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

June 30, 2011

Apple iPod Touch Giveaway Ends This Evening: Enter Now

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. Thank you to all who entered. The winner has been announced, check out to see if it's you!

Teaching My Daughter NOT to Scratch Her Head

With all the styling, products, and the length of time hair stays put in one style, there are bound to be days when Boo's scalp is going to itch. She's only 3 1/2, so her initial desire is just to dig right in, fingernails and all, and start scratching away. However, we don't allow scratching. Yes, super OCD-Mom rears her ugly head again. Kids will be kids. But it's my job to do what I can to protect her, and keeping Boo from scratching her head has little to do with her ruining her style and more do to with preventing infection.

Elisa Is Back from Uganda and Ethiopia: Here Is Her Story

(photo from elisa's blog)

I started this journey in an attempt to find beauty myself. Inner Beauty that is. I had always been drawn to missionary type people and often wondered how my own life would play a part in serving others. This past month, I went on my first mission trip to Uganda, Africa. I had traveled to Ethiopia the year before to bring our daughter home, but this time my trip was dedicated to loving the sweet children of Uganda that couldn't be adopted.

(photo by SnaPsi Сталкер)

Not that our children are running around chugging back the liquor, but yes, drinking alcohol is not the best thing for our hair, as it dehydrates they body and, thus, robs our hair of necessary moisture. But I'm actually talking about the alcohol that you find in hair products. I remember when first learning to care for my own curls (when I was younger and actually had some), being told by my stylist to avoid products with the word "alcohol" in the list of ingredients, as alcohol would dry out my hair. Little did I know then that not all alcohols are bad.

California Girl to Princess in 10 Minutes Flat

Daddy needed to fix the backyard sprinklers today. So of course that meant that Boo needed to put on her swimsuit and run through them. Never mind that she's been sick this last week. A three-year-old's gotta do what a three-year-old's gotta do!

Giveaway: I'm Sharing My Winnings with One of You!

Remember all that cool stuff that I've been winning from entering contests here and there? I wrote about some of it in "Winning (and Not In the Charlie Sheen Sorta Way)." One of the things that I won was an iPod Touch from a Facebook contest a few months back. And seeing as how I already have an iPhone (which plays music) I have no reason to keep that awesome little item to myself. So I want to give it to one of you.

Update on the Dolls' Hair (from the Importance of Detangling)

It's funny, it's been about 5 months now and after featuring the story "Explaining the Importance of Detangling" a few weeks ago I got a lot of questions as to how the dolls were doing today. Have they kept their hairstyles in, or was it a complete waste of time? Boo plays with these dolls every day, and having taken updated photos, I'll let you decide (with my running commentary, of course).

Sunscreen Blues: The Difference Between Physical and Chemical Sunscreens

Last week I posted about Finding the Right Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin. Today I'll be talking about sunscreen and skin tone. This might come as a surprise to vanilla folks, but chocolate skin tones can sometimes change colour (anything from bluish/purplish, to ashy, to white) after sunscreen is applied. And the darker the skin tone, the more obvious the colour change.

Wearing the Same Style Funky or Traditional

Boo is still sporting her Rockin' Summer Hair this weekend. I love this style. Not only is it fun and full of colour for summer, but there are so many different ways she can wear it. She can go from a cool fauxhawk to an everyday traditional style in less than three minutes. And for that, we're loving the flexibility!

Family Friday: Reflecting on Father's Day 2011

Now that Boo is three, she's starting to ask a lot more questions about adoption. Recently she asked me where her birthmother was; like, what she was doing right at that very minute. I love Boo's adoption story and the sacrifice that her birth mother made for no other reason than to give Boo a better life than the one that she could provide. However, Boo's birth father is unknown, and reflecting upon Father's Day this year I have to say that I'm a wee bit jealous of my husband for that fact.

