Finished Dreads

Weee my dreadlocks are finished! 46 dreads, in total. My lovely mum sectioned my hair using tiny elastics and then I was up till midnight dreading them all, gosh sore arms the morning after! I cut myself a fringe after seeing a picture of another dreadlock girl with the same style :) This photo was taken a week or so ago and they've actually changed a lot since then even, I'll make sure to take another pic!

So here are five things I've learnt during the dreadlock journey

1) It takes ages to wash my hair now! I first shampoo my fringe, pour apple cider on my scalp and then shampoo all over. I then have to make sure all the soap is rinsed out and further spend a ridiculous amount of time drying my hair

2) Dreads are high maintenance! The most high maintenance hair I've ever had which isn't saying much but I did not realise I'd be devoting so many hours to my hair (although perfect when you're bored!)

3) Dreads aren't annoying to sleep on like I thought they would be

4) Dreads can sometimes get caught in necklace clasps

5) When dreads are full of water they're heavy and I have really fine hair so I never thought I'd be saying that!

So my goal from here is to keep crocheting my dreads getting them to lock up! I'm excited and even though I whinge about the work that has gone into them, I like them more than I ever thought I would :) I finally feel like I have thickish hair which is really fun!

Below is a youtube clip that shows you how to use a crochet hook to keep your dreads tidy

UPDATE: So it's a few years later and I realised I never updated you guys on my journey.  

My homemade dreads were awesome! When I started dreading my hair they were quite soft and I still kept a lot of my original length but as the months went on they locked up considerable, got a lot more coarse in texture and my original hair length reduced by about 50% - something to remember!  They also locked up naturally (which was something I wasn't quite expecting) even though I did crochet them to keep them neat-ish.  As my hair grew I used the finger locking/latch technique which you can see in the first park of the video below...

I did read on the internet this technique can be damaging for your hair but I figured the whole process was fairly damaging and I personally had no problem with damage or breakage. I also kept up with crocheting to keep them nice and neat - again I have to say this was the most intensive hair I've ever had and yet there is a misconception (well at least I had) that dreads are low maintenance - oh my goodness!

So did I keep them? I had my dreads for about 8 months.  I personally would of kept them in for longer but I cut them off because my Grandma wasn't the biggest fan.  She was incredibly sick and it was a gesture for her :) That story has a sad ending, so I'll just say that it was a premature cutting but eventually I would of cut them off because I like to change things up (and they were a lot of work!)

My biggest fear of dreads was having to shave my hair but the hairdresser said she'd be able to save a bit of hair and just unraveled some of the dread that was left. The first few days I felt like a boy and wore super girly hairclips to compensate but then I really didn't mind having super short hair  (I like short hair anyway!).

Would I do it again? Maybe :P I'm blonde at the moment (which is another super high maintenance style so perhaps my next look will be one with zero upkeep!)

Final Thoughts: They do take a lot of work and there is a reason peeps charge a lot to do them for others but if you have the time and patience you can totes have dreads yourself! I wanted cute little dreads so I made sure to section my hair really small which was perfect and I really did love having them :)

                   Recap of my Journey: Journey Begins / Two Weeks In / Three Weeks in