Chocolate Hair / Vanilla Care : Natural hair care for kids, adoption, and family life.

November 27, 2010

Easy 5 Two-Strand Twists

Take one sick Mama, add one sick Boo, and that equals one really easy hairstyle. In fact, it was so easy that we finished it last night, instead of doing our regular two-day process of wash/detangle on Friday and set on Saturday. I chose to do that in part because, well, I wanted to sleep in this morning. I have a sinus infection and I'm always at my worst first thing in the morning before I get a chance to flush everything out. So last night was the beginning and the end of styling this week.

How To Put Beads In Hair

Adding beads to hair is pretty simple, especially if you have the right tools. Well, tool. All you really need to get the job done right is a "beader" (the thing that actually helps you put the beads in the hair), beads, and rubber bands.

Ponytails with Creative Beaded Braids

We've been trying to find a week to put beads in Boo's hair but had to delay doing so because we wanted to give Boo's scalp a rest last week with free hair. With Thanksgiving coming up this Thursday, I wasn't really sure beads were going to work out for us this week, either. However, I decided to go ahead and just do two puffs with the idea of putting braids and beads in until Thursday, and then taking them out for a "braid-out" on the holiday. I chose "fall-coloured" beads in brown, orange, and a dark pink.

A Lengthy Discussion on Toddler Extensions: Part III

My three-part discussion on toddler extensions concludes today with an overview of how we maintained the extensions along with sharing a few of my experiences and thoughts on the subject. If you haven't had a chance to read Part I and Part II, feel free to do so before continuing on with this post.

When We Started Using Hair Beads

Mama Clarisse (hi Clarisse!) asked a perfectly valid question that I feel I should address more publicly for everyone who may also be interested in the answer. When did we start using beads in Boo's hair? Honestly, I didn't really remember when we first started using them so I to go back and look at photos to determine the exact age.

Product Review: Kinky-Curly Curling Custard

So here it is. After allowing Boo to have free hair on two separate occasions using Kinky-Curly Curling Custard we are ready to make an assessment on how it performed for us. Remember, Boo is a toddler, not yet 3-years-old. She still takes one nap a day, on top of sleeping a good 12 hours at night (and most of it wandering around her bed instead of sleeping in the "pretty position" on her pillow). The Kinky-Curly products are organic, all-natural and free of petroleum, mineral oil, alcohol, silicone, carbomer, wax, plastics, acrylics, and paraben. All big bonuses. The product line can be found at many Whole Foods and Target stores. Just not the ones in our area. Big minus, especially considering the fact that Amazon no longer caries the line.

A Lengthy Discussion on Toddler Extensions: Part II

This is the follow-up post to my Part I on discussion on toddler extensions. If you are new to extensions and are considering doing them for your toddler, please see the first part of this discussion for my pros and cons before taking this on. However, if you've just stopped by the post to take at look at what I did and how I did it, by all means, continue on!

Giving the Scalp a Rest with Free Hair

Although it's not our regular style day today, it sure felt like a Saturday in the house. Daddy's off for Veteran's Day (hi, Veterans, thanks for your service! *big wave*), so we started this morning just like we would any other Saturday morning. After all, in Boo's mind it must be a Saturday if Daddy's home, right?

A Lengthy Discussion on Toddler Extensions: Part I

My choice to do extensions in Boo's hair was less for the chance for her to have long hair, and more for practicality's sake. Earlier this year we found out that our offer had been accepted on a short sale house that we bid on last year (finally!). We were going to be moving, but we weren't sure exactly when. In order to save money, we opted to move in with the grandparents until we closed. Given the lengthy process of the typical "short sale," we had no idea how long we were going to be with the in-laws, so I made a choice to do a hairstyle that I knew would not need to be redone for at least a month, hopefully longer. And it's something that I always wanted to try, so it seemed as good a time as any to give it go.

Stress Bumps: Avoiding Traction Alopecia

Funny, I had typed the beginning of a post on a topic I was going to talk about this morning while Boo was at preschool, only to have to put that on hold and write about something completely different when she got home. When Boo left this morning her hair looked fine (after our normal morning style and moisture check), but when she came home I found her head covered in the dreaded "stress-bumps." Argh! In my house, that only means one thing: Time to take the style out and give her head a rest.

Family Photos: It's Not Just Black and White

Yay, we made it through family photo day yesterday! All went well despite the fact that Boo was cranky. We even ended up running out of light, as we scheduled our appointment without realizing it was the day Daylight Savings Time ended. D'oh! But I am seriously impressed with the results. So much so that I actually broke my rule of not showing recognizable photos of Boo because I just can't help not sharing!

Removing Rubber Bands: Some Tools and Tricks

Photo by Helen Rickard

Yet another Friday is passing without doing hair. Boy, does this feel strange. Boo's enjoying the break with Daddy, visiting the grandparents and I am doing what I do best: getting OCD about stuff I have to do! One of the things that I've been working on is going through Boo's hair stuff. In doing so I realized that I couldn't find my small nail clippers. Then it dawned on me that I have yet to talk about what we used to use them for.

First School Photo Hairdo: Our Redone Veil

School photos. Never in a million years did I think that they would arrive when Boo was only 2-years-old. And yet, here they are. Seeing as how her style from last week photographed so well, coupled with the fact that the style held up so well, we decided to go with the same thing, without washing between. Her hair was very well moisturized, not really dirty at all, and was looking really healthy so I didn't see any reason to mess with it. So for school photos tomorrow (and our family photos this coming Sunday) we'll be doing the veil style from last week.....but with a new "twist."

Changing Parts to Promote Hair Growth

Yeah, okay, maybe the title is a little more ambitious than this post. The reason that I'm writing about this right now is because it's relevant to what I'm doing this week. In fact, I'm going to be doing the opposite of what I recommend in this post. Go figure. Because that never happens!