Calling All Older Napptural Sisters....

**extremelynappy** · 07-28-2008, 03:53 PM

I'm calling on all sisters who adopted their napptural hair after the age of 30 to encourage others in a similar position. Sometimes I feel lost in a room of teenagers on this site and I would like to be reassured that I am not alone in my journey. This is more than a teenage whim, but a journey for anyone with kinky, curly hair regardless of age. Let's support each other.

**ImageCoach** · 07-28-2008, 07:04 PM

Hey there!
I decided to adopt my napptural hair at age 44 and just turned 45 this year. Why now? I think because I know myself better and I'm tired of the drama around cfc'd hair. I'm trying to work toward a healthier me and the chemicals I was putting in my hair were not helping that.

Nice to meet you! :hug:

**swingbolder** · 07-28-2008, 07:31 PM

Hi there and welcome!

There are a lot of us "old folks" on NP we just don't engage in all the yikkety yak like the young'uns do. I guess at this point I usually say my piece and then let it lie. No point in spending all day typing away trying to convince some stranger of your position. I'm also way past the "gotta talk to my girlfriends all day long" phase of my life and that cuts down on my desire to post all the time. So while it seems like this board is overrun by teenagers, I think they just post more than other people. I could be wrong though.

I went natural at age 20 so I really can't answer your question directly, as far as going natural later in life, but I would think that at our age it's probably easier then when you're younger. There's less peer pressure, and I think we are also past the point in our lives where we obsess over our looks all the time. That makes it easier to just be yourself and do you, as they say.

Anyhow, here's my story in case you're interested:

http://www.nappturality.com/notm/swingbolder.html

**extremelynappy** · 07-28-2008, 11:25 PM

Thank you all for responding. I was feeling a bit down about starting this journey and having some company helps to keep my spirits up. Thank you. Swingbolder, I saw your journey. Who needs Jill Scott with you around ... you are officially my napptural inspiration.

**sunschild57** · 07-29-2008, 01:09 AM

Hi, I went natural for the last time when I was 37. Before then, I would do the big chop only to go back to creamy crack a couple of years later. It was a cycle, 2 years natural, 2 years fried. I still don't know much about natural hair (i'm 51) so I can offer no advice on how to take care of it. I've gotten into discussion with other women, some nappturals on whether i'm napptural because I usually wear my hair really short or no hair at all. Some women think no hair isn't napptural. I say as long as i'm not using chemicals, i'm napptural

I like my short hair or no hair. When my dh rubs my head I feel this intense rush of warmth. OK, TMI :blush:

Anyway, you're not alone

**SilverQ** · 07-29-2008, 02:13 PM

Older Napp checking in. I went napptural before I discovered this board, so my method of transitioning
is pretty boring...wore a chignon and kept cutting. (I think it was 1990-1992).

Like Swingbolder, I don't post alot, but I do enjoy the "conversation". I lurk, might post, and keep it
moving. I really enjoy the diverse, international flavor of this board.

I'm also at the stage of life when I don't give a rat's booty about what others think,(re. nappy hair)--
so enjoy the company, get some great product and styling info and know you've made the right choice in going napptural!

SilverQ

**anabwi** · 07-29-2008, 11:53 PM

Did the BC at 43, I'm 52 now. I just got tired of spending 3 hours or more in a salon, after my stylist showed up late for the umpteenth time, and still paying him. Best decision I ever made.

:afro:

**Denny** · 08-01-2008, 01:50 PM

Older young napp checking in :P . Had my last p.ermocaine Sept 2003 at 35 years old, just cos I figured why waste time and money sitting in a salon to p.erm hair that was going to stay in a pony tail for 8 weeks. So I transitioned by wearing braids when I got some length chopped off the p.ermed ends and wore a BAA or twists for a few years then in 2005 decided to lock. My only regrets are not locking earlier in life and not joining nappturality from its creation. This site is a blessing!

I think as one gets older you develop a 'I'm gonna do me' attitude - at each stage I did not discuss the matter with anyone, not even my S.O at the time, its my hair I needed no permission to style it.

I'm on here almost every day cos I'm an internut addict... <_<

**simplyberry** · 08-02-2008, 07:39 AM

I started in my 50's. I call this a restart; because I was natural in the 60's and I wish I had never gone back to being a non natural, because it was hard to do the transition psychologically for all the people who had seen me change. For example, family members were accepting of my natural state in the 60's, they chalked it off as me going through a hippie trendy time. But when I decided to go back to natural now in my 50's they were mortified. Too bad. This works for me. And then there are co-workers who are straight and can't get their head out of the lye. I'm not against perms if that is your thing--but leave my thing alone. Anyway, going through hot flashes and the general convenience of ignoring the weather, rain, fog etc. I'm happy. So my advice is to commit and not quit.

Older young napp checking in :P . Had my last p.ermocaine Sept 2003 at 35 years old, just cos I figured why waste time and money sitting in a salon to p.erm hair that was going to stay in a pony tail for 8 weeks. So I transitioned by wearing braids when I got some length chopped off the p.ermed ends and wore a BAA or twists for a few years then in 2005 decided to lock. My only regrets are not locking earlier in life and not joining nappturality from its creation. This site is a blessing!

I think as one gets older you develop a 'I'm gonna do me' attitude - at each stage I did not discuss the matter with anyone, not even my S.O at the time, its my hair I needed no permission to style it.

I'm on here almost every day cos I'm an internut addict... <_<
[/b]

**LBellatrix** · 08-03-2008, 09:11 PM

I went natural at age 30 years, 5 months, and 11 days. Does that count?

I'm 43 now. For most of the past 13 years I've worn my natural hair out (not under extensions or wigs) and been responsible for my own hair care (no stylists/salons). I have the very kind of nappy hair that uneducated black folks insist CAN'T be worn natural...but I do it and I usually give the

look to anyone who dares suggest there's something wrong with it. I don't have to give that look often because I'm not around uneducated black folks often.

(Just being real...and trust that "uneducated" runs the gamut from no-degree to Ph.D. Nonblack folks usually like my hair or keep their opinions to themselves.)

I have to co-sign Denny here:

I think as one gets older you develop a 'I'm gonna do me' attitude - at each stage I did not discuss the matter with anyone, not even my S.O at the time, its my hair I needed no permission to style it.[/b]

That's what a lot of (uneducated black) folks didn't get when I first BC'd and later when I started locking: that I'm a FREE HUMAN BEING just like every (nonblack) body else out here and just like those (nonblack) people I don't need anybody (black, nonblack, or other) to tell me how to wear my hair. ^_^

I'm on here almost every day cos I'm an internut addict... [/b]

Gotta co-sign on this too <_< though I'm about to get Internet at home again and I'm making a solemn vow to keep my addiction under control this time... :lol: