How to Add Beads to Hair

Last week's style stayed in Little B and Little R's hair like a dream. I credit the very thorough detangling job I did and the Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme I used to create the braids. This style was part of the Beads, Braids & Beyond style challenge. If you haven't voted yet, head over and pick your favorite (as long as it's Little B or Little R). I could have left this style in another week, but what fun would that be?

I decided to keep it pretty simple today. Little B's scalp could probably use a break, so she has a wash and go. Okay, I also threw in a couple of little twists, a couple of headbands and a barrette just for fun. I did try Giovanni Direct Leave-In on her hair today, and in a few days I'll review it for you.

The white stuff is product. It disappears as the hair dries.

Little R got washed, conditioned, and detangled today. I tried Giovanni Direct Leave-In on her too. It made detangling a snap; Little R even brushed her own hair with the Kakakiki brush. I gave Little R a simple variation on this hairstyle featured at The Story of a Princess and Her Hair. I staggered the braids just by being mindful of where in the section I started them. I added big beads to the ends for a more finished look.

Recently, a reader (Hi Diane!) asked about beading. I've made this little video bead tutorial for your viewing pleasure. I have two quick production notes before you watch it. First, I have to apologize for the distracting audio quality. The awful microphone makes it sound like I have very pronounced lisp. Come to think of it, the video quality isn't that great either. Maybe Santa will bring me one of these. Second, if you watch the beginning closely, you can see the cat trying to sneak up to the dog, who is quietly laying under the table at Little R's feet. As soon as she gets within a foot of him, she scoots away in a hurry. Enjoy!

Washing, Conditioning and Detangling Time: 10 minutes for Little R, less than 10 minutes for Little B (no detangling)
Styling time: 15 minutes for Little R, 2 for Little B
This week's entertainment: This pretty cool toy.

Saturday Spotlight

Welcome to Saturday Spotlight! I hope you are ready to be inspired by the Nubian knots Mommy M did for her daughter Little P. Nubian (or Bantu or Zulu) knots are such a fun style. M says,

I usually detangle really well at night, then in the morning I just use a spray bottle with water and a little leave in conditioner. For the Nubian knots it was so easy it was ridiculous. To get P to sit down, I feed her Annie's Bunny Crackers one at a time! I did use a little Loc It Up. The Loc It Up was nice because it kept the knots from getting fly away parts or fuzz.

Mommy M made the knots using this video as a guide. Little P's hair has just become long enough to begin styling, so M is working on her fist styles. She told me it felt great to do these. They sure look great too! M also added,

Later that night, in the tub, I took the knots out and used those same parts as before to make tiny little experimental braids and experimented with putting snaps on them. It was very very cute and I'm excited to know that she's got the length to start playing around with doing braids.

Thank you for sharing these M! Your Nubian knots are terrific!


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.

What Brings This Mom Joy

Girls who lend a helping hand.

Girls who are proud.

Girls who look in the mirror and smile.

Girls who are thrilled to be who they are.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm taking a break from enjoying my vegetarian turkey substitute thingy (keep dreaming Wally) to remind you about the Darcy's Botanicals (25% off and they are introducing new products) and Qhemet Biologics  (20% off) sales tomorrow. My shopping list includes Natural Coils Curling Jelly and Peach Kernel Hydrating Milk from Darcy's Botanicals and Amla and Olive Heavy Cream and Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee form Qhemet. The Natural Coils Jelly is new and I can't wait to try it. I've been waiting to try Qhemet again for a long time. I'm looking forward to sharing some product reviews with you.

Time for pie. Enjoy the day!

Our Friend Penguin

Our house is very dry in the winter. And a dry house means dry skin and hair. We've got lots of products to combat the dryness but I like to use an additional, very simple and effective way to improve the condition of our skin and hair. I'm talking about our friend Penguin, or Pengweeng as Little R says, a cool mist humidifier. Do you have one of these or something similar sitting around?

