Cornrowing Video

Quite a few people have emailed me telling me they swear I used to have a cornrow video here at Happy Girl, and now they can't find it, and are they crazy or am I? It's me, my friends. The video just inexplicably stopped working. Nothing I did would make it play, so I took it down. I'm always confused when technology fails.

I made another cornrowing video, but wasn't thrilled with it on the day I made it. I stuck it in a folder and when I went to really evaluate it, I couldn't find it. Just the other day, I happened upon it and saw why it had been such a struggle. The file was not named cornrows, or braiding, it was named tough day.

What can I say? There are days. Days when the parts won't go straight no matter what. Days when the hair doesn't seem to want to do what I have planned. Days when the kids are grumpy. Days when I am grumpy. Days when the grumpy falls over the whole house.
 
This video was made on one of those days. The traditional cornrowing technique is presented, and some handy tips too, but this was not the video I intended to make. Perhaps on a happier day, I'll make a new one. In the meantime, I hope you find this somewhat useful.

Good to Know:Tear-free Shampoo

Welcome to the first post in our series of things that are Good to Know.

Raise you hand if you have heard of tear-free baby shampoo. Raise your hand if you have heard that tear-free shampoo contains ingredients that numb the eye on contact so your little one doesn't feel the sting if some lather gets in her eye. Now, raise your hand if you heard this from a friend, relative, read it on an internet forum, a natural product web site, or got an email forward about it.

How many hands are still raised? Mine is. This tale has been whispered among parents, and sometimes hair professionals, since the 60s. It's been accepted as truth and retold countless times. Sometimes the "numbing" ingredient goes unnamed, sometimes it is described as a Novocaine derivative, or sometimes Polysorbate 20. But is this actually true?

It doesn't seem so. It's likely that the two-fold story behind tear-free shampoo is far less nefarious. Most baby shampoos are simply formulated with mild cleansers that are less likely to cause irritation. Now I'm not a chemist, but I can look up ingredients and get a very basic understanding of what they do. Check out the ingredients in Johnson's Baby Shampoo, the best known tearless shampoo. I'm not recommending this product, I am merely pointing out that it is composed of mild cleansers and that there is no "numbing agent" listed anywhere among the ingredients.

Water

Cocamidopropyl Betaine - surfactant derived from coconut oil

PEG-80 Sorbitan Laurate - surfactant

Sodium Trideceth Sulfate - cleansing agent
PEG-150 Distearate - surfactant

Fragrance

Polyquaternium-10 - antistatic agent

Tetrasodium EDTA - chelating agent (prevents deterioration of the product)
Quaternium-15 - preservative

Citric Acid - preservative

Yellow 10 and Orange 4 - color

May also contain: Citric Acid - preservative and Sodium Hydroxide - pH adjuster

The other part of the tear-free shampoo story is that in the US, there is no standard to meet for claims like tear-free. So a company can make a mild shampoo that is not likely to irritate the eyes and call it tear-free. It doesn't mean that it has any magical, or nasty, ingredients. It doesn't even mean it will be effective in preventing tears. It's all about marketing. The baby shampoo company wants you to think of their product as gentle, safe, and unlikely to cause your child any bath time boohooing.

Now isn't that Good to Know?

Darcy’s BotanicalsThree Product Giveaway!

One lucky, lucky winner is going to get to choose three Darcy's Botanicals products! 

You all know how much I love Darcy's Botanicals. I think these products are among the very best the natural hair care world has to offer. The rich Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme, luscious Peach Kernel Hydrating Milk, and wonderful Natural Coils Curling Jelly are some of my all-time favorites. We are big, big fans of Darcy's Botanicals and are thrilled that a Happy Girl Hair reader will get to try a few of these remarkable products.

To enter, you must:

1. Follow Happy Girl Hair (subscribe on the top right of the page)
2. Leave a comment on this post between now and 11:59 PM EST on March 21st. 

