From everything I've learned, I learned that when dreads are mature they are normally thicker than they were when they were first started. I'm wondering though, how much thicker do they get exactly? Like just a little or a lot? I wanted and needed dreads on the small side, but not tiny, due to my family on both mine and my husband's side and the area I live in. Smaller dreads are somewhat of a compromise, as it steers away from what the conservative folk consider negative about dreads (usually the fatter dreads are what they have an aversion to - those look "grosser" or something, not sure). Either way I want to avoid as much wrath as possible from these folks if I can, and I'm not particularly picky about just how thin my dreads are. I asked for 3/4th inch square sections and ended up with at least 1 inch to 2 inch sections many of which are rectangles (kinda makes getting my fingers in there to work with them a little tricky). I had also expected about 100 dreads and ended up with 60, and my hair is super thick, so that's how I knew something wasn't quite right. Fortunately the backcombing was loosely done enough that I THINK if I wanted, I could split some of the larger ones down the middle by untwisting and ripping them in half and then reform them. I just want a general idea of how much thicker to expect them to get when they are mature so that I have a better idea of which ones to split or whether or not to split at all. I want to do what I can now to prevent any too-fat ones from forming that will bring aforementioned wrath upon my dready head. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Hmm, it really is different from person to person. I have 50 to 60 locks, mine were like ponytails the first months, so they were thin. I have fairly thick hair, I'll show you what mine did: This was 1,5 months And this was at 30 months
good to know I'll have about 50-60. I was really wondering the same thing Lilyrayne was asking. Even though each hair is different and will look different, if mines end up looking as nice and as fat as yours, i'll be happy. But to answer your question Lilyrayne, I'm certainly positive you can rip fat ones apart into something thinner and to your liking.
if you have long hair, and you backcombed, generally they will shrink up and expand in girth. but if youve got short hair they probably wont shrink so much, and they will already be pretty mature by the time youve got long hair. so they wont get fatter that way probably. as for natural, your hair grows as it knots, so no shrinking/fattening invovled. but you dont have much control either.
Thanks for the responses, everyone! WorldPeace, it seems we have the same number of dreads, but mine were started off a little differently. I was going for dreads that when they are 100% mature would be just a bit thinner than yours, but right now at only a little over a week old they are almost as thick as yours, sorta. Well some are. However a lot of that is mostly fluffy looseness, so they still have some tightening and locking up to do and then I expect they will grow in girth again so I am kinda hoping that when all is said and done, they won't be much thicker than they are now (just denser). (P.S. Before anyone freaks out, I know it looks like I have wax in them, but I don't. There is NO WAX in my dreads. It's some other kind of extremely water soluble goop that comes completely out with a good rinse - I tested it.)
You've all got me worrying again now. I asked a similar question about girth increase a week or so ago basicly because I've only got 15 dreads (if i counted them right) and everyone else seems to have loads. Now I know that everyone else does has far more than me. I hope they grow to be big and fat.
Lily your dreads look great and i dont think you will have much to worry about. Was your hair curly prior to dreads? The dreads look so cool, like they are just twisted all the way down. Did you backcomb?
Thanks for the compliments! Yes actually my hair was/is naturally curly. The curls weren't even regular curls they were really wonky, which is part of why I dreaded, they made my hair impossible to deal with. The curls were sort of a combination of spiraly curls and waves. When I palmroll I purposely give my dreads one last good twist in the same direction to finish them off, so that they look a little better and I like the twist look, lol. But the natural spiraliness in my hair really helps the "twists" to stay put for the most part, that and the goop. It will be interesting to see how they end up a year from now.
I'm not 100% sure of all the ingredients, but the lady that did my dreads for me made it herself. She learned from a guy in jamaica. This particular goop she made, is supposed to be good for helping white people's hair get off to a good start yet wash completely and totally out before they are even locked up tight enough to hold it in. I can't remember all the ingredients but it was all natural stuff. When she started my dreads, I let her put it on one dread and let it dry, then tested washing it out, before I let her put it on anymore. It came out really easily with just a light rinse under the faucet (I was impressed, no product I'd ever put on my hair before dreads even did that.) And it left no residue, in fact I think it cleaned my hair more than it was before cuz it was really squeaky. I haven't put any on since that day which was 10 days ago, though. The idea is for it to gradually wear off my hair while it gradually locks up - half the goop that was on my head is already gone and I haven't even touched it with water yet. And it's keeping them clean and smelling good despite no washing. Again, I'm impressed. I have a feeling I couldn't beat it out of her what the recipe is tho, lol. I would kind of like to have a jar of it on hand for sharpening up the appearance of my dreads on those days when I gotta try to look less like a "dirty damned druggie hippie" lol. I don't trust actual gels and chemicals and whatnot, I refuse to touch those.