Humidifiers are so useful when kids have a cold, but they are also excellent for adding much needed moisture to dry winter air. All that forced air central heating can make homes in our rainy Pacific Northwest feel like the desert. If you have a humidifier tucked away some where, give it a try this winter. I like to set it up in the room where the kids are playing or watching TV. Ours is pretty quiet, filterless, reasonably-priced, adjustable, and pumps out a lot of mist. There are many types available though, some with a bigger capacity that would be great for use in a family room. If you don't have one and don't envision yourself getting one, try placing bowls of water around the house instead. Or you can boil a large pot of water and set it on a counter, table, or someplace else out of the reach of little hands, and let the hot steam add moisture to the air. Try adding a few cinnamon sticks or cloves to it for extra enjoyment. Your skin and hair (and your child's) will thank you!

Box Pattern Veil Style

Hair Day started last night when I took the styles out of the girls' hair. Little B had cornrows in just the front of her hair, so I sat crisscross applesauce on the bed with a pillow in my lap and had her rest her head on the pillow. That made it easy for me for take the cornrows out while my better half read a few chapters of Farmer Boy to all of us. I mostly used my fingers to remove the braids, but used a pin tail comb to unravel the tiny first stitches of each braid. Once it was all out, I worked a generous amount of coconut oil into her hair as well as Little R's. Little R's hair has felt very dry on the ends this past week, it will be interesting to see if I can moisturize it enough today. If not, I'll know it's time to trim her ends.

I'm taking the style challenge at Beads, Braids & Beyond, so this week we did a modified veil style. I began with Little R. I washed and conditioned her hair, giving her a final rinse with 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar (ACV) and 1tsp honey mixed in 1c of warm water. (The vinegar smells goes away when the hair dries)

I parted Little R's hair down the center and then across her head twice, just in front of and just past her ears. I made eight boxes out of the front sections and left the back in two big sections. In the eight boxes, I banded the hair at the base, added styling cream and either braided the whole section, or divided it and made two braids. I then crossed braids while bringing them back to the next row of boxes. I then repeated the process. This differs from the veil style in that the boxes are not in a brick pattern and the actual braids cross each other. I decorated each section with some cute little flower clips. When I got to the final sections in the back, I chose to braid them on Little R.

Since the back of Little B's hair has been loose all week and the front has been in cornrows for two weeks, I took a different approach to cleaning her hair today. I didn't want to dry her out with shampoo, but also wanted a good scrub where her cornrows were to stimulate the scalp and gently exfoliate any clogged pores. I used a tablespoon of brown sugar mixed with conditioner and gently massaged it into her scalp along her hairline. It's important to do this to dry hair, otherwise the sugar will dissolve immediately. After rinsing, I did a normal cowash and ACV and honey rinse.

I also took a different approach to detangling Little B today. I made the sections for the same style I gave Little R and then clipped them. I then added styling cream to each section, detangled thoroughly with a detangling comb and then Kakakiki brush. After detangling each section, I braided in the same pattern as Little R's hair. When I got to the two final sections in back, I left them as puffs. I decorated each section with a flower clip.

I love the way the way these turned out. I will be emailing my photos for the style challenge soon. If you plan on joining us for the style challenge, please remember to have your photos to Beads, Braid & Beyond in by 11/24!

This is the section where I usually tell you how long it all took and what we watched, but we got a dog (!) today and that has driven all that information from my mind. I think I started around 8:30 and finished about 11:00.

Saturday Spotlight

This week, we get a peek at some very beautiful cornrows. Mommy A has been honing her styling skills since she learned she was having a girl- seven years ago! All that practice has sure paid off. Look at the gorgeous cornrows she recently did for her daughter, Little I.

Mommy A used Ampro Protein Styling Gel for this style, and all of her styles too. She said, "We watched a few episodes of Dora and then she read me some princess books while I worked on this style. It took about an hour and a half and we both just love how it turned out!"

Mommy A, you are an inspiration! Thanks for sharing your skills and your Little I with us today!

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. 

Crazy Hair Day

Catherine Anderson, blogger, educator, poet, and mother, has generously allowed me to post her poem Crazy Hair Day here at Happy Girl Hair. I hope it resonates with you as much as it does with me. It was originally published in Hip Mama Magazine, in October 2009. You can read more of Catherine's work on her fantastic blog, Mama C and the Boys.

