Okay, if you’ve been around here a while, you know that I have repeatedly indicated that my hair used to be denser and curlier and I think that it has changed a lot. I think it began changing in my mid-thirties and the henna really pushed the loosening over the edge and amla caused crazy shedding (which I’m still not sure is totally under control). Well, I finally have the proof. My sister Shana dug up some old pictures from a couple of years after my BC. She used to have a hair journal on Geocities (remember that?!?) called blakgirl’s nappy journal. She decided to include me in her blogging by creating something she called skill’s mini nappy journal. Well, as you may know, Geocities “foreclosed” many, many moons ago and my sister thought her journals were lost to world wide web purgatory. But yesterday, she pulled them from the void and sent me a link to the archived blog!! It included pics and some pretty funny comments about me being uncooperative with taking pics and helping her document my journey. This is pretty hilarious in light of my obsession now!! Well, without further ado, here are pics of my hair from August 2002, when I was 30 and two years after my BC (I had about 6 inches of hair when I chopped, I guess).
I frickin' had waves back then! And a puff!! A puff y'all!! Seriously, this hurts my feelings.
Twisting my hair. Do you see how full they are and how thick the other side is?
My hair was all twisted. This illustrates the difference in my curl pattern and shrinkage rates. It also illustrates that I was not trying to take pics.
Twist out. Shana said I was being uncooperative and probably watching Friends.
She takes credit for introducing me to the twist out. But, I was doing braid 'n curls in college on relaxed hair.
This was an early style experiment. I made big coils on my damp/wet hair with CD's Healthy Hair Butter and maybe some gel?
Once dry, I began separating the sections into smaller sections, recoiling those sections of hair.
This was the final result. Do you SEE how curly my hair was back then? *sigh* I also was growing out damaging highlights. I tried them on relaxed hair, they were a no go. I tried them on natural hair, still a no go.
I think my curls were very similar to Cree Summers back then and I loved them.
Now, just so you can compare. This pic is from 2008. See how much my curls have loosened? This is 2 years prior to henna, so that has nothing to do with it.
After seeing these pics, I made the following comment on Rece’s blog.
It really makes me a little ill to see how much my hair has changed:(. I know that everyone just sees loose waves and long hair, but I know that my hair was thicker and curlier and seeing the change just forebodes more thinning and straightening:(. I really want to have a child, so my only hope is that the pregnancy hormones might make my hair curly again … but then, the post-partum shedding will probably make me bald!! Ughhh, I fear that I’ll look like the Crypt Keeper!!! You know, this guy!!
*sigh*
hairscapades 
Not the Crypt Keeper again!!! It makes me laugh every time! LOL
Your hair back then looks like my hair now! You were actually the first person I found with hair that I thought was similar to mine. That’s why I stuck to you like glue. I later realized that your curl pattern was a lot looser than mine, but look at that! We did have similar curl patterns.
I loovvveee the coils after u separated them. I wonder if my hair could do that.
Soooooo… what now? You know they say your hair changes every 7 years or so. Maybe your hair just changed. In addition, maybe it’s the weight of your hair a little bit now. I’m hoping when mine grows that it weighs it down a little.
Ok, enough blabbering from me. Lol
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Rece, I know!! And that’s what I was telling you! I was tempted to put in the caption on that puff photo that my puff looks just like Rece’s!! I think that your strands are definitely thicken, but your curl pattern and density is very similar to mine back then. And, when I was posting the last pics, I immediately thought that you should give the method a try as I think your hair would do this. Just be forewarned, the separating process was long. But, what was great about it was that it held up beautifully!! The separation was immaculate, no frizz, it really worked so well.
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It’s crazy. I always admire how smooth your hair looks in your styles and that’s due to your loosened curl pattern. But that’s not even what you want. I do see the difference. It’s amazing that it had changed that much before henna. Do you think that maybe it has changed because of how differently you care for it now that it’s completely natural? Our process is way different from the relaxed hair process. We’re moisturizing nightly or every other night, lots of smoothing and laying down the hair cuticles. You have cared for it so well and I am sure the added length adds weight. Maybe I am reaching…lol I can’t remember if you mentioned your relaxed regimen in your older articles. I will have to go back and review. We love it all the same but I understand that YOU have to love it.
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Thanks Valencia. I’m not sure what you mean about my relaxed hair and how that would be related? All of these pics are 2 years after I stopped relaxing my hair … and, for a year or two when I was still relaxing (which was only ever twice a year), I wore my hair curly. Taking care of my natural hair was relatively intuitive for me. I used the Pantene moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, only combed with conditioner and my styling combo was an alcohol free gel mixed with TCB light hairdress (I realize now that I was kind of moisturizing and sealing, but my intent was to mix the grease and gel to get a soft hold with moisture:). In 2008, I was still doing essentially the same except I was using Infusium 23 as a leave-in and CD’s Healthy Hair Butter for the moisture mixed with this gel or that.
