Hey guys, I'm Erik (also known as Bella), and I'm DT's very own pet transgender ;)
-->Disclaimer: feeding or provoking is not encouraged and entirely on your own risk<--
XD

Anyway, I'm 18 years young, a hippie and pagan at heart, a lover of nature and anything out of the ordinary. And this... this is my dreadlock timeline!
Enjoy! :)

Method; Backcomb + a bit of TnR
Maintenance; none
(so pretty much natural, but with a starter method)

I did my dreads with the help of a good friend, many hours, lots of snacks, and lots of fun :) uh, no, I mean with a combination of backcombing and TnR. Mostly backcombing tough.

[b]Before[/b]
I don't really have great before pics, I'm so stupid for not taking one... but I have some here where I have about the same length of hair, etc.


(and like I said before; ignore the dress (and my dorky smile). I never wear dresses, this was an exception! ;)) We sort of had an obligatory ball with school, and we HAD to wear... well... this kind of stuff. My mom couldn't resist taking a hundred pictures P_P

*sigh* why don't I have a recent pic of me doing something "normal"? Lol!
Well, my hair is A LOT longer here than what it was when I did my dreads (it just touched my shoulders. A little bit shorter than the first pic), but it's the only one where you can actually see my hair properly, not as a black blot around my head...

DAY 0!
My dreadies are BORN! In this pic the last one was completed hardly an hour ago. It was late in the evening, and I was falling asleep on the spot, so excuse me for the weird face ;)


Day two






Day three


Day five



Taking pictures of yourself is harrrrd! D:

And that's it for now folks. For now my hair is not doing much interesting things, but whatever...! I bet it will in the upcoming weeks, and I'll be sure to post pics of crazy loops and things that will probably occur. ;)

Yay: UPDATE!
Almost-one-month-but-not-yet
Okay, I counted, recounted, and recounted again, and I'm at two days from my one month mark. I really, really can't believe it, but it's true...! Time goes so quick, scary...!
I love my dreads really a lot, tough sometimes I feel a bit stupid when people look at me. But the fact that my parents really appear to like them helps me a lot :)

Maintenance; practically none. Palmrolling after washing (to squeeze out water better), and occasionally TnR'ing the tips (why can't I get them shorter? ):) but apart from all that I just let them do their thing.
They feel tighter than they look in the pictures actually, lol!
Okay, wait!... pictures!! :)


Okay, it's a little unsharp, but best I got from the front right now :(

Oh, no wait, this one's a bit better...!
And now onto the back!

Loose hair all over the place, but I don't really mind. The only thing I really hate is that they aren't all the same length. Damn you layers! >:(

And up close.

This is how I usually keep my hair at school, just because it isn't falling in front of my face all the time then. But most of the time I switch every 15 minutes or so, lol!


These are my dread beads. All made myself out of polymer clay, except for the red and green wooden ones. (the only ones I've got more of) Some have a wire inside, some not.
If you like a close up of one of them, ask me, since I have them all photographed. But I think it clumps the thread a bit if I were to add them all.

I really want to take some close ups of dreads, but I can't find the one with the loop in it anymore :(

And you can't see it, but many are filled with lots of dandruff, yuck! D: does anyone know a way to get rid of the dandruff that is stuck IN the dread? I've heard lemon juice helps...

Well, that was it. I'll update soon again. At least at two months, but I hope sooner. At least I want to post a pic of my dreads when all the beads are in them! :)

Yay, time for an...
UPDATE
In RAINBOW letters to be precise! :) Fuck yeah!

One month, three weeks, and three days ofdready happiness!

Maintenance; still practically nothing. I tried to sew some loose hairs in, but it looked like crap and was really difficult and time consuming, so I just let them be. :) I roll them between my fingers sometimes, but that's more of a habit to keep my hands busy than actual maintenance and I hardly apply any force or anything.


Okay, so... sorry for the grumpy face. It's hard to smile when you're so concentrated to get a decent picture ;)


And just flipped them over :) Like the wild-ish look it gives, only it won't stay that way for long... maybe it'll work better when they're longer...