Crazy Hair Day

When crazy hair day is posted
as this weeks Friday activity
(last week was a picture of your pet,
the week prior a souvenir...)
you, the mother of the only
African-American child
in the preschool class
has the right to
pause
and consider
your approach.

Do you comment,
boycott,
suggest an alternative,
adapt
or educate?
You consider
each of the above
in three second
intervals
and land
on the combination
you are most familiar with:
adapt and educate

When your son's hair
does not invite
barrettes, gel, or braids
you have reason to consider
the value of
crazy hair day.

On the Thursday before
you mention to the teacher in your most
diplomatic
engaging
and cautiously insistent
voice that it would be appreciated if the class
could consider options for all kinds of hair
for success tomorrow.

Excuse me?

Well, crazy hair day can be a little
complicated for tight curly hair
like his.

A flash of realization washes over her face.

Oh my, I hadn't considered..

It's fine.
We'll figure it out.
They have hair sprays
you tell her, in pink and blue..

Your scour the shelves of the drug store
and explain to the manager
wearing the toupee
your predicament.
45 minutes later
as the groceries melt in the trunk
you find it,
the perfect solution
tucked behind the blush
and the tanning cream

***

Three days later and Sam still has
silver sparkle intergalactic eyeshadow
in his hair-
in five
long
Star Wars pilot Darth Vader
stripes.

It was a huge success.
and lasted longer then the braids,
the gel, the rubber bands and
all the other
Caucasian hair accouterments.

Crazy.

Style Update

Lately, I've been feeling a more creative with the girls' hair. I've also been having a good time tweaking their hair styles mid-week for a little more variety. I have to credit Nikki at Beads, Braids & Beyond (Hi Nikki!) for giving me tons of styling inspiration.

Little R started out the week wearing some cornrows along her hairline that were gathered and pulled back into a braided knot.

Yesterday, I decided to take the knot and the beads out and make another row behind the cornrows. I divided that second row into two and put the tail end of the cornrows in the part between the sections. I wrapped the hair from the two sections over the braid and then braided it all together, making a piggyback braid.  I pulled her loose hair into a ponytail and tucked the two ends of the piggyback braids into the elastic holding the pony tail. I added a few flowers for a festive look.

This is a little askew. I couldn't get her to hold her head straight. 

It's not the style. Really. I swear!

Little B had a traditional Ethiopian style decorated with large white pony beads this week. I have to admit, I didn't love the style on her. It just didn't suit her face, so I switched it up.

I took out the beads and elastics and undid about an inch of each cornrow. I did this while she was in the tub, so after I banded the shortened cornrows, I put conditioner in her hair and over her cornrows. I left in for a few minutes and then rinsed it out. I took two cornrows at time and banded the ends together with some ancient butterfly pony tail holders I have. I think of this style as a half-afro, or Hafro. I used a pick and my Kakakiki brush to integrate the newly unbraided hair into the hair that had been loose all week. Sadly, the butterflies started falling off the pony holders (I told you they were old.) so I think we'll have to go for ballies.  

Curl Up With a Good Read

Early this morning I did my usual routine of sipping coffee, made deliciously complete with a large dollop of hot fudge that was languishing in the fridge, and looking over my favorite blogs. When I came to Honeysmoke, I read an interesting post about Honeysmoke's recent appointment with Tiffany Anderson, The Curl Whisperer. I think I might have been extra excited because my favorite conditioner was mentioned. Head on over to Honeysmoke and read all about it.

International AdoptionTravel & Hair Care

Southern Ethiopia

Many HGH readers are adoptive moms or adoptive moms-to-be. Often, moms ask what hair care products and tools they should bring when they travel to be united with their children. The great news, and short answer, is not much. While hair care is a footnote in the huge production of adoption travel, it's only natural to think about it. It's one of those few details within our control, right along with how many pull-ups to bring and what size shoes to pack.

