so yay! i lost SO much length. it's just NOW almost back to the length it was before i dreaded... a YEAR ago! it seems like some people lose a lot more length than others. wonder why that is? probably has something to do with hair type, or something.

 

whats funny about mine is that it has grown alot curlier since I got dreads.
even my newer heair has some curls!
very odd.
my hair was down to my hips before I dreaded.....I still have a little way to go before I get to that point again

 

yeah, it does take a while to make up for the shrinkage. sometimes i wish i had waited until my hair was to the middle of my back before starting. but then i wouldn't be starting for another couple months probably.

 

i lost 15 +/- inches in 3 months but i notice that the hairs twist upwards all wierd like they zigzag like crazy and also the hair is being pulled up into the dreads, my dreads are all really fat because of this but i like that so it's not all bad. but i doooooo miss my long hair :toetap05: