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

April 30, 2011

Two Flat Rope Twists with Puffs

If you're looking for a style that you can do relatively quickly, that is incredibly easy on the hairline, and won't stress the scalp, this style might just fit the bill. It took me about fifteen minutes to complete both sides. It probably helped that I took great care detangling Boo's hair to make sure that when I grabbed a section it wouldn't snag, but you get the idea.

Our Styling Routine: Age 1

I'm just going to cut to it: Age one is when we really established all of the styling routine basics that we currently use. Our technique in doing so mirrored our parenting philosophy. We just figured it was easier to ask Boo to do things before the "terrible twos," when she started having an opinion about everything. Our thinking was that by the time she started deciding that she didn't want to do this or that, doing hair was already set as part of our regular activities, like eating at the same time every day, or wearing clothes. By the age of two, doing hair was just "the way we always do things," and she knew no differently.

Mama and Me Hair

I have been inspired, yet again, by all of you awesome ladies and what you can do with your little ones' hair. In fact, when Mama Trisha (hi Trisha!) posted this on our Facebook wall, many of you commented on how adorable it was. Which got me to thinking. Why don't we all try to do a "Share the Hair" with our daughters in honour of Mother's Day!?!

Dual Dutch Braids and Cornrows

This week's style was actually inspired by Kendra Wilkinson's hair from the April 18th episode of Dancing With the Stars. She had two little side Dutch braids going from front to back, and then two larger Dutch braids along the top. Clearly the top two Dutch braids had added hair to give them bulk and height, but I loved the "puffs" in the back and thought I'd give it a go on Boo's hair this week.

Easter Hairstyle 2011

Goodness, after the major hair-fail of Thursday, of which I will post more about later, I was in a quandry about what to do with Boo's hair this weekend. Earlier this week I had thought that my plans for a twist-out were going to be thwarted by the threat of rain. As it turned out, it was hot today. Very, very hot.

Book Review: Me and Neesie

It's been almost two years since Boo first met Neesie. I remember the day well. It was the first time that we went to the library for the specific reason of checking out books. Prior to that, the library was a fun time of organized baby/toddler learning activities. On this occasion, we skipped the room where all the little kids were doing their thing and headed straight to the childrens' section, filled with comfortable child-sized furniture and box full of "edible" board books.

Scabs and Scars: Helping Skin Heal Itself

Yesterday we were at our niece's fourth birthday party (yes, we're on a roll, "partying" every weekend). Boo, sitting on a swing, shouted, "Mama, can you come push me?" I turned around just in time to see her flip backward. While still holding onto the swing, feet passing over her head, it looked like she was going to make it all the way around. That is until something broke her momentum.

Helmet Hair: Being Safe AND Beautiful

Ah, I remember the days of helmet hair. Seriously. I rode a motorcycle exclusively for nearly 10 years, on top of being an avid cyclist, so I am personally all too familiar with the issues surrounding helmet hair. I had everything from a short pixie cut to long hair down to my waist, yet I was never pleased with how my hair looked after being smooshed by a helmet. I thought I had encountered everything. Until I met the afro puff.

Hot Topic: CNN Article on Weaves and Braids

Photo from CNN.com

This article was recently brought to my attention via the Yahoo Adoption Hair and Skin Care Group. It was an article on CNN.com called, Weaves, braids may speed hair loss in black women. Although I appreciate any study that helps me better understand my daughter's hair, I can't say that I was all too impressed with this article. Please indulge me while I get up on my soapbox.

Normal Play While Protecting the Hair

Boo attended a friend's fifth birthday party this past weekend. It was a Hello Kitty "dance party." *Tomboy inside of me gagging as I type.* It was fascinating watching Boo, a 3-year-old who has never taken a dance class, try to follow along. She did a lot better than I thought she was going to. But the highlight of my afternoon was when she was playing with the other kids: Boo fell on the floor, and immediately tucked her arms around her head to protect her hair from touching the floor, and thus, getting dirty. Forget about breaking a limb (or her face), Boo had her priorities!

Photobucket Under Maintenance

UPDATE 13 APRIL 2011 4:18PM PDT:
We're Back! Thanks for being so patient. All of the photos that were living on the Photobucket servers are now back, so if you were looking for instructions and/or hairstyles you can now actually see them. Still having some intermittent problems uploading new photos, but overall getting back to business.

UPDATE 13 APRIL 2011 12:29PM PDT:
Photobucket is still "doing a little work right now." There is currently no estimate as to when the work will be completed, but we expect it soon as they are working as quickly as possible. Please see Photobucket's latest post, New Maintenance Update if you're interested further details.

UPDATE 13 APRIL 2011 6:39AM PDT:
Latest word from Photobucket is that the photos won't be fixed until after 8am today (an hour and a half from now???). Photobucket gave me a free year of their Pro service for being one of the 2% of people who has been affected by this "glitch." Still can't believe it's taking this long. Again, sorry for the inconveneince and thank you for your understanding.

Hi, friends, just a brief note to let you know that Photobucket is experiencing technical difficulties on some of their servers, which include the host location of Chocolate Hair / Vanilla Care images. We are aware of the problem and expect a resolution shortly. Thanks in advance for your patience and I apologize for any inconvenience.

Our Styling Routine: Birth to 1

I know I've mentioned before that I was one of those really crazy mamas who didn't put anything other than shampoo or conditioner on my daughter until she was six months old. My rule of thumb was that if she was too young for sunscreen, a necessary component for us living at the beach, then she was too young for other products. But what it really came down to was the fact that she didn't really need a whole lot done with her hair during the first six months, minus cleaning out the spit-up (which she did quite often). As her haircare needs were quite minimal it gave us a chance to plan ahead and make some key decisions about how we were going to address those needs.

Why We Are Fans of Coconut Oil (and How We Use It)

Everyone has an opinion about the many different oils out there for hair. Some swear by coconut oil, others by carrot oil, and even more by olive oil. Truthfully, the only "right" answer is which ever one works best for you. In our house, although we have tried many, our favourite is coconut oil.

The Hair Benefits of Using Distilled Water

With all the talk of expensive, all-natural products, there's nothing cheaper out there than distilled water. You can buy it cheaply from nearly any store, or make a variation of it yourself at home. The distilling process removes both ionic and non-ionic compounds from the water. What does this mean? Well, it basically eliminates the impurities normally found in water. And this is greatly beneficial for hair.

Protective Styling for Naturally Curly Hair

Since I've been going on and on about yarn extensions this past week, talking about how it's such a great "protective style" for us, I figure it's about time to talk about my definition of a protective hairstyle and if/why they are necessary to help grow longer, healthier hair. A protective style, in my book, is simply a style that helps prevent hair breakage. Depending on your hair type, the styles chosen to achieve this could be very different.

The Sour Twists That Weren't

Yesterday was my husband's last day of work for a week, as Spring Break starts today. The weather was in the 80's here in Southern California and I was thinking that it would be a perfect day to have ice cream for dinner. Boo was shocked and amazed when I told her, repeatedly asking me, "But what else are we going to have?" Perhaps she's still a little young to appreciate the concept, but a family night out was just what we needed to get this break off on the right foot. However, as adorable as I think two ponytails are on Boo, I have to admit that they are not the most food-friendly.

Pros and Cons of Yarn Extensions

After all of this talk about putting in yarn extensions, maintaining them, styling them, etc., I think it's about time to talk about whether or not it's a good idea to be doing them at all. Obviously I like them because they work for us, but there are several things to consider before jumping in.