We've talked about infant hair care before and the same goes for travel. A gentle cleanser, a soft brush, and a little oil is all that's needed. For a very young infant with little hair, the brush and oil can probably wait until after homecoming. Even very young infants can have ringworm, so a topical medication would be a good thing to pack.

A little more might be required for older kids, or it might not. Many a mom has arrived to find her child's head has been recently shaved. A recently shaved head will also be fine with gentle cleanser and a little oil or moisturizer like a tiny dab of conditioner. Kid's heads are generally shaved to help control the fungus and lice that can flourish when a lot of children live together. It's a good idea to bring an anti-fungal cream like Lotrimin. Ringworm on the scalp (tinea capitis) can be very tough to get rid of and all ringworm is contagious, so it's important to talk to the doctor about it at that first appointment. Often tinea capitis requires oral medications and it can cause some bald spots. Some families bring lice medication too. I've only run across a few families who needed it, but if brings you peace of mind, go ahead and bring it.

Most shaved heads are a surprise, so it's wise to pack as though the child does have hair. Fortunately, it can be kept very simple. A conditioner that can be used to wash and/or as a leave-in, and a wide-toothed comb are the basics. If you have a girl, a few headbands or a barrette can make her feel very special. The tiny metal barrettes that close with a bend in the middle can work for almost any length hair. Some people chose to bring a shampoo as well, but unless you know you will have access to a tub or shower and a good water supply, I'd probably skip the shampoo. Bathing your toddler or preschooler when you have just met can be a challenge, so a full on shampooing and conditioning might be a bit much. I think I used a little baby wash on a wash cloth and some warm water to cleanse, but I could have used conditioner instead. Plain water will do the job for the short term too. A conditioner wash would probably be fine for a school age child. After cleansing, a bit more conditioner can be added for a leave-in or very light detangling.

I always think it's a good idea to wait until getting settled in at home before buying and trying out lots of products. It's really hard to know what a child's hair texture is from a photo and once you are home, you can take your time to learn about your child's hair texture and figure out the hair's needs as it changes with a new diet and a new climate.

Infant Hair Care Packing List

a mild cleanser
Lotrimin or other topical antifungal cream

Optional:
baby brush
small amount of oil (jojoba, olive, or coconut)

Older Child Hair Care Packing List
conditioner (for use in cleansing, detangling, and as a leave-in)
wide-toothed, or detangling comb
Lotrimin or other topical antifungal cream

Optional:
a separate leave-in product
a gentle shampoo
rat tail comb for parting
hair accessories for girls
a small, empty spray bottle you can fill with bottled water for quick hair refreshing or a commercially prepared light moisturizing spray
small amount of oil (jojoba, olive, or coconut)

Those are the basics I recommend for a short trip of a week or two. If your trip is several weeks long and you are adopting an older child who will be in your care most of that time, you might include the optional list and also add a moisturizing styling aid to hold any styles. Some parents have enough time to take older daughters to a braiding salon while in the child's birth country. If that isn't possible, a few simple puffs can be accomplished with a rat tail comb for parting, your fingers for gathering hair, and ponytail holders.

Wishing you and your little one a safe and happy journey!

Is Water Good for Natural Hair?

I recently received a question from a reader (Hi Wanda!) about water and curly hair. It is a common belief that water and curly hair don't mix all that well, but science doesn't really support that. My personal hair hero, JC at The Natural Haven does a great job of separating myth from scientific fact in this post. Go on and read it, and then come right back.

I can say that from personal experience, I've found water keeps my girls' hair in very good condition. A daily water spritz followed by hair milk is just fine. My girls also swim twice a week and I think their hair looks best and is moisturized best when it's been immersed in water a few times a week. We rinse well in fresh water before they get the pool and then rinse thoroughly again when they get out. There are many people with natural hair who conditioner wash or rinse daily. If you check out the first ingredient of most hair products, you will see water listed. Some brands might call it an aqueous infusion-of-whatever, but it's water.

So go ahead and experiment. You may find that wetting the hair once or twice a week is perfect for your child's (or your own) hair, or that once every two weeks is better. You can't know until you try.

