Join me on my Dreadlock Journey! From start to 3 Months

Ever thought about having dreadlocks? Do you have fine and thin hair and think you cannot have dreadlocks! Well think again!

I have started my dreadlock journey and I am not looking back!

For years, I have contemplated about getting dreadlocks, but I assumed my baby fine thin hair couldn't handle a dread. After all, a dreadlock is twisted up hair that eventually forms a knot. My hair is so soft, fine, and bone straight, I figured the knots would easily wash out.

I also read a lot of information online about thin hair and dreads and saw some frightening photos of what thin hair and dreadlocks "could" look like.

This deterred me for many years and I gave up on the notion that I could have dreads. But one day, I decided to look into it again, as I have grown so frustrated with my hair.

I found some videos of white girls (like me) who have fine, thin, and bone straight hair. They had AMAZING locks! It took 3-5 years to get the long luscious thick locks, but they looked great, and it revitalized my dream of having dreads! I realized in those scary photos of thin hair dreads that the loctician tightened the dreads wayyyy to much at the scalp which caused major issues.

So when I did my dreads, I left a decent amount of hair at the root. This would deter the look of thin hair at the scalp and would not cause any unneccesary damage to the scalp by being to aggressive with tightening dreads. I did ALL of my dreads on my own, so don't fret if you have noone to assist you! Just get a mirror to put behind you and a mirror to watch and you can do it all on your own.

It took a long time to dread my hair. Even though I do not have much of it and it isn't all that long, it still took about 10 hours, and I didn't even finish them to the end.

Alright, here are the shots of my crazy first day dreads (cringeworthy!)

They are so airy, they blow crazy in the wind!

I also had to spend some time taking apart and redoing dreads as I made them too thick. Dreads should only be about 1 to 1.5 square inch of scalp, or else you will end up with a fat dread that takes a long time to dry. However, when you are making your dread, it doesn't seem like that much hair, especially if it is thin!

As a side note, I also prepped my hair for 1 month by using residue-free shampoo (the key to healthy happy dreads!) and I ceased to use conditioner. The quality of my hair rose dramatically by cutting out residue filled shampoo and conditioner and to this day feels way healthier than it was before.

Keep in mind that once you dread your hair, you stop losing hairs! All the hair you normally lose down the shower or in a brush stays in your dreads. So when you make a 1 inch section, eventually your dread will be as thick as that section.

At first, my dreads just kinda sucked. They went any which way they wanted to, were completely wild, soft, light and squishy.

I did not wash them for 2 whole weeks as I was worried they would wash out. When I did wash them, the roots got loose and I lost some knots at the end, but they did stay.

I spent many hours twist and ripping the ends and lots of time root balling the dreads to keep them from washing out. I think this part is critical if you have fine, silky, thin, bone straight hair like me. If you have curly thick coarse hair, you would probably not need to baby them so much in the beginning.

At about 1.5 months, the dreads really started to lock good. My hair started to have "dread memory" and my roots and ends began to stay intact. They were starting to behave better too, staying how I wanted them too, and started to gain some "weight".

It has now been 3 months of having my white girl dreads, and they are feeling firm, a bit heavier, and require way less maintenance. However, the dreaded shrinking phase has begun! Pun intended!

you can really see the shrinking phase in this shot! Look at those kinky loopy dreads!

The shrinking phase happens to all dreads. Kinks and loops start to form as the dread compresses to form a mature dread. My dreads are really enjoying turning into 90 degree angles!

I honestly don't mind it, because I know this is the crucial step to getting amazing dreads. They will kink loop and shrink until they are compressed enough to be a beautiful mature dread, which for my hair type, will take a minimum of 1 year if I am lucky. It will probably be closer to 3.

The dreads are starting to thicken, lock and form into actual dreads!

Dreads are still fuzzy and have lots of loose hair. This is normal, no need to fuss with it. Eventually the dread will suck in all those lose hairs.

A right degree angle dread. I have about a dozen dreads doing this lol

I just throw a bandana into my hair, and I think it looks alright. This is the growing pains of having dreads. If you think you will have awesome dreads overnight, think again!!!

If you have any questions about dreads, especially if you have questions about straight thin fine silky hair and dreads, leave me a comment!