Finding the Right Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin

It's about that time. Well, in some parts of the country it's summer already. In other parts of the world, not so much. Here in Southern California, it's June gloom. Which means no sun for us, but that doesn't mean that we can't burn. The whole family wears sunscreen when out and about, including Boo. However, not all sunscreens work well with her skin.

Rockin' Summer Hair, Part 2

Okay, here it is: The much anticipated, and slightly more tame version of, the Rockin' Summer Hair, Part 1. What I really like about this style is that it can be more conservative looking (as seen above) or more fun, when pulled up on top of her head to reveal all the cornrows.

Rockin' Summer Hair, Part 1

Now that Boo is officially out of preschool, I'm taking advantage of the three weeks she will be on vacation before summer school. Wanting to do something fun and funky for a while, I'm excited to finally get the chance to do so.

Product Review: Loc Butter

To answer the many recent questions regarding what I use to keep the fuzzies at bay when doing twists and cornrows, I'm answering with our current product of choice: Carol's Daughter Loc Butter. Although the product meets our needs, there may be a few drawbacks that might be a big turn-off for potential users.

The Very Long Story of a Very Short Adoption Process

I get asked all the time about our adoption story. I had a brief version of it posted on this blog, however I felt it never did the story justice. Blogging-friend, and fellow adoptive mother Kari, is on a missions trip right now (see Update on Your Bow Donations) and to fill the void on her blog during her absence she asked for guest articles. And I thought, what a great opportunity to share the complete story of how Boo came to be with us. It's part adoption story, part testimony, but 100% the full story of the blessing that is our little girl. Head on over to My Crazy Adoption to read the story in its entirety in the post, Face Full of Freckles.

Update on Your Bow Donations

I just wanted to thank each and every one of you once again for participating in the Opportunity for You to Donate Hair Pretties to a Good Cause, donating so many wonderful items to Elisa's mission trip to Uganda and Ethiopia. The above photo is just a small sampling of the pretties you donated being distributed in Uganda by Elisa Hyman and Kari Smalley Gibson. They are in Uganda right now, loving on these orphans and blessing them in so many ways it brings tears to my eyes. I just had to update all of you. Elisa posted a big thank-you for your generosity before she left over on her blog Joy, Hope and Everything in Between. And of course, Kari of My Crazy Adoption is keeping herself and her team busy with distributing their donations, along with praying, singing, playing, and loving on all of these lovely people halfway around the world. If you are the praying type, please keep them in your prayers on their journey.

Buying Culturally Specific Items: Are They for My Daughter, or for Me?

A few days ago I received in the mail one of the cutest lunchboxes known to man. I love it! It is so adorable, I can't stop gushing about it. I love that it has a chocolate girl on it (and that she looks just like how Boo did for her Snow Princess birthday party). It also has her name on four sides (the name is blurred out in the photo above). When I saw it, I just had to have it for Boo. But to be very, very honest, she wanted a different lunchbox. And now I'm feeling guilty for buying this one instead.

Bantu Knots with Seashell Parts

I had but one goal with this week's hairstyle: No stress! After using beads, rubber bands, flat twists and/or cornrows in for the last month or so and it was just plain time to give her a style that didn't pull on her hair or require any rubber banding. Bantu knots work really well for us in this respect. I've done them before, but this is the first time I've parted them with a seashell-like pattern.

Family Friday: Our Legoland Trip

As you may recall, last week I had to make a water-friendly hair style for Boo because we won park-hopper passes to Legoland. The point of our winning was to help celebrate the Grand Opening of Splash Zoo at Legoland's Water Park. Boo was so excited to hit the water, that's all she talked about for days beforehand. However, something happened upon first entering the park that changed all of that. We never did make it to the Water Park.

Our Thoughts on Hair Snaps

Hair snaps, for those who do not know, are used in the same way as barrettes to finish off the bottom of a braid or a twist. They are handy because you can avoid using rubber bands on the hair, however they do have their drawbacks.