Back in the day....

What was your reggie as a child? I had super curly medium textured hair.. my mom used water, blue magic... vaseline... and any type of hand lotion available in the house... usually by vaseline as well... I think it was vaseline hand and nail. My cousins with the "really good" hair used to clown me because they said I was gonna have hands and nails growing out of my hair.. lol. They didn't need styling products...all they needed was "water"... We couldn't stand the smell of sulfur 8 or infusium... I used to think that if she used that it was a punishment...lmao. When I got older, I would have one super long ponytail with "let's jam" slicked down the sides to make it wave up and a wave brush with a water bottle. Around that time is when we found pink oil moisturizer... My hair was probably about hip bone then.. no relaxer. If I can find some scannable pics, I'll add them.

My mom and I were cracking up on the phone today about how far I've come as a PJ from meager beginnings.

Ahh those were the days...when any regular house supplies could be hair supplies... lol...

ADDED PICS!!! Bring on the pics folx!


10th Grade
(Natural; took my mama like 8 hours to do my signature 1/2 up; 1/2 down picture look..note the matching scrunchie)




Senior Yr Homecoming
(Still rocking the 1/2 up 1/2 down.. but with a french roll (you know that's OLD SKOOL).. had just gotten my first relaxer two weeks before this pic)





Senior Year Grad Picture




Freshman Yr @ School
(Don't talk about me.. this was one of my favorite hairstyles.. the girl across the hall loved playing in my hair)










Undergrad Graduation
(D@mn... 4 years later.. APL in the front; barely BSL in the back)

My mother used to wash my hair once a week and used Blue Magic. She combed my hair daily and I never had cornrows. I always had about 2-4 ponytails. I got my hair pressed 2-3 times a year for super special occasions. I had BSL hair.

Lucie said:

My mother used to wash my hair once a week and used Blue Magic. She combed my hair daily and I never had cornrows. I always had about 2-4 ponytails. I got my hair pressed 2-3 times a year for super special occasions. I had BSL hair.

Click to expand...

I know that blue magic had some unsavory (that's my new favorite term) ingredients in it... I'm sure we all used that... and had long hair... which makes me wonder if the ingredients really do matter all that much....

Oh pressing was a picture day/church fashion show event... not for the faint of heart... she'd do all that work.. then I'd think about sweating and the hair would be all poofy again...

Yes and what's up with people not combing the kids hair daily now? My mom combed me daily... until I was like 12 .. it was too much hair... when I did it..it was a ponytail.

Wash and ponytails monday -friday. Granny always pressed my hair on sunday mornings with blue magic. And burned the back of my ears.

Oh God....
My mom would wash my hair every 2 months, rollerset and put in ptotective styles. If I was lucky I'd get a French braid or two braided ponytails. Most days I wasn't so lucky - at any given time I'd have anywhere between 3 to 5 buns in my hair. She'd brush my hair every day and apply nasty Vaseline all over. Maybe once a year she'd press my hair for church and I'd be so happy!

Doing the math and looking at old pictures I believe I was tailbone length. Lost all the length after my first relaxer.

The same thing I do now. Shampoo, Condish and some Amla on the ends.

Before I was relaxed, my grandmother would send me to the beauty school every two weeks to have my hair braided.

When I was relaxed, my weekly routine (which my grandmother performed until I was in high school) was:

-Wash hair with shampoo
-Deep condition hair for 15 minutes and wash out
-Blow dry
-(Maybe a press if I had a lot of new growth)
-Curl with curling iron (in high school, I would have Granny press my hair for a straight look)
-Roll hair

It would take almost all day to do my hair. I would also grease my scalp if it was itchy, but I think I stopped that sometime in high school because I was embarrassed by the grease stains I would leave.

The surprising thing is that even with all that heat, my hair looked healthy. Well, I should say healthy for hair that has been through a lot of heat. Most of my damage came from comes. I loved to rake through dry hair, and that is when I lost most of my hair. I seriously think if I would have done more moisture and less combing (and not allowing stylists to trim every relaxer), I would have been alright.

Wash day was every Saturday or Sunday using who knows what shampoo and conditioner. My mom would detangle while it was wet and blow dry it.I distinctly remember her using Pink Lotion, body lotion (back then the Vaseline lotion was used if she couldn't get her hands on the Pink Lotion), and the TCB hair grease. My hair was kept in ponytails through out the week.

That was it really.

Either puffs, plaits, or a press. Blue magic, water, and mane 'n tail shampoo. Mom DC'd with hair mayonnaise.