While we are talking about water, I want to take a minute to tell you how grateful I am that we can even have this conversation. 1.1 billion people don't have access to clean, safe drinking water. Until a couple of years ago, Little B and Little R were among that number.

Please join me in showing gratitude for the water we have by helping those without. Here's how to do it:

Give to Charity: water $20 brings clean water to 1 person in Africa for 20 years. $20: 20 years.

Saturday Spotlight

Today our spotlight is shining on K, mommy to darling Little L. Mommy K is just beginning her styling sessions now that Little L's hair is long enough to gather. She recently completed a very cute five puff style and she's sharing her skills with us today. 

Mommy K used Qhemet Biologics Cocoa Tree Detangling Ghee, Goody hairbands, a rat tail comb and "a little courage" as K put it, to complete this style. I think Mommy K's courage paid off; these are great. Good work K and thank you for sharing your Little L and her beautiful hair!

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.

Kara, Grace, and Trichelle - And Their Hair.

Barbie doesn't live at our house. Dolls just don't interest Little B and Little R all that much. For now this mama prefers those cloth dolls with yarn hair, colorful outfits and big heads. So I pretty much ignored the buzz over the new black Barbies until a Happy Girl Hair reader (Hi Shonda!) let me know that Mattel is also offering a version of the dolls with a salon chair and a hair kit.

A lot of the talk surrounding these dolls is focused on their hair. It's mostly straight, the hair that is, not the talk. I've seen more than one article refer to the hair kit as straightener. It makes it seem as though Mattel is packaging the hair styling version of the doll with relaxer. And that isn't precisely true. The kit includes a little device to make twists, a curling iron type thing, light brown extensions(!), snaps, and "aqua curl fiber" which is spray to change the hair from straight to curly and back again.

It is so tempting to blast Mattel for making a black doll with straight hair and then offering a "straightener" as an accessory. But hair culture is an enormous part of black culture, and Barbie is all about emulating the perceived glamorous parts of womanhood. In a little girl's mind, a transformative salon trip has to count as glamor. Is this Barbie and her hair kit natural hair positive? No. Is it reflective of our current culture? Yes. While I appreciate that the hair styling version of the doll does come with a way to make the hair curlier and a device to make twists, at $25 it's more than the two doll sets. The dolls without the hair kit have straight hair or slightly wavy hair.

It would have been so nice if Mattel had chosen to send a message to our daughters that curls are beautiful, glamorous and fun. But Mattel is not exactly known for their socially progressive, girl-empowering toys. Raise your hand if you remember the talking Barbie who infamously said, "Math class is tough." Designer of the new dolls, Stacey McBride-Irby said, "As far as the hair, I wanted to create dolls little girls would play with. They couldn't have as much fun playing with an Afro." I understand that she enjoyed playing with Barbie hair as a child and wanted to recreate that experience for girls in a black doll with more realistic facial features and skin tones. But why can't a little girl enjoy a Barbie with curly hair? If they had made at least one of the dolls with very curly hair, I might have purchased my girls' first Barbie.

It is a shame considering what Barbie could be. Loanne Hizo Ostlie, of Tabloach productions, is a doll artist who has been customizing dolls for over a decade. Just look at what she can do with Barbie. Don't they look glamorous, beautiful, and fun? If you have a Barbie that you would like to make-over with short, curly hair or dreadlocks, check this out. Loanne is offering her reroot service on your exsiting doll as a $30 holiday special.

There are articles here and here about the new Barbies and their hair. But I want to leave you with another mom's thoughts on the new dolls. This comes from an Amazon review of the hair styling Barbies. It reads, in part, "at least now my daughter can get her unrealistic views of beauty from a doll that has her same wide nose, full lips, etc... and i'm hoping that being able to style their hair will be one more way to help make her feel better about her own."

I wonder how they can make our girls feel good about their own hair if they don't see anything close to their texture reflected in the dolls. What are your thoughts and opinions on the new dolls and their hair?