SILLYFACE :D
But this was what I actually wanted to show, that bead coil thing which is hanging in between of my dreads. I just sewed it in one, using a large blunt needle. Only it was so heavy that I took it out after half a day. Just before I did so, I decided to take some pics :)


And here you can see the back. Not much changed, but I think they look more rope like than before. Also the amount of loose hairs which reside only just beneath the surface of my dreads, has multiplied exponentially...! I didn't feel happy when I saw the mess, so I just don't look at the mirror anymore, lol! :)


And here a sidepic. Seems as if they're not so thin as I thought after all. So actually I'm happy with this. I wanted them to be bigger initially, but I'm fine with this size I guess :)


And my first beginning congooo! :P
I have many that stick to each other like velcro, but they don't really "merge" yet. I'm sure I need some ripping apart in the future...


And I couldn't stand the temptation to headbang a little :) this one's with flash, I couldn't remember how to reduce the shutter speed...


And here without flash

Tough I feel... as if progress is so slow! I can notice it, feel loops, feel them getting tighter and such, but still...
Ah whatever, I have all the time of the world :) Only I wish I could show something awesome happening right now! But... right now I can't. Tough over time I will! :P

Okay, that's it for now.
I will update again at 2 months, but then probably not as extensive as this time.

2 MONTHS
Okay, the previous update was very close to 2 months, so I'm not going to give a massive update...
But I got some pics back from a LARP quest were I was in the NPC team. It was really fun! :) So I want to post a couple of those.


Yes, I look like a cavewoman, I know, I know ;)
But it was meant to look that way.






This is me playing a tradeswoman (I'm the one wearing the blue dress, obviously)


We initially came there to sell useless bunk, but then we ended up enchanting that vase in the middle of the circle so we could see the future. It failed and we summoned some sort of a demon which didn't make the players very happy... :) Yes, it was fun!
And yes, the guy on the background has dreads too. His are way older tough, at least 3 years but probably even more. Never asked him about them or anything so...

And that's it, another update in a month!

THREE MONTHS
Holy jesus, three months already!
So far my dreads aren't looping much, compared to others. In the time between 2 and 3 months I've grown "tons" of loops, though it's NOTHING compared to what some have, wow! And most of my loopies are at the base, I've only got two or three in the middle of the dread.


Really, I look really weird here... and one of my eyes is slacking :/ but as you can see they've gotten a lot more messy than before :P


And here the back. I will report what other dreadlock wearers have said before; they lock up faster at the back than up front! At the very front I've got a couple of dreadies that aren't locked AT ALL, and I would easily pull them apart if I tried, while in the back I'm very sure I can't.
I stopped TnR-ing the tips completely, and that's why the loose ends are much longer now and have their curve back, just like in the beginning. (it looks super wonky, all those curved and bobbly dreads, haha ^^)


This one technically isn't three months, but two months and two or three weeks. But I like the way my dreads look here so...


And I chose this one, cause the light shows the individual dreads pretty well.

And... that's it for now!
Only I have one major concern, and that is that many of my dreads are splitting at the roots. I think that's because many have rectangle sections, instead of squares. But it doesn't really make me happy; I was just getting used to this thickness, but I definitely don't want them thinner :( but for the rest; I'm enjoying this journey very much! It has its ups and downs, and the way I think about my dreads can change within the blink of an eye, but usually I love them! Though it varies between "Ohnooo, my hair looks crappy!" and "Aww yeah, epic dread mane :D yeah!" and most of the time NOTHING has changed the looks of my hair then, it's just my own view on then what changes.

And I had my first dreads <-> Velcro encounter. I was walking out of the tent, pushed it open with my head (my hands were full, and I am lazy) but when I passed the velcro strip it was like *Schrrt!* and I was stuck. And REALLY stuck! My parents were doing the dishes, and I only managed to get loose when they were already finished! It was really horrible...
So, if you're a dreadhead and never came close to velcro with your head; keep it that way! It's not a nice experience! :( and I almost destroyed one of my dreads with all the pulling... one of the weaker ones, but still.

