18 months natural pic!!!

I didnt use any wax or anything, i just rubbed the ends in the palm of my hand until they went blunt. Backcombed at the beginning then just left them.

I thought the term natural meant you didnt use any chemicals and shiz in your hair and you just sort of let it dread, i didnt think backcombing at the beginning and then letting it dread for god knows how long would make me some kind of stalwart.

Thanks for all the positive comments ive had from people im really liking my dreads right now, feel like i should of had them a long time ago.

 

Why is it that everybody with dreads makes it into a lifestyle? I don't get it, can't it just be hair? I'm not pointing any fingers but its just hair, how does it turn into a whole thing about who has better dreads and stuff?

Btw to OP, they look sweet.

 

good point... i think the lifestyle is more like the dedication. it can just be hair but then people would think what ever... good point. oh you dont have real dreads cause your not living the lifestyle.... idk
dreads are dreads. really it doesnt matter what you do to them. If you ask me back combing IS NATURAL your not doing anything UNNATURAL to it. Like wax. Not natural = added garbage. Natural = Natural. ..... i thought these "all natural" dreads were called neglect. theyre both natural though.

 

Huh, makes sense. I would have dreads but it seems like to much to do when I can just have my sexy long hair.

 

I think of natural as letting your hair dread.
Backcombing forces it too, so in turn = not natural.

Just imagine letting your hair go as you are stranded on a island somewhere. That is natural.

 

there is the faint air of elitism here... it doesnt matter what sort of dreads you have, or how you got them, fact is we are a dreadlcok community, and it shouldnt matter how "natural" they are

oh and dude your dreads look cool

 

Agreed phil

Dreads are dreads are dreads.

Those dreads are gonna be beasts

 

backcombing doesnt force, it helps. combing your hair is natural. letting your hair go is neglect.

 

What is the difference between "all natural" and "back combed"? Can you post a picture for comparison?

 

"all natural" is leaving your hair to do what it wants. no wax, no backcomb, no crochet,, just washing with residue free soap and maybe seperating when needed

"backcombing" creates what looks like dreads, and gives them a start in life by tangling the hair. seperating isnt need as much


in my opinion backcombing looks better,, i dislike the natural/neglect look

 

splitting hairs here people.
natural could just as easily mean not washing your hair either.
the ops dreads definitely look crocheted, its true.
but not using products makes them natural in a sense, cant you just give him that?
my dreads were backcombed but i neglected them after that and almost all of the knottage was the product of patience.... how do you categorize me?

i assure you theres nothing unnatural about my hair just b/c i took a comb to it at the beginning of my journey. theres nothing but hair on my head, hair is natural... i dont even use soap in it, just water.

who cares how you started or what you call it, its just fucking hair and what you do with it is your own business.

 

I like what you said love and i really love your hair!!

It doesnt really bother me what people want to say about my dreads or how they want to categorize me, if i was bothered about that i wouldnt have grown dreads hahaha.

Ive been a poster here for a while and my old sig was me with really short hair just as i was starting my dread process and now its 18 almost 19 months on and i thought i'd post a pic just to say 'check these out'.

Didnt wanna start WW3 ahha. Dreadlock love.

 

Yeah, this seems to be the common concensus, but I truly doubt anyone simply 'lets their hair go' and does nothing. Aside from the backcombing/palm-rolling debate, what about seperating at the roots? Using beads and wraps to help seperate? Using sea salt sprays to tighten? Bathing in the ocean to tighten? Aloe to condition and smoothe frizzies? ACV? Even selecting a 'suitable' residue-free shampoo? All of these are done with the intent of assisting the hair to dread, and to a greater or lesser extent determining what the mature locks will eventually look like. Some people like a more worked on, smooth, and uniformed look, others prefer their dreads lumpy, bumpy and looking more neglected. At the end of the day it is all about choice. Even in opting to do nothing you are making the choice that your preferred method will be to neglect - and a method is still a method, regardless of how much and how little it involves. In making a conscious decision to do NOTHING to your hair you are still choosing to do SOMETHING that will fascilitate is dreading.

There is no black/white when it comes to dreadlock formation, only a sliding scale concerning the degree of 'tending' that takes place. Whether a product is 'natural' (ie aloe gel fresh from the plant) or manufactured (such as Knotty Boy's aloe-based Tropical Tightening Gel) is really just academic. Both are products selected by choice with a specific use and effect in mind, and both are deliberately and intentionally applied to the hair. While it is true that some products are detrimental to dreads (wax, glue), this should be the ONLY reason they are cautioned against.

There is rather too much snobbery concerning the idea of 'natural' dreadlocks, ranging from the irritatingly smug and self-congratulatory to out-and-out dreadlock fascism - which you'll find is often the case in a certain other dreadlock forum (which shall remain nameless). Here, palm-rolling has pretty much been declared heresy and backcombers are one step away from being virtually tarred and feathered. Much abuse and shittyness abounds. Its all rather sad.

Love your hair for what it is. Do to your hair what you feel you must. It is YOUR hair. It is YOUR journey. Only YOU can say what it right for it, and only YOU can decide what you want your hair to look/feel/smell(taste?) like.

Rant over.

P.S. if you really, truly, were to neglect your hair - in a 'just completely forget that it exists' kinda way - this is what you would end up with:

 

Great post!!!!!!!!!!
And I'm sorry...but that pic makes me vomit a little in my mouth. Not my cup of tea!

 

That man, I believe, has opted for the 'sleep-on-a-park-bench method' of dread formation. Strictly no shampoo allowed, only daily rinses of cheap white cider and pee

 

And as parks and benches are not natural I guess even his dreads aren't natural either

(Big thumbs-up to the rant btw )

 

I guess at the end of the day it all comes down to intent. Did he purposfully rinse his hair with cider or accidently spill it? Did he pee in his sleep and continue to lie in it, or did he get his mate to deliberately waz up his back? Did he set out on his dreadlock journey to create the world's most disgusting, puke-inducing unidread, or did he just go with the flow (pun intended)?

Ya see, this whole defining natural/neglect/un-natural is tricky...

 

I agree with everything you have said urbanhedgemonkey, I've also considered this for a long time. I think there are some very grey areas in terms of what is naturally growing dreadlocks and doing certain things which aid the locking process, like you say. If someone purposefully goes swimming in the sea because they know this helps their hair, is this still growing natural locks? Or merely manipulating one's hair and therefore no longer natural. Or starts to wear a wool hat on a regular basis to help, and change the shampoo with which one washes their hair. It all seems like a very thin line to me.

Good posts, thumbs up!

 

I think he crocheted to get that nice, blunt tip.

 

He still needs to deal with those fuzzy roots, though....