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When I BC’d, my regimen changed drastically. I paid so much more attention to what I was doing to my hair and how I treated it. So over time, my natural hair did change a bit. However, sounds like you’ve had this thing figured out before you went natural so I doubt that your process had much to do with your change in texture.
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I totally remember these photos from back in the day but for the life of me I’m trying to recall your sis and her album.
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Are you serious??? That’s hilarious:)! LOL! My sister is in the top pic of this post:
https://hairscapades.com/2011/10/12/refresh-and-go/
Obviously though, her hair was a lot shorter back then as she started the journal in her first year, post BC, I believe.
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really?! that’s funny! you can see most of my old hair journal on archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20090726011011/http://geocities.com/blaknappy/
the March 2004 capture seems most complete.
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I love the crypt keeper he’s the best with his little comments and what not! Your hair has definatly changed. I think that the change might have to do with age. I notice that my hair has changed as I have gotten older. I read the naturallycurly.com article about this. It stated:
As our body ages, we see changes in our hair texture. The hair of a newborn is very soft and very fine.The diameter of the hair thickens as we enter childhood or early adolescence. As we move into adulthood and then older, the hair again changes, becoming finer again in our 40s and 50s. All of these changes are genetically programmed. “Hair changes every five to seven years,” said Christo of the Christo Fifth Avenue Salon and creator of the Curlisto line of hair products.
This is so true for my aunt. When she was younger her hair was like so fine and soft and now it is like, excuse me auntie, “brillo” (we are working on that, she is newly natural). The article went on to suggest hormones and other factors could play in deciding our curl patterns and texture. Here is the link to the article: http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/seniors/why-does-hair-texture-change-throughout-life
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Yeah, I’ve read that post before (in my search for explanations) and Rece had it in her post about her hair changing from when she was a child. I just hate that it seems like there is nothing I can do about it. I think I could deal with the curl loosening, but the thinning is depressing!!
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Also, did your diet change around this time?
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Nope, not really. I’ve been eating essentially the same since my 20s. Chicken, turkey, fish (though I used to eat a lot of tuna and I don’t anymore), veggies and fruit. I did use to use Met-Rx as my protein “shake” (but I made it into pudding), but I think I was still relaxing my hair when I used that regularly. I know I don’t get as much protein as I used to (I had protein with every meal, 5 meals a day and my first meal included 6 egg whites!), but I make certain at least two meals a day include protein. Maybe I do need to increase my protein somewhat, but I wouldn’t need as much as I used to as I was doing some heavy-duty weight training back then, which I don’t do know. But, I’m really wondering if the protein has something to do with it. I need to get more salmon back in my life too. I had some today, but I was eating it about once a week for a while … and my skin was looking awesome when I was!!
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Since I don’t eat meat my doctor informed me that my lack of protein can cause my hair to thin out somewhat. I want to eat more fish but I am scared of the mecury, so he suggest protein shakes (YUCK!) The thinning is depressing. Are we like men? Starting to go bald as time goes bye??? LOL
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I was planning doing a post on this. Try the Nectar brand. I have the strawberry and I really like it! Mix it with milk and a banana and it makes a delicious smoothie! It’s a very smooth tasting, non-chalky residue having high quality protein (whey protein isolate). I was drinking that after kettlebell and yoga. Did you have your hot yoga class yet??
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My experience with protein shakes have been a yuck chalky taste! However, giving the one you mentioned above a try wouldn’t hurt. OMG! The hot yoga!!!! I thought it was such a coincidence after the museum event and you mentioning to look for a Groupon for hot yoga because the next week I got offered a Groupon for 10 classes for $43 (regularly $170). Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. Well let me just say I arrived early to get a good spot in the class. The instructor told me about the class and any precautions I should be aware of. She then instructed me if I would like to go wait in the class to get use to the heat I could. Now before I go on I must tell you about me and heat. I love summer, I love heat and I despise air condition. With that being said when I walked into the class I was loving the warmth. However, by the 3rd or 4th pose sweat wad looting off of me and I was dying for some air. I stuck it out and in the end I was soaking wet, but felt great! It kind of felt like a lot of impurities where sweated out (sounds so corny). Thanks Shelli for recommending it.
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omg the crypt keeper cracked me up.the difference in crazy but i think your hair both ways are beautiful. i agree that it could be the weight of your hair and the fact that hair does change over the years. my curls loosened a ton even before henna. when i first big chopped, i had super tight coils that looked like tiny straws and you could see the curl unless you stretched it out. now the front of my hair barely curls at all and i mostly s shaped curls. i guess some sort of change in pattern is inevitable with length and time.