Uhh, okay, I'll shut up now! Update in a month! :)

FOUR months!
Time for an update again! Time flies... wow!
Unfortunately something went wrong with my pictures, so I lost 2 very nice ones (one of the sides, and one of me headbanging, which was accidentally very nice :()

And for maintenance; nothing, apart from ripping them apart now and then and washing. So no palmrolling, TnR'ing, crocheting, felting, waxing, destroying...


Derpysmile! :P I should almost take a pic of my shirt specifically, since it's the most epic shirt I have in my wardrobe :D (think; treeman but female) I'm very busy filling my wardrobe with nice alternative style clothing, so far I have too little of that stuff for my likings...


One side (the other got lost... gotto retake that one) still all pretty messy, it's actually disappointing how much this one looks like previous month... they felt so much more mature to me.


And the back, still messy...! You can't see the loops I've got, unfortunately. And actually the dreads themselves are hardly visible too, but I swear that they are feeling tighter. (or I think, at least...)


To give a bit of a view underneath. Still not very much visible, aghh, my hair is so dark!
EDIT: Do you guys see this image? Since I don't... :S (but I know my laptop has issues with images on this site sometimes) and this one was my favourite of this update... :(

And yeah, I hoped they would look better and such, but I realise it's only early in the journey. Later I will look back at this, and smile! :)
I'm loving them, but some days I wonder... are they even doing anything? (I know they are, but still...)

I'll give an update to the update later, since I want to show what's underneath, those look less messy and fuzzy, and you might even spot a wild loop in it's natural habitat.

Well, I should stop chattering, onto to five months!! Yiiha!

[color=#4080BF]FIVE MONTHS[/color]
Five months already, holy crap! I can remember the first days like yesterday...! But anyway, time goes on, like a rambling train that can't be stopped... never... ever... ever...


Boohoo, my epic hoodie! Oh wait, I'm not here to show off my clothes, but to show off my hair, so let's get going!


I had one where I tried to smile, but that just looked SO damn fake that I decided to pick this one. I just can't smile properly on photo's... unless anyone makes me laugh...


I'm still looking forward to the day that they don't actually only FEEL like dreads but also look like them. The camera doesn't lie, damn!


And the back. I swear that if the loose ends wouldn't be so prominent they would look better. Or at leas I think they would... (is it me, or do they still look pretty much the same. Lol!)


Holy shizzles, loose hair attack! >:)
Did I say at 4 months that the underneath bit was less messy? I take that back!


Me checking how much of this dread is ACTUALLY knot


And lastly; me listening to some beautiful music <3
Why? Because I CAN!

I always tend to sway to the negative bit when I look to much at photos, while the rest of the time I'm mostly happy and positive... I can hardly believe they will ever turn into 'real' mature dreads, but I KNOW they will. Patience, Bella, patience!
I just hope those ends will lock up, I don't necasserily want blunted tips, but at least LESS undreaded tip would be nice... well, only time can tell...!
Yay, onto six months! (holy shit, half a year!!!)

SEVEN MONTHS!!
Okay, so it's been a while... QUITE a while actually...
But anyways, here's my seven month update (and yes, those pics were actually taken exactly on the 7 month day, but I was too lazy to upload them for... too long. Damn procastination)


First of all, what would be a dreadlock update of me be without a weird picture, uh? :)
I bought this mask last summer at Castlefest (a 3 day fantasy fair in the Netherlands), it's part of my larp costume, but apart from that I also think it's pretty epic :P


I know, not such a good pic, but all I got from that side...


And one from the other...


And the back, which if you ask me doesn't look like dreads at all... more like a weird mess.
But anyway, I don't care about it at all. It's on my head, and that's that. For the rest those buggy hairs should do whatever they like (I'm an easy mom, for my babies, I know ;))

Well, that was it for now! Already seeing change? Uhm... let's not think about that, okay? :} They just need some time, and I am willing to give it to them...

