Okay so I have basically gotten all of the wax out of my hair. But there is still a lot of twisty braidy shit going on. I have about 12 dreads that are TOTALLY unbraided, and I am working on the rest. They take anywhere from 45min - 2 hours for one and there are 57 of them!!! Anyway - here's my issue. I start untwsiting some dreads, only to drop them and do something (cause I have a life involving a 3.5yr old and a 14mo old). Well, in doing that, I have 12 that are totally unbraided, but there are quite a few that are only undone 1/2 way on the bottom 1/2. Well those particular ones are starting to dread!! Sooooooo, do I undo the natural dreading to reach the twisty braidy portion? Or do I leave it alone? I thought maybe since the wax is out the hair can still move freely (kind of) and it isn't imperative. WDYT? Here are some pics from 5 days ago. And now, my hair is SOOO friggin funky, God, what did I get myself into? Mecca called me but I am still so pissed I didn't answer. Don't get me wrong, I want to talk to her, but I am so irate that I don't think I can do it maturely yet. And to boot I am so caught up right now. Dig this - one of the major reasons I decided to dread up was to escape my self-image issues. I have had some really bad ones and done different things over the years to try to truly accept myself just as I am. To prove to myself that I can love myself and I don't care what anyone else thinks. I've even gone a year without shaving my legs in the past LOL Well, I never wanted to have to care much for my hair anymore. No more feeling ugly because of my stupid ponytail, flyaways, naturally curly, oily hair, yk? But since all of the misdirection on my dread start I find myself obsessing over getting these stupid braids out, it takes so much time every day so I am always "fixing it", and I look like a freak and I am back in a vanity trap. What I have taken from this is that I obviously needed to learn a few more things before I am truly freed from vanity. If you are still reading, thanks and I love you guys! Here's an example of a dread that is undone only 1/2 way down and is dreading on it's own on that bottom half Showing some undone (right up front) and some more only partially undone Underneath A whole shot
I say... Stop it. Knock it off. What do you want to do? What are you expecting to happen? I mean, ya ok, ya had a rough start... ya got the wax out... Now.... Stop it! Your a beautiful Mama! At some point you will have to surrender to the absolute chaos that occurs on your head and let things happen. Quit picking on your poor lil dreadies. Let them do their thing.
i did that, it was the best thing ever, apart from the dry skin underneath =[ as for the actual reason behind your thread, id say keep untwisting, even the new dreaded bits, cause otherwise it might be dreaded at the root, then just twisted/braided, then dreaded again half way down. personally, id hate that in my hair but its not my hair to decide =] maybe the key is to keep going and get them all out and just let them dread by themselves.. a pain i know, but maybe the end result will be far better
the twisty braidy partys should dread too but they may dread lil differently as u can see the natural psarts are way loopy and will have a different feel and look when tightened..you may be better off trying to get it all out if u say each takes 2 hours well have 8 or sop people help you u could thogh just leave em be and they should dread even the weird twisty braidy parts oh and in the meantime so u have a lil extra time to devote to untwisting..stop shaving again you can see just how much your hair wants to dread naturaly cant u? wirk on 1 at a timne get em completely out then move on.. by the time u get 15 out the 1's few will be starting toi dread....if it takes 3 weeks to get them all oit the 1st ones will be really forming nicely and you'll have maybe a doxzwen or so on theyre way.. u could always have meca fix the mess she made i wouldnt give herr a cent though just tell her how badly she screwed u how much of a pain and a mreeesss you had to deal with and how many hours and hours youd had to go through to fix her mess.. and tell her just how easily your hair woulda dreaded on its own of u never let her screw u ti begin with..and ask her to help u undo thge dammage so u can start over the right way... maybe then u can also teach her theright way so she dont screw over other ppl too
I have found that wearing a tam or hat most of the time really helps a lot. just make sure your hair is really dry before you put it on. It takes a lot of time an dyou may still have some wax in your hair that is still coming out, it's hard to tell when it's all out. Good luck mama, you are beautiful! my 1.5 year old plays with my dreads and I think it helps...just another mama's perspective
cuz wax just keeps all your hair together like some sort of super glue it never had the chance to knot. now that you got the wax out there's nothing that holds it together anymore so your dreads will fall apart. now that you got all the wax out (dishwash soap actually works great) its time that your locks are going to knot. if you really can't wait you can start some backcombing otherwise just let 'em do they're thing. but the most important thing is time. your locks gonna need some time to develop.
awwww, mama you're so beautiful! *big huge hugs* i started my dreads with the idea that it was going to magically fix my issues with body image and some other vanity issues i had going on. what dreads do IS magical, but it isn't a fast fix! it takes time, and patience... not just to dread, but to realize that things don't EVER go the way we plan them, or expect them to. and to learn how to roll with the punches and grow through all of it is the true magic of what being yourself is about. because as i'm learning, what you look like on the outside, what's on top of your head, or any of it, never looks good if you don't feel good on the inside. but when you feel good about you on the inside, it shines through to the outside. my loverman is one of the most beautiful people i know... but when you really look at him, you realize he's kinda goofy looking. but his brilliantly gorgeous because he fucking LOVES himself in a way i've never seen anyone else love themselves. it's inspiring. you are so beautiful inside and out, and i KNOW you will find yourself, piece by piece, and that this process is helping with that. but on to the dready advice. i say just take the twisty braidy stuff out, even though it's starting to dread up on the bottom. it looks like not enough that combing through it will damage the hairs if you condition and do it gently. i personally think it looks like you still have wax in there, in the braidy parts. it could just be the pictures, but i wouldn't take the chance. that's something you have to decide for you though. i think it's kinda cute and nifty looking, the way it's all crazy and different all through your hair... so love the stage your at. it's completely up to you. will you be unhappy with your dreads if you leave them and always have those twisty braidy parts that dreaded differently? or will you be glad to have them there to remind you of how far you've come? i think this is a deep soul question, that only you can answer. if you do decide to take it all out and start all over again, i would recommend using conditioners daily, and not allowing any new dreading process until you're done, just because all of that conditioning will help you get the braidy twisty stuff out, and get your hair back to healthy before you start the dreadlocking process again. otherwise you're going to probably have a lot of broken, torn off hair, and i can say from experience, that's no fun.
I just wanted to say thank you so much to those of you who offered up much love and support. It really means a lot to me
id leave it how it is and let them dread as they want to. if you dont have time to untwist the braids, then did you think about cuting you hair short and re starting them? then you should get things rolling with more uniform dreads. but dreads dont have to be uniform. i guess just do what you know you can handle. im sure they will turn out great in the end!
you are so pretty! let that shit go, you will get some different locks in there and you will remember them a long time from now with fondness. the best thing about all this is that the hair does what it wants, even when you are sleeping! hee hee~
