growing together & my unwillingness to work on dreads; a true underdog story

I have this issue....i don't think dreads should be "work". I let my friend roll them when he wants but aside from that, i don't put much effort into them because a- it hurts my arms and my back to roll them for an hour and a half....
and b- because i just dont think dreads should be WORK! Isn't that the point? To just let them do their own thing?

Well...i've run into a dilema....when i don't touch them, after only a day or 2 they totally start to grow together. I mean like 3 or 4 will start to hold on to each other and they are a HUGE bitch to rip apart. Is this something i'm going to have to deal with for as long as i have dreads???? Should i just start working on them all the time? I'm not really into conga's...especially not this early in my dreading phase....i mean, i havent even had them for 2 months! I thought this was something that started to happen after a few years of having dreads...

 

well, i dont do anything except run my fingers through them (not actually through the dread itself but in between two which will seperate them) every morning or when im bored, just get most parts of your head, run your fingers through like its normal hair, and it works really well for me, i also dont consider it work at all, just as natural now as itching or yawning

 

booo, i have the same problem. And the same philosophy...it pissed me off because, while it takes me much less time to get ready in the morning, it takes a lot more maintenance now than it used to.

I just shake my head out now and then, and let it down as much as possible...also I try and go through it once a day, feeling up one dread at a time and placing it aside, going over my whole head like that. If two are starting to connect I pull them apart.

Only problem with not letting them all grow together is..I have a lot of little loose strands of hair now. especially in the back.

 

I have the loose strand problem as well...

I go thru my head once a day and just seperate all the ones that have joined. This takes me no more than 10 mins. I really don't roll them much anymore, mainly because they don't need it. I tried crotcheting the loose hairs into another dread, but that didn't work (I don't think I know how to do it right...). I find it's easier to do fine tuning after I wash them. During the week days I wear them in a pony most of the day, so I know that's why they get all jumbled together but I'm ok with it. I'm going to put some new pics up later on today.

Lucy, you should post some new pics too.

 

Yep, my hair's usually in a pony when I'm not at home. I think that's the problem...

 

I posted these pictures in the dread thread in member photos.... a couple of days ago......but these are ummm i believe 1 month 24 days...6 days ago
haven't got any recent ones that are better...but soon!

 

your dreads look amazing

 

beautiful

 

They really do look nice.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the wrap!

I'll post some pics tonight!

 

once they mature they will not grow together so much... i used to have the same problem and i let 3 grow together into one bigun, now after 2 years i only have to seperate a few strands here and there ever month

 

see...the back of your head (and the rest of it) looks amazing. Mine looks a mess!

I'm kind of reluctant to post it...but...whateva.

This is what I get...I have done absolutely nothing to my hair besides separating since I backcombed it...and I didn't actually backcomb the back of my head more than an inch on each dread to separate them.




This pic is from the 16th, so it's a couple of weeks old, but...I doubt they've changed too much. Although I haven't looked at the back of my head since. And the wraps are out and the rubberband stayed in for a whole hour. I was just using it to help separate the roots.

oo, and I made that bead.

 

Listen having congos is fun! Let them do there thing like you said =] Dreads will attach together its what they do so in all honesty just let a congo go and use it as a pillow =] I think everyone should have atleast 1 congo they are fun to watch take a pic of a specific area everyday and watch em grow together that'd would make a awesome day by day video like the noel guy on youtube! LOL

I found out after having backcombed dreads for 7 months having natural ones that do what the hell they want are funner but backcombed ones that do what they want are more fun also so yea do what they want.

 

i got congos
my congos are my pride and joy,

 

yours look like mine, knotdirty except i think mine are quite a bit messier. i also havnt touched them since i backcombed about a month ago. how old are yours?
lucyinthesky, your dreads look great. im also of the opinion that dreads should not be work, i hate trying to reach around to all of them and it takes so long. the whole point of dreads, in my opinion is to not have to spend time on your hair.

 

mine are 2 months and 5 days old.

And Yaaay! Glad somebody else's looks like mine. Lucy's look too good, makes me feel like mine should look better.

The problem with congos, boys, is that we're...um....girls. Yeah. I still like looking feminine.

 

That is true... but I mean like atleast have 2 dreads congoing.... LOL

 

haha, I have a couple of congos. baby congos...like two of the dreads up there fused together, that size.

I'm fine with it...just not something I'm striving for.

 

I don't think you understand HOW MUCH they ALL eat each other. if i don't seperate and let the congo go down....i will literally be left with 4 gigantic congos and NOTHING else. I personally just don't find them appealing...like the above poster said, i'm a girl! i still want my hair to feel pretty to me.

 

maybe the tam or wool is doing it? ive heard lots of people reccomend to wear one as much as possible, maybe try a break, and see if they dont stick togther

 

oo, I was watching What Not To Wear the other day (TLC is my guilty pleasure) and this "natural" chick was on there. She had like 4 big congos and a lot of loose curly hair...it looked bad. She looked so much prettier with her hair cut off.

So..dreads are beautiful. But they DO take maintenance. Otherwise you look like a homeless person, imo.

I don't think the tam would do it...I haven't been wearing a tam (made one yesterday!!!!) and it sticks together really badly. Like I can spend half an hour to an hour one day ripping my dreads apart and a few days later they're connected again. It's just because they're young and developing, I guess.