Style Update

This week Little B is wearing a flat twist across her hairline and Little R is wearing two thick braids with an off-center zigzag part. We started out the week with Little B wearing a twist out behind her flat twist, but I knew that wouldn't last so Tuesday after swimming, I gave her a conditioner wash. While her hair was still damp, I changed her flat twist into two flat twists at the suggestion of a Happy Girl Hair commenter (Hi Courtney!). The idea was to reduce pressure on the delicate hair above Little B's ears by starting the twists in the thicker, stronger hair on top of her head. I took the twist that went ear to ear out, combed in some styling cream and made sure the hair was tangle-free. I chose to part her hair on the side, giving her one shorter twist and one longer. I started each flat twist from the part, twisting towards her ears. I finished each off with a cloth band and added some beads for fun.

When I finished, I put her sleep cap on to give her so her afro would compact into a rounded shape. I used a Nadia's sleep cap, but I believe any Lycra swim cap will have the same result. Every morning, I just add some hair lotion to Little B's afro, pick out the very ends and then use my hands and a little styling cream to reshape it. I am starting to see some clogged follicles above her ears. She's been wearing some variation of this style for a while now but they didn't appear until I changed the twists. I rubbed a little jojoba oil on them and that helped some but ultimately I think I just twisted too tightly again. I'll have to make these looser after her bath today.

I have been taking Little R's braids out each morning one at a time, adding hair lotion, and brushing the hair from the part to make it smooth. I band the hair, braid and then add any embellishments. Today, we decided to add some barrettes to the sides. It was a challenge to get the barrettes in at the same angle and same height with a off-center, zigzag part. I usually use the part as a guide. As we were sitting at the breakfast table later, after I'd had some coffee, I could see just how far off I was. But once my personal morning fog lifted it was easy to fix.

 

Better Late Than Never- Good Hair Review

I finally had a chance to see Chris Rock's Good Hair and I'd like to share a few thoughts on it. I wasn't sure I would like the film, so many have been disappointed by it, but I did like it. It's a funny, if superficial, look at one part of black hair culture- the quest for "good," or straighter, hair.

The film makes a few good very points. Chris Rock is pretty clear that relaxers are dangerous and have no place on a child's head; that weaves cost more than most people who get them can comfortably afford, making them financially damaging; and that precious little of the huge sums of money spent on the quest for "good" hair ultimately lands in the black community.

In the film Chris Rock visits small salons where weaves cost thousands of dollars. He visits India where most of that hair is collected from women undergoing the Hindu tonsure. He visits the people who profit most from the hair business. He looks at just how caustic relaxers are and how very hard it is to turn away from them once they are used. He sums this up with, "So far I learned good hair can put you in the poor house and if you're not careful it can burn down your house."

The film is framed within the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show in Atlanta and it's Hair Battle Royale, the ultimate stylist competition. While I found the hair show footage interesting, I wish less time had been spent on that and more time had been spent talking to regular people. I believe the point of including the hair show was to not only expose the extremes people will go to for their hair but to underscore the enormous business that black hair is. I think that point could have been made more dramatically in small salons across the country where normal people feel so driven to achieve an ideal they will put weaves that cost many thousands of dollars on layaway for months- again and again.

No time was spent talking about the history of hair culture and why women are so driven to change their natural texture. However, the women interviewed were very open and candid about their enhanced hair, how much they are willing to spend, and the lengths they are willing to go to have "good" hair. Chris Rock was able to make his points without shaming his subjects. I got the sense that most of the people interviewed certainly see absurdity in what they are willing to endure for vanity, but also accept that this is what is required to conform to the current rigid beauty standard.

Almost no time was spent talking about natural hair, which isn't all that unexpected. The movie is called Good Hair and tightly coiled natural hair has rarely been considered good in our culture.  Actress Tracie Thoms was the one of the few interviewees with natural hair. I loved her final clip near the very end of the film. She said, "I always think it's interesting that to keep my hair the same texture as it grows out of my head is looked at as revolutionary. Why is that?"