Ten Months(and two weeks)
Okay, so I took a loooong time to get pictures, were most of the files corrupted for some wonky reason, so I only got a few, and they're not really good. I don't want to start taking new pics right away, but I promise that I WILL takes better ones (and replace these) this week.


Okay, maybe I'll keep this one :) look at those loops! I never noticed them before! <3

I know it's not really sharp and a bit dark :( that's why I want to take new pics. But I didn't want to keep you guys waiting for even longer. But damn, I hate this picture! It's so dark!

And one from the side. Like I said, I'm going to replace these. I somehow didn't know how to take pictures anymore after 3 months
I think I'm going to ask someone to take the pics for me instead of fiddle with it myself. As that always takes SOOOO much time until I have a even remotely decent pic. I prefer standing BEHIND the camera when I take a picture of something, not in front of it!

And I'm planning to do a 'summary picture' when I reach 12 months. To see every month placed directly next to each other is always very nice, I think.

11 MONTHS
For a change I decided to try out my new laptop's webcam and do a video update (also because I cannot find the photocamera. Shhh, you didn't hear that!)

Anyway, yes, I know I'm derpy. Cameras are not my biggest friends, OK? ;)
And ignore the music, it's prefab youtube stuff to hide the shitty webcam audio.

I'll probably do pics again with my 12 month. Or maybe both. But not only video at least, 'cause this integrated webcam isn't really good or anything.

ONE YEAR!Of dreadyness!
Okay guys, I know I'm quite a bit due with my update, but then again... this is a BIG update ;) One year is a special date!

I'll start with the new pictures!

From up front. I this time let my mum take the pics. Was a lot easier, lol! Makes me wonder why I didn't do that any sooner!

Yep, a weird face :) Why not, eh? I like that long dread hanging down on the right.

Here sort of the side/back

And here the back! And heck, actually... I must say I'm starting to like how they look! :) Instead of dropping down the pit of negativity I actually think "Wow!" when I see this!



And here in a rocking ponytail!
Even ponytails are awesome with dreads

'kay, slightly photo-whoring here, but give me a moment, okay ;)


And another video, this time WITH talking. I'm rambling nonsense, mostly, so I'd say ignore it and look at the dreads.
In this vid I'm complaining quite a lot (too much, if you ask me) about my tips. At a certain point I got so pissed I TnR'ed them back in, which is the only maintenance since 2 months of dreads. No idea if it holds, but I just had to get my frustration out, lol!


And then here, FINALLY, the overview pic. :) Never noticed that they changed so much over the coarse of time, actually! :o :D

Well, that was it! Adios amigos! XD Onto the next year!

One of us! One of us!

Awesome great start to a fun and rewarding journey.

Those elf ears are freaking epic

As I said in your other thread it's a real good start. Looking good. (You might find updating each week a bit much *I know it's exciting* but you'll notice more development month to month) Keep us posted on the adventure

Lookin good! The next few months are going to be a wild ride. Happy dreading!

They look great! Onward ho!

Yay, my first week!
Oh, is it a bad thing if some are getting loose btw? I guess not, but we had to hurry in the end, so some were done rather badly and I'm a bit concerned about them. But wait, just leave it, I shouldn't. I know...

And except for the loose hairs multiplying each couple of days, nothing has changed so far (Uhh, captain obvious, hello! >_>)

Ah, at least I learn not to bloody fret over EVERYTHING... since that is what I usually do. And shouldn't do with dreads... lol!

theyll loosen, for sure, and then theyll tighten up and lock up of their own accord. think of backcombing as just starting them off, theyll find their way :) good start!

And it doesn't matter that some have very loose roots or even undreaded insides? I'll take a pic later, one of my dreads is almost splitting as it seems (but it already is so small :( aww!)

Funny, for now NO ONE has said anything. A couple of classmates saw me, they looked at me a little longer than usual and then just greeted me and walked past. Not sure if that's a good or a bad sign, lol! They didn't even ask if I had a new haircut or anything... wtf! Didn't expect that.

Wild!