What Do Dreadlocks Look Like As They Mature?

29 Feb

I had a client pop by yesterday to get the dreads I created for her before Christmas tidied up for the first time. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to showcase what the beginning of your dreadlock journey could look like.

When you first get dreads done you will leave my studio with super neat and tidy dreads - box fresh. They will be straight, no lumps and bumps, roots nice and tight and no fluffy hair.

Over the next few weeks your dreads will start to loosen up - especially after you wash them for the first time. This is when a lot of people start to panic…..DONT PANIC!!!!

This is a normal part of the dreadlock journey. When creating dreads you are essentially felting your hair and it takes a bit of time for that process to happen. This is why regular maintenance is so important, especially in the first year.

You will notice lumps and bumps forming in your dreads. This is a good sign. This means your hair is starting to lock up. The lumps and bumps are caused by your dreads locking up at different speeds and the shrinking process starting. Palm rolling regularly will help even out the dreads and stop them shrinking so much, ( I will write another blog post about palm rolling another day).

As you can see by the photo on the right, by day 85 my clients dreads where looking pretty messy. They were fluffy at the roots from new hair growth. The lengths were fluffy where the dreads are not mature yet and there were lots of lumps and bumps along the lengths. Although it may look like my clients dreads are falling apart, the core of them is dreading and maturing nicely.

I always recommend an epic tidy for the first maintenance session as your new dreads may need a lot of work. I tidy each dread from root to tip and clean up each section. This client wanted the ends of her dreads blunted so I did this for her during the appointment as well. By the time she left, my clients dreads were looking as good as new again and she wont need to come back for maintenance for another 3-4 months.

Having dreadlocks really is a journey, one in which you need to have patients as you are going to go through phases of loving your dreads and hating them. If you ever have any questions about your dreadlocks, please reach out as I am happy to help where I can. You can find out how to contact me here

If you want more in depth information on how to look after your new dreads you can find that information here

Thanks for reading x