dreads - 1 week old

today i spent a few minutes teasing up the ends. this is a before and after picture...

they are forming nicely. for only being a week old, and truly only about 5 days old since they were in braids the first 3 days, they are staying together and starting to shrink up a bit. the aloe vera gel helps a lot i think.

i haven't washed them yet. i generally only wash my hair every 1-2 weeks anyway and with newly forming dreads, washing them can cause them to fall out.