I remember when...

**CoilyHairedBeauty** · 03-13-2014, 03:07 AM

I'd like veteran status

I stumbled upon NP in 2004.

**ebonyquean4u** · 03-26-2014, 01:46 AM

This just came to me: I Remember deciding to go natural and telling the hair dresser very adamantly "I don't EVER want an Afro!"

Six months later I big chopped to a twa and loved it. Funny

**mydestiny** · 05-16-2014, 05:15 PM

I remember when "she-who"-shall-not"-be-named" was still allowed. When some of or first( or at least early) men joined. such as Mr. Dean and when the site looked different :-)

**mydestiny** · 05-16-2014, 05:22 PM

When I first was transitioning, trying to still use products for relaxed hair. Worrying about how I would look after the BC- which really wasn't after8 months of transitioning. Trying all kinds of different styles- some good, some bad :-) and wondering why I was putting myself through all the trials. Being in the midwest - there wasn't many naturals and many thought I was wearing some type of weave at first. Spent two years contemplating if i should loc my hair. Spent another two years with it being loced up Cut my hair really short and kept it like that for 2 years. And now even 10 yrs later I am still learning new things about my hair and loving the journey.

**KnottyAuthor** · 06-14-2014, 12:24 PM

I can track the evolution of my growth naturally. First, it was challenging to envision natural hair in professional styles. I expressed that and got chewed up. Then I gained the boldness to be professional and nappy. At that time, I looked down at locks and less than professional and would never to that was my claim. Then I did that and was professional doing that. But, they had to be the right size, look etc. Then as I grew in my lock journey I began to understand, experience and see the beauty of the locking process and development stages. The patience it takes to watch this evolution began to impact me and I began to see the beauty evolve in all types of locks and I commenced to combine my locks year after year for 7 years just to see this process transform over and over again. Then, I took down, re-installed and just love all levels of natural hair. I'm really fixated on short curly mohawk styles now-even though I'm locked. I see it in my future after I prove that I accomplish this goal of have SLs that I DIY. I want to usher them into maturity. That will take me into my early/mid 50's. Then who knows. Oh, and my bald sisters have a boldness I can only imagine! It's just exciting to experience life/hair and allathat with an open mind. When I had a relaxer, my mind was closed and I measured my value fresh perm applications. Now, I can see all levels of beauty and experience the beauty of life at a deeper level. That's growth to me. #justhadaneedtoshare

**LBellatrix** · 06-14-2014, 02:08 PM

I've been documenting my natural life, in one form or another, for the better part of 20 years. One of these days I'm going to put it all together but in the meantime, here are some of the things I remember:

- Being amazed that I needed a shape-up three weeks after my first BC. From that point on I was cured forever of the notion that so-called "black" hair doesn't grow.

- Playing with the little coils at the back of my nape and wondering why something that felt so good could be seen as so bad. That's when my mental "natural journey" truly began...as well as my ongoing chronic HIF disease.

- Discovering online natural hair discussions...including the truly memorable Black HAIR!!!! I was only a member for a short time though because when I mentioned wanting "to prove that black girls could grow hair" I was challenged by the moderator about my motives. It would be another couple of years before I understood her perspective. (Folks who like to throw around the "natural Nazi" pejorative: Y'all just don't KNOW...)

- Having lots of thought experiment-type discussions about black women and hair. Nowadays, every time I go into a drugstore or other store and see the relaxers on the bottom of the shelves, I smile a little inside.

**KnottyAuthor** · 06-17-2014, 09:56 PM

Isn't it cool to know that you had that kind of impact in the world?!!!! I love that feeling!

Originally Posted by LBellatrix

- Having lots of thought experiment-type discussions about black women and hair. Nowadays, every time I go into a drugstore or other store and see the relaxers on the bottom of the shelves, I smile a little inside.

**gilroygal** · 07-03-2014, 12:27 PM

Soooo...I'm not on here as often these days but I still think fondly upon it from time to time. Having said that, I had to step up my game and add some moisture, SO I now use AVEENO LOTION on my beautiful hair and now I can grow it back after cutting most of it off.

-That was another sign of growth for me...I was able to cut off my hair after realizing that was the best thing for me at the time (DRY hair caused my scalp to itch terribly) and I didn't feel less of a woman because of it. If anything, super short hair makes me feel sexy...

-I ventured out to try something that I had heard about in the early days...using BODY lotion on the hair. If it had not been for NP I would not have been as educated about ingredients and I wouldn't have been able to recognize the fact that a lot of body and hair lotions contain the same ingredients. As a result, my hair is moisturized and I can work with it better.

I am okay with the fact that some things work for me and some things work for others, no need for a one-size-fits all mentality. Some people CAN use cones and SLS, and some can't/won't. I tried most of the all-natural stuff out there, only to siffer horrendous reactions. Once I went back to some of the things that are listed as "bad" for the hair, I found began to have MUCH better results.

Very happy with my hair and my life as a whole these days!

**drsybil** · 07-04-2014, 02:13 PM

I haven't been on regularly either in a long time, though I'm a staunch supporter and subscriber. I've been here since September 2002 and this site has been invaluable in my natural journey. I use to chronicle my hair growth religiously and today I realized that I haven't updated my Fotki since 2011! I give out the name of this site all of the time to people who ask me about my hair. I'm going to update more often. My daughter is now eight and I have been busy keeping up with her hair.

**mramsey** · 07-05-2014, 09:33 PM

If I started writing about my journey I would be here for hours......you ladies are the only reason I stayed on this journey since 2001...after all this time I thought my fine dry itchy hair was my lot in life.......only recently have I realized that I was using all the wrong products....the only reason I didn't say to heck with it and wear braids for the rest of my life is because of all of YOU..

Also like many of you I wanted a massive unapologetic Afro...but now that I have that hair I'm like please...its too hot I'm not dealing with all this hair...twists for the next 3 weeks it is...and I'm happier than a kid at Christmas ....lol

And by the by....I have been reading this site since 2002