A winner will be chosen at random on Monday, March 22nd. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Want an extra chance to win? Just write a post about the giveaway and publish it on your blog, tweet a link to this post, or link to it on Facebook. Be sure to tell me what you've done to get an extra chance to win in your entry comment.

If you win, what are you going to choose?

Hair Day!

When I first starting teaching myself to cornrow, I was really concerned with getting the braids narrow and looking very slick. Every time my cornrows were thick, I was disappointed. But I now feel like I missed the point. It's not about perfect, tight-looking, or tiny braids. It's about what works for the braider and the child.

Just this past week, I read about how cornrows are often styled thick in Ethiopia, Jc of the The Natural Haven commented here that her mom used to do big cornrows on hair day, and I came across old photos of Little B's first cornrows and was able to see them in a new light.

This week I decided to celebrate the big cornrow. Last night I took the veil styles out and found that Little B had really dry hair, making me wonder what I did last week when box braiding. I put a lot of coconut oil in her hair and used some Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream along her hairline. I let that sit for a little while before putting her sleep cap on. Little R's hair didn't feel dry at all, so I added the normal amount of coconut oil for her pre-poo.

This morning I co-washed Little B and shampoo washed and conditioned Little R. Little B can't stand having her hair drip. It bothers her so much she will cry. I usually put a towel around her shoulders and bunch it up around her neck, but that doesn't help her forehead much. Today, I grabbed a thick, soft, stretchy headband and put it under her hairline and covering her ears. It worked perfectly, catching the drips and making her much more comfortable. I can't believe that never occurred to me before. I detangled both girls and began styling with Dracy's Botanicals Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme.

 Drip-free and eyes glued to Shaun The Sheep

Little R got a center part and then each side was divided in thirds with diagonal parts. The goal was cornrows ending in two long ponytails. I cornrowed each section and repeated on the other side, matching up the starting points of the parts. I clipped the end of each braid and when finished, banded each side together and added flower pony holders.

I gave Little B a wavy part along her hairline and cornrowed. I ended it with two big beads to help it hang down. I then parted the rest of her hair diagonally, ending in about the same spot on the lower right side of her neck. I cornrowed each section and banded each close to the scalp. I gathered all the ends together with a regular holder and flower holder on top. I fluffed up the ends into a little puff.

 

 

Too bad they will have to wear sleep caps in the house most of this week, the dog knows it's almost Spring and is shedding like crazy. This week there were many times when I heard little voices regretfully informing me "Mommy, you have dog hair all over your tushy."

Check back tomorrow for a post you will not want to miss!

Saturday Spotlight

Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight, where we feature the skills of pretty amazing Happy Girl Hair moms. Today, Mommy R and her Little I.W. are coming to us from Spain!

When I.W. came from Ethiopia she had the very long hair and tinia (scalp ringworm), with the treatment it was necessary to cut the hair. During the first months I could not test hairdos. When the summer came... as IW wanted the long hair I decided to do extensions to her with synthetic hair. It was a like that for a month. From there we find your blog and start experimenting, I sent you photos of my first Bantu knots and some hairdos that I have been practicing. What even I do not obtain is to do cornrows, I... am practicing very much.           

 Also copy the hairdo of the Princess Tiana (from) Beads Braids & Beyond, she was charmed with it.

Just now our day of hair is Saturday, we use CurlyQ's porducts though we are to starting trying new things of drugstore (natural and free of parabens) since the international orders are very expensive. To unravel us (detangle) the kakakiki brush is OK  and I am a fan of the oil of coconut. I have discovered that if the night before the hairdo I daub well the hair in coconut oil and I leave it...(it's) easy to withdraw the previous hairdo, especially if they are braids. For styling we use the Jamaican Mango and lime looking gel is great and smell very good.

Thank you for sharing your skills and experience with us Mommy R! Your Little I.W.'s styles look great!

If you would like to share a style you have recently completed, we would love to see it! Please email me at joyfulmom@happygirlhair.com with a few pictures, the first initial of your little one's name, how long the style took to complete, products/tools used, and anything else you want to share. Let's learn, share and grow together! I look forward to hearing from you.