Cream of nature shampoo
Egg and water after
Infusium 23
Ponytails redone daily with pink oil moisturizer until I was about 13 then I got a relaxer
Press for picture day
I was about bsl

Wash my hair once a week or every week and half with cream of nature or optimum care shampoo. And spray infusium or Stay so fro. That's it. My hair was BSL and THICK!

Now, that I think about it. It was probably the low manipulation/ponying that helped so much because my mom didn't even know what conditioner was until a while ago. She never used any conditioner on my hair.

I usually had cornrows or three plaits (one on each side and one in the back grandma's child) Had my hair press n curled for special occasions and Holidays...There was always Dax or Blue Magic in the house...my hair was long and thick until the 1st relaxer when I was in Middle School...after that it was short and chewed up...the breakage started in the back and ended up all over

ya know.....i dont remember too much. except that every so often i would take the dining room chair and sit it in our tiny kitchen to get ready for the pressing of my hair. my hair was thick thick thick back then but was about apl and i always had to hold my ears or put paper towel over my neck. we also used blue magic, dax(the black stinky grease) and pink oil moisturizer which i always called pink oisturemizer because i couldnt seperate the two words lol.

Water, Blue Grease or Vaseline and my sister's growing hands. I had really thick hair so I had multiple braids and ponies most of the time. My hair was always down my back (when pressed--I have MAJOR shrinkage). My mother relaxed my hair when I was four. She said she couldn't deal with the "ropes" that formed after washing my hair. It took years of me abusing my hair trying to be cute for it to fall out--actually, I used to get it cut often because my folks believed in healthy looking ends no matter what. It finally started getting long after graduating high school.

Back in the day
When I was young
i'm not a kid anymore
But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again

Your thread title just brought back some memories

I grew up in CA, so I never had to deep condition. We washed once a week with creme of nature red label, used some Infusium 23, set hair with Lottabody, and dried under our bonnet dryer. That was it for YEARS!! I didn't start deep conditioning until I went to Oberlin for college, and then came out to DC for law and went natural. Mom's still on the same routine, and her 40 years relaxed hair is still MBL at almost 62.

My mom used to wash my hair bi-weekly. She mainly conditioned and moisturized when she was done. Then she would grease my scalp with whatever new grease she bought that week. Then she'd put chinese/china bumps (bantu knots) in my hair and let it air dry.

Summer was always wash and braid, with grease. Any kind. I remember she used to have a big cup of water to dip the brush in.

During the school year, sometimes braids. Mostly 2-4 ponytails. Same big cup of water

She would wash my hair every week or every other week.

I HATED HATED HATED getting my hair pressed. I loved the results but HATED getting presses. Thank goodness she didn't do that often. Me and my sisters have so many stories and laughs about getting presses. Ugh.

I had bottom of the neck length hair. My younger sister had waist length hair. We have the same parents, but, we caught different family genes. My Mom didn't want me looking picky headed next to my sister's long braids or twists, so I did not wear braids.

She washed and pressed my hair every 2 to 4 weeks from the time I was six 'til I was 12. Or, she sent me to the hair dressers to get it done. She greased my scalp with Sulfur 8 and used things like Glover's Mange, (another incredibly stinky product), when she washed it. She rolled it in sponge rollers almost every night.

When I was 12 she gave me a Dark N Lovely No-lye perm. I think it was the first one for the home market. My then, I rolled it every night. I never saw a curling iron until I was 15 years old.

pink oil moisturizer was my staple
my mom would comb my hair when she found me i would hide from her because i would cry during the combing of my hair!
but she would put it in pigtails usually
i got my hair "braided" once and i hated it
my head is too sensitive to have braids on it like that
i got a relaxer around 4th grade
my hair was waist length
i lost it all...

Wash and condition with Creme of Nature once a week (bending over the sink hurting my neck), braid into 5 or 6 braids with blue magic and baby lotion. Redo braids every 2 days and spray with water and more blue magic. I had waistlength hair...until I found relaxers...

For some reason, I cant remember what my mom did to my hair...except for them special occasions when she pulled out the stove-top pressing comb and grease, and I hated every minute of it!

My mom kept my hair braided until about 6/7th grade. But the routine was shampoo once a week, leavin conditioner, dax lanolin and then some braids. I had waist length hair and was thick as heck in a very tight wavy texture.

When i got to about 7th grade i got my first relaxer becuase my mother had really bad arthritis. Then I wanted to take "care" of it and screwed it alll up.

Added pics!!!

I'm cracking up that Blue Magic was like the staple of back in the day... lmao!!

Am I the only one that didn't use blue magic?

When I was younger my mom kept me in braids or twists with my own hair or with extensions. Then when I was about 12 I started getting pressed. So I wore a wrap for a couple years. My hair was medium length (btwn SL and APL) but it was THICK and shiny. Then I went back to braids for most of high school and college.

