My hair before the dreaded creamy crack

So here I am (not actually studying, oh and the glasses were my cousins..lol) with my natural hair in second year college. I think I was about 16 at the time. My stretched natural hair was about bra strap length.  I washed and conditioned every week with Pantene Pro -v, which I now realised dried out my hair.
I admit now I was one of the many who believed the myth that deep conditioning and hair treatments were not for natural hair!! Boy was I stooopid! I always wore my hair stretched out and pulled back (ALL THE TIME) Luckily though my hairline was never affected by this! Thank God! I never onced trimmed or dusted my hair when it was natural. The things I know now!! My lack thereof a healthy routine is the reason why I never retained any length. Maybe the only good thing I did was to use castor oil on my scalps and hair (thanks to Grandma for her advice).