The film was light. The film was entertaining. Although there wasn't much new information here, it was probably eye-opening to those with no exposure to black hair culture. There's always the hope that a mom or two considering a perm for her daughter will think twice after the viewing the scene where the scientist dissolves a soda can by placing it in sodium hydroxide, the active ingredient in most relaxers, for a mere four hours. I think the real value of this film is in the months of conversations and the vast amount of press it generated about beauty standards. Even though natural hair was not really part of the film itself, the buzz surrounding the film helped raised awareness of natural hair as a truly viable and beautiful alternative.

Didn't get to see Good Hair? Check out some clips here.  If you did you see Good Hair, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Queen Style and A Zigzag Part

I tried to keep it simple today since I woke up feeling unusually grumpy, but hair took much longer than it should have. At least the girls were cheerful and very patient with me this morning. I started out by taking the dragonfly clips and bottom bands out of Little B's twists and removing her flat twist. We planned a loose, semi-twist out style while retwisting her flat twist. With out unraveling her twists, I added conditioner to her dry hair and then rinsed it out. Her hair didn't need a wash because it had been in a protective style all week and it's been so rainy she hasn't play outside much, so conditioning was enough. I put a shower cap on her to catch the drips and moved on to washing and conditioning Little R. I detangled with conditioner in, rinsed it, added hair lotion and combed it again. When I finished, I put her hair in two rough twists to help keep it from shrinking up.

I grabbed our giant box of hair tools and headed downstairs to watch a little TV while styling. Little B sat herself down in front of me so I could work on her hair. I put another flat twist in along her hair line, but reversed the direction from last week to change and reduce the pressure on her hair follicles. I ended it with a band just below the section of hair I added to the twist. I finished off with a few white beads and a snap. I'm pleased that my flat twists are looking um, twistier these days. Once I decide on my favorite technique, I'll have to do a little video. We call this style of a hair headband our Queen Style, because it can look so regal.

 
With that done, I moved on to undoing her twists. I removed the bands from the base of every twist first. A twist out works best when there are a lot of smaller twists. Little B had chunky, big twists, so if I unraveled them and let it go at that, she would have had lots of scalp showing. Because her twists were so big, I needed to fan the hair out at the base. That caused the hair to lose a lot of the twisty texture. The result is somewhere between a twist out and regular chunky afro. I have a feeling we'll be co-washing mid-week for a wash and go.

Frankly, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with Little R's hair. I knew I wanted to part her hair diagonally, but other than that I only had a few vague ideas about creating single twists or braids. I started with the diagonal part which was made easier today by using the ending tooth of the comb side of my pin tail comb, rather than the actual pin tail. With the hair parted, I experimented with a few different things, but nothing was working for us today. I took my diagonal part and made it a zigzag. I put her hair in two lopsided ponytails and liked the way it looked but wondered if it would look intentional and fun or just odd.

Hmm. This looked cuter in person.

I suggested a break, hoping I would come back with some fresh ideas. It was a bit frustrating that something so simple was taking so long. But trying and failing and trying again is the learning process. When we came back from our stretching break,  I gathered her hair into two low ponytails, just behind her ears. I banded them with a black rubber band so it wasn't visible and braided each ponytail. I secured those with more black bands too. That will give me the flexibility to decorate her hair with any color this week. I can add ballies, barrettes or flower pony tail holders. Today I decided to put flower barrettes in just above the braids. It looks pretty darn cute.

Washing, Conditioning and Detangling Time: 5 minutes for Little R, 3 minutes Little B
Styling time: 25 minutes for Little R (not counting the experiments), about 30 minutes for Little B
This week's entertainment: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists

Saturday Spotlight

Today we are very lucky to have Mommy K showing off her sweet boy, Little K, and the start of his locs.  Mommy K began the process about nine weeks ago using single strand twists. Mommy K says,

His hair was almost 3 inches long when we started and I would say I put in about 150 unparted, randomly sized twists.  I started them with Jamaican Mango Lime Resistant Formula Locing Gel and used that a lot at first to retwist/tighten locs.  Now that the locs are starting to stay together a lot more, I have just been using Butter Me Up Hair Butter from Curls By Sisters Smith.  It's a shea butter type moisturizer/defrizzer.