When I was younger my mom only used Tressemee (sp?) in our hair because she heard it was the best from a hair dresser. And we weren't allowed to use gel or anything with alcohol. And she used to grease our hair/scalp with olive oil randomly but not often. We got washed every couple of weeks. In braids, we almost never washed our hair (gross).

If my mom or I knew the importance of moisturizing and how to retain ends, I would have definitely had longer hair.

Dang Fab you had some seriously long hair back in da day!

Ain't no telling what products my mom used but my hair was never even touching SL. She used to just take me to the shop and let them deal with it. I alternated from a jherri curl to braid extensions from age 5-12. After that I got a relaxer and shortly after found black glue and weave.

Oh well...I'm here now.

Tarae said:

Summer was always wash and braid, with grease. Any kind. I remember she used to have a big cup of water to dip the brush in.

During the school year, sometimes braids. Mostly 2-4 ponytails. Same big cup of water

She would wash my hair every week or every other week.

I HATED HATED HATED getting my hair pressed. I loved the results but HATED getting presses. Thank goodness she didn't do that often. Me and my sisters have so many stories and laughs about getting presses. Ugh.

Click to expand...

I remember that big cup of water with the brush!! It's a wonder that I even had edges!!!

my hair was so thick that nobody wanted to comb my hair. I got it washed once a month if that. The front of my hair was brushed then pulled back in a ponytail to look like it all was combed , When I turned 13 I begged for a ultra sheen relaxer, I was looking back at the pics I was waistlength back then but it didn't last long

shasha8685 said:

Wash day was every Saturday or Sunday using who knows what shampoo and conditioner. My mom would detangle while it was wet and blow dry it.I distinctly remember her using Pink Lotion, body lotion (back then the Vaseline lotion was used if she couldn't get her hands on the Pink Lotion), and the TCB hair grease. My hair was kept in ponytails through out the week.

That was it really.

Click to expand...

OHHHHHHH... TCB... how the hell did I forget the doggone TCB.. it was another "skrong" smelling pomade. At my school the boys would clown you if your hair smelled like stuff...

Yup.. my daily was a ponytail. I think that helped with retention... But we would jazz them up.. Would make one super long pony tail with like 40 or 50 two strand twist ponytails.. and then an elastic at the bottom. it was my signature hair style... hmmm I gotta find some pics of that..they're probably at my parents house.

jreagins said:

Cream of nature shampoo
Egg and water after
Infusium 23
Ponytails redone daily with pink oil moisturizer until I was about 13 then I got a relaxer
Press for picture day
I was about bsl

Click to expand...

My mother always used like Pantene.. and Optimum to wash my hair...remember Optimum???

I don't think we ever had creme of nature... oh and Johnson and Johnson's..she still washed my hair with baby poo...

What was the egg and water for?????

Luscious Locks said:

Wash my hair once a week or every week and half with cream of nature or optimum care shampoo. And spray infusium or Stay so fro. That's it. My hair was BSL and THICK!

Now, that I think about it. It was probably the low manipulation/ponying that helped so much because my mom didn't even know what conditioner was until a while ago. She never used any conditioner on my hair.

Click to expand...

Exactly low manipulation works... if you think about it.. we had great hair.. without watching sulfates, parabens..and don't get me started on mineral oil... I think my mama didn't like a product unless it had daggone mineral oil in it... I think she even used baby oil sometimes...

scorpian said:

I usually had cornrows or three plaits (one on each side and one in the back grandma's child) Had my hair press n curled for special occasions and Holidays...There was always Dax or Blue Magic in the house...my hair was long and thick until the 1st relaxer when I was in Middle School...after that it was short and chewed up...the breakage started in the back and ended up all over

Click to expand...

My mother HATED corn rows.. I think growing up in MS had something to do with it.. I had some cornrows like once... at my godparents house for the summer..with beads... (yeah like Stevie).. they kept getting caught in my pants...and they were heavy as heck..needless to say as soon as I got back.. them cornrows came out... and they were giving instructions not to do that to my hair ever again..lol.. it was a big deal.

chebaby said:

ya know.....i dont remember too much. except that every so often i would take the dining room chair and sit it in our tiny kitchen to get ready for the pressing of my hair. my hair was thick thick thick back then but was about apl and i always had to hold my ears or put paper towel over my neck. we also used blue magic, dax(the black stinky grease) and pink oil moisturizer which i always called pink oisturemizer because i couldnt seperate the two words lol.

Click to expand...

She couldn't stand DAX... how cute "pink oisturmizer"...