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Thanks Mershauna. I appreciate the kind words and empathy!!
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LOL you wrong for that goosebumps picture. I do see the vast difference, but I would also put some hope into the pregnancy hormones. No worries, it will be a period called ~How Shelli Got Her Curls Back ahahah 🙂
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LOL!!!!! I hope so Ry, I hope so!!
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wow shelli i love how thick & curly your hair was, my hair is almost like that but more course. Yip i think change is inevitable for all curlies i dont knw what coursed mine but my left,front section is totally straight it does not curl anymore ;( i dont know if it is the henna i guess its just a process we go through. Atleast yours is the same through out my wash & go looks sick coz of the left section lol
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Girl, your hair is gorgeous then and now! You are really one of my hair idols! Are you saying that you don’t like the way your current hair is? Its so beautiful! You and Curly Nikki are the reason why I decided to purchase henna. My hair is extremely course and relaxed currently. I have probably more hair than Oprah and I lost a ton of it due to color and relaxing but thank God I still have a ton of hair. Your hair looks pretty heavy to me so please don’t think you have thin hair.
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Awwww, thank you Payton! I love that name!!! I mean, it’s not that I don’t like my hair now, per se. But, I liked it curlier more. Like, I think my styles now would look even better if my hair was still as thick and curly as it was then. And, actually, now that I do roots only applications of henna, I see the difference in that hair and the hair that I was going hard on with bi-weekly henna’s month after month last year. I really should have taken a pic Wednesday night. It’s almost like I’m growing out a relaxer or heat damage! The top half of my hair is a lot wavier and thicker looking than the bottom. I think that’s also a factor of new hair as I think I experienced excessive hair shed last year when I was using amla and was having a reaction to it. As to my hair being heavy … no, not at all! It’s very fine … your fingers will go right to my scalp if you touch my hair. But, I thank you so much for the compliments and encouragement. I do like my hair, I really enjoy it. It just kind of freaks me out on the age front thing because it’s changed so much! Like I said, I’m afraid of looking like the Crypt Keeper a few years from now!! LOL!!
And good luck on your journey. Have you tried henna yet???? If so, do you like it?!? As to having thick and coarse hair … first, glad you didn’t do so much damage that you can’t recover … second, you will be able to do so many styles that I can’t and will probably have great hold on your sets! I’m always oggling chunky twist and braid outs because my hair doesn’t hold a set like that and my curls and sets fall pretty quickly. But, I love updos anymore anyway, so it’s all good:)!
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Cute, cute, cute! The crypt keeper???? bwahahaha! You’re a mess! So strange that your hair changed so much though, I’m really curious to know why…
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Unfortunately … I really think a part of it is age:(.
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Hi,
My name is Celeste and I saw your post and decided to share my story. I do not believe it is the aging process. I was 47.5 years old and my hair was growing like crazy last summer. It grew 4 inches in 3 months. It was very healthy and long like your curled hair. My hair was curly, thick, and long. However, I had a fibroid tumor and it was the second time I had a fibroid tumor. The crazy doctor I went to snatched out the stalk of the fibroid and I almost bleed to death. I had to go through an immediate surgery, but the crazy doctor told me she was going to do a bikini cut and leave my ovaries. That crazy doctor took my ovaries and I ended up going through menopause ahead of time. I lost all of my hormones and my hair started thinning rapidly. The thick long hair was gone. I have cut the ends etc. I did not need to dye my hair for over 4 months. I know it is the telogen phase. The last phase of life for my hair. I used rogaine once, but I did not want to continue to use it to keep the new hair on my head, so I did not use it anymore. The resting phase lasted 2 months. The shedding was ongoing. Finally I am seeing improvement. I wanted to share my story to tell you it does not last more than 6 months. It was drastic for me, but I started stimulating the roots and my hair started growing back. I bought a laser hair comb, but I only used it once. The best results for me was to stimulate my roots daily and add a homemade mix to make my hair grow back.
It is essential oil consisting of rosemary, almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, caster oil, eucalyptus and all of the oils are 100% pure. I added Africa’s best ultimate herbal oil and keratin leave-in treatment. All of the oils are sprayed on my hair every other day, but the keratin is only sprayed on my hair once a week. Nioxin conditioner did not work, but biotin shampoo and biotin pills as well as l-lysine 1,000 mg per day made my hair grow back fast.
However, it is not thick anymore. I use to shake my head and my hair caused me to get headaches. Now, i shake my head and the hair does not hurt when it hits me in the face.
If someone finds away to get thick hair back – please let me know.
P.S. I was washing my hair twice a week, but I wash it once every two weeks now.
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