The photo below shows Little K's locs after about six weeks. Mommy K says,

You can see the locs are looking more rugged and less coiled. They look a little white because I just put the moisturizer in but one it sinks into the loc, the whiteness is gone.

Excellent job K! Thank you for sharing Little K's hair with us. I'm so glad we've had this chance to see some locs and talk boy hair today at Happy Girl Hair. Moms looking for more information on locs should check out the locs discussion on the Nappturality forum. It's full of great advice from those with lots of experience.

Edit on 11/09 for more information from Mommy K on starting locs and the locing process.

I started his hair with single strand twists so they are just one piece of hair that you twist between your fingers, until it starts to curl up into a coil, kind of like the old fashioned telephone cord curls up. You twist it much like you would if you have the habit of absentmindedly twisting your own hair between your index finger and thumb.  You can start locs with two strands though, just like you had mentioned, twisting the two pieces together. I chose to do the single strands because I figured it would be easier to tighten them once they got frizzy. With the two stranded twists, I kind of felt like you would need to take any fuzzy twists completely out to retwist but with a single strand that you might be able to leave the twist in and just retwist. (ie, I thought it would save me time)  I also chose to do it without parting (ie no grids) for a couple of reasons. (I prefer the more random look and when you use parts, it shows frizz almost instantly.)

I did a lot of retwisting when we first started. I usually spent 5-15 minutes a day retwisting/tightening to get rid of frizzies. A lot of the stuff I read just suggested retwisting once a week or so but I thought I'd rather spend the 5-15 minutes every day than 60-90 minutes in one sitting once a week. I also would pick one day and do a major retwist that took about 30 minutes. I did not take anything out, unless it fell out. Rather I just tightened and neatened up the twists. That worked well for us and now that we are almost 8 weeks in, we are going days at a time before I do any retwisting. And even then, the most time I spend is 15 minutes. So we're maybe down to 15 minutes every 4-5 days or so. Single strand twists will take longer to get fully locked than a braid or two strand twist. 

I have done two stranded twists before and setting the wet twists with a cool blow dryer did help to keep them in. I also really like the gel I've been using, the Jamacian Mango and Lime stuff.  It says its to help with locking but I think you could use it with just about any style. You also have to remember that with locs you are going to get some frizz; they are not meant to be perfectly coiffed. From what I've read, locked hair will get frizzier before it gets better. It's just part of the locking process. We also sleep with a sleep cap from Nadia.

I am loving it now!  One of my goals with him was to reduce the amount of time I needed to spend on his hair.  If he has it any longer than an inch or so, it just takes a long time to get the tangles out for an Afro. It seems like we were spending 10-15 minutes a day just on detangling and brushing/combing.  And while tried to be gentle, let's face it, combing out tangles is really no fun when you're any age, let alone 3. I am loving the locs now.  We spend very little time on them as they are very wash and go. And they look stinking cute!

It should be noted that my son has 4b hair; it's very coarse and kinky.  If you are talking about a more loosely curled hair, I think single twists might not work as well. 

As to age, my son just turned 3 the same month that we started locking. His hair was in between 2.5 to 3 inches when stretched. I was really nervous about how large of sections to use since everything I had read was on adult or teenagerish hair. I went ahead and did sections about the size of my pinky finger. Some are a bit smaller/some are a bit larger.  And as time has gone on, as we've needed to retwist, the size has changed as some got split while others joined another twist. The things I've read have used the pinky finger or a pencil as a size guideline. Locs made too skinny may break from the weight as they get longer. But size really isn't all that important as you can divide a fat one or join a skinny one onto another section if you need to.

I read lots of stuff before we started (all of it on adult locs).  A book to check out might be Nice Dreads by Lonnice Bonner.  Other sites to read through would be Knotty Boy and Cool Mens Hair  

We are actually on week 9 of locked hair.  Here's a recent pic.  This was snapped after a nap with no sleep cap, after playing with a bucket turned football helmet, and 8 hours after his bath where we just got the locs wet and I put on some hair butter.  A little frizzy but not too bad all things considered. 

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.