LookingandListening said:

Water, Blue Grease or Vaseline and my sister's growing hands. I had really thick hair so I had multiple braids and ponies most of the time. My hair was always down my back (when pressed--I have MAJOR shrinkage). My mother relaxed my hair when I was four. She said she couldn't deal with the "ropes" that formed after washing my hair. It took years of me abusing my hair trying to be cute for it to fall out--actually, I used to get it cut often because my folks believed in healthy looking ends no matter what. It finally started getting long after graduating high school.

Click to expand...

4!!!! Oh my... my mother warned me about perms.. but hey... you never listen.. and rearview is 20/20... don't think it was the perms that did me in.. but the daily flat ironing when I was at school and the color all over the place...

Je Ne Sais Quoi said:

Back in the day
When I was young
i'm not a kid anymore
But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again

Your thread title just brought back some memories

Click to expand...

Umm that was the jammmm....

Tarae said:

Summer was always wash and braid, with grease. Any kind. I remember she used to have a big cup of water to dip the brush in.

During the school year, sometimes braids. Mostly 2-4 ponytails. Same big cup of water

She would wash my hair every week or every other week.

I HATED HATED HATED getting my hair pressed. I loved the results but HATED getting presses. Thank goodness she didn't do that often. Me and my sisters have so many stories and laughs about getting presses. Ugh.

Click to expand...

Ok me and you were like hair twins... except for the washing.. I think it was once per month.. but my hair was never greasy for that reason... she never blow dried until I got "older".. she would two strand twist in ponytails and then redo when I got up...we'd both be sleepy as heck... lol.

Daisimae said:

I had bottom of the neck length hair. My younger sister had waist length hair. We have the same parents, but, we caught different family genes. My Mom didn't want me looking picky headed next to my sister's long braids or twists, so I did not wear braids.

She washed and pressed my hair every 2 to 4 weeks from the time I was six 'til I was 12. Or, she sent me to the hair dressers to get it done. She greased my scalp with Sulfur 8 and used things like Glover's Mange, (another incredibly stinky product), when she washed it. She rolled it in sponge rollers almost every night.

When I was 12 she gave me a Dark N Lovely No-lye perm. I think it was the first one for the home market. My then, I rolled it every night. I never saw a curling iron until I was 15 years old.

Click to expand...

Oh wow... Glovers mange... that stff smells ORRIBLAY... lol. I laughed too hard at this part... I always wondered how that worked if there was two different textures on siblings..
My Mom didn't want me looking picky headed next to my sister's long braids or twists, so I did not wear braids


my cousins who were sisters/first cousins all had the same silky, sandy hair.. I was "nappy headed" compared to them.

sharifeh said:

pink oil moisturizer was my staple
my mom would comb my hair when she found me i would hide from her because i would cry during the combing of my hair!
but she would put it in pigtails usually
i got my hair "braided" once and i hated it
my head is too sensitive to have braids on it like that
i got a relaxer around 4th grade
my hair was waist length
i lost it all...

Click to expand...

Aww punkin... I cried too... during the detangling part... was adamant about doing that everydangonday...

clarity2008 said:

Wash and condition with Creme of Nature once a week (bending over the sink hurting my neck), braid into 5 or 6 braids with blue magic and baby lotion. Redo braids every 2 days and spray with water and more blue magic. I had waistlength hair...until I found relaxers...

Click to expand...

Yeah I didn't go to a salon until the 7th grade (for a fashion show..I think I begged for months).. so I thought everybody got their head done with their back bent over the sink... slow.. I know.

Fullypersuaded7 said:

For some reason, I cant remember what my mom did to my hair...except for them special occasions when she pulled out the stove-top pressing comb and grease, and I hated every minute of it!

Click to expand...

LOl... black outs usually are not good memories...

SoAnxious12 said:

My mom kept my hair braided until about 6/7th grade. But the routine was shampoo once a week, leavin conditioner, dax lanolin and then some braids. I had waist length hair and was thick as heck in a very tight wavy texture.

When i got to about 7th grade i got my first relaxer becuase my mother had really bad arthritis. Then I wanted to take "care" of it and screwed it alll up.

Click to expand...

Girl is this not everybody's story... something about when we take over...then relaxer... then sad story...

DesiRae said:

Dang Fab you had some seriously long hair back in da day!

Ain't no telling what products my mom used but my hair was never even touching SL. She used to just take me to the shop and let them deal with it. I alternated from a jherri curl to braid extensions from age 5-12. After that I got a relaxer and shortly after found black glue and weave.

Oh well...I'm here now.

Click to expand...

Girl HAD is the operative word... I used to could do anything to it.. and it stayed long... yeah.. that ended in my mid twenties... we right here together...loL!!!