No Touch Wash

I've mentioned soccer so many times this week, every time I open the garage door I expect to see the classic soccer mom van awaiting me. The girls are really fired up about soccer and totally rowdy after camp, but in a really good way. I hope you can stand one last soccer camp mention because it comes with what I think is a really good hair washing tip for girls wearing cute hairstyles but also playing hard -whatever the sport or activity.

When I pick the girls up after each camp day, they are both dripping with sweat. Bodies are easy to wash but both are wearing styles that I don't want to take down every day. After a couple of days, I needed to wash away the sweat, along with the dirt and bacteria sweat attracts. I didn't have time to take hair down and restyle, and I didn't need a deep wash, but wanted more than a rinse. I opted for a no touch wash.

While each girl showered, I put a little shampoo in an empty spray bottle and filled it with hot water. I gave it a vigorous shake and sprayed the foamy mix on each girls' style. I wasn't shy about coating their hair. I let it sit a minute and rinsed very thoroughly. I emptied the bottle and did the same process with the conditioner, leaving the conditioner on a few minutes before rinsing well under the shower. 

Little B's hair with covered with my shampoo spray.

This isn't a substitute for regular washing and giving the scalp a good, but gentle, scrubbing. It did helped freshen up their hair and part lines after all that sweating, without destroying their styles. A spray on, no touch wash makes it easy to cleanse cornrows, twists, veil styles and box braids when a full was just isn't practical.

Just for Fun Friday: A New Edition

I hope every kid has a rich inner life. Little B's very active imagination and fantasy life revolve around her multitude of stuffed animals, particularly her zebra, Zeebeeah and lion, Liondee. Zeebeeah and Liondee have been married a long time. She's a doctor and a high school principal and he is a sleepy police officer. Lions sleep a lot and are primarily nocturnal, so he works the night shift, but he's always tired. They have two children,  two year old Yo-yo and one year old Gnocchi, who joined their family through adoption. I think it's great that Little B unselfconsciously plays this way, even as she matures daily, and feels perfectly free to tell me all about it.

The other morning I was walking toward Little B when she looked at me with a put-on expression of slight embarrassment and said, "Zeebeeah got pregnant today."

I did an about-face to hide my laughter. As I was willed myself not to ask, I heard myself say, "Oh really? How did she do that?"

"I don't know, but she had the baby just now."

I exclaimed "Wow, that was fast!" and Little B nodded. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"It's a girl."

Little R cheerily added, "It's a hamster."

Scunci Evolution Pony O Review

Have you seen these yet? They are the new Scünci evolution bands that are popping up all over the place. All of my bands are so old it's sad so I decided to pick up some new ones the other day and these caught my eye. They make these in neutral colors, but the Scünci Girl version is brightly colored with specks of glitter deep in the bands. One package of sparkly bands set me back about $3.

These bands are marketed as no slip. They are almost the texture of jelly shoes (remember those?) and I'm assuming they are made out of some very pliable plastic. They are perfectly round and without any metal parts or visible seems. I tried them in both Little Rs hair and in Little B's hair.

I can report that the no slip claim is true. These really stayed in. In Little R's fine hair, any bands placed near the scalp slip and loosen through the day. These moved just a teeny tiny bit, impressing me with their grip on her hair. They absolutely stayed put in Little B's hair, not moving one single bit through multiple days of wear.

All that no slip grip means these puppies have to be removed with great care so they don't cause damage. They are super stretchy, and all that stretch comes in handy when removing them. Even with all my careful, slow removal, there were a couple of times that some of Little R's hair came off with the band. I'm not talking about massive amounts of breakage, just a strand or two but it always distress me to see breakage caused by pony Os. I didn't experience any breakage when removing them from Little B's hair.

After using these a few times, I found that the trick to removing them with less breakage is undo one loop at a time, fully letting go of the band before picking up and undoing the next loop.

I'm glad I tried these. I'm glad I have them. I'll use them judiciously. They won't replace our regular cloth bands but they may be just the thing when we need extra staying power. They'll come in handy when we are traveling or when the girls are playing soccer or swimming. 

Have you tried Scünci Evolution bands? Add your thoughts!

Update: HGH reader LovintheBlessin commented, 

I think the bands shine when they are wrapped around as few time as possible, Like I'll use them for a bun or ponytail but not to hold a twist. 

I couldn't agree more. I think they really do work best on larger sections of hair. The one I used to gather all the twists pictured above came out easier than the ones at the ends. I've used them for ponytails with great success too.

Soccer Girl/Soccer Hair

The girls have soccer camp this week and I know that means lots of running, falling, and sweating. Little R needed a style that would keep her hair out of her face and the bulk of it off her neck. I wanted to avoid an style that would make her hair a distraction while she was trying to play - loose hair, lots of swinging braids and a curly, floppy pony tail were all out. I wanted something that had a little bit of style but that could be quickly redone if the need arose. I also got some of those new Scunchi evolution gel bands and I wanted to work as many as possible into the style so I could really try them out (review coming soon). I needed to keep her breakage in front contained without adding more stress, making smaller sections the smarter option. And it had to be feminine, but not too girly.

I think I came up with a simple solution that satisfies my ridiculous laundry list of requirements. I started by parting her hair ear to ear, across the crown of her head. I clipped that hair and flipped it over her forehead so it was out of the way. In the back, I parted three vertical sections. In the left and right sections, I gathered the hair and banded it at the base. I braided a standard braid and banded the end, leaving a bit of hair to curl.

I took the hair I'd hung over her forehead and separated it into three braid sections. I braided that toward the back of her head for a few stitches and then began adding hair from the center back section, forming a cornrow. Again, I banded the end leaving a bit of hair loose to form curls.

We'll see how it holds up to the rigors of a soccer camp for seven year olds and if my choices were good ones.

Update on Day 2 of Soccer Camp: The center didn't hold as well as I thought it would, but the girls played harder than I thought they would too. For Day 2, I gathered the front section and banded the base, then cornrowed down the middle. I cornrowed the side sections too. It held up much better at camp today.

Over on the HGH FB page, Youth Soccer Coach Tamara mentioned that some accessories can be unsafe for the players.  In the comments, LaNeshe shared a memory of having to remove her beads before soccer games when she was a kid. Those are both excellent reminders to leave any hard accessories, like ballies or beads, at home if the sport is one where the players come in close, and sometimes painful, contact with each other, or the ball, or the ground.

Update for Day 3 of Soccer Camp: I added cornrows in the front section leading up to the pony at the center of her head. That should help keep the hairline breakage contained a bit more. I like the way it looks a bit better too.

Rubber Band Stuck in the Hair? Don't Panic!

I'll bet this has happened to you once or twice. Come on, admit it. It's happened to me and what I remember most is not how or why the rubber band or Pony O got stuck, what I remember is sweating bullets while trying to remain outwardly calm. I might have tried to be reassuring, but in that high-pitched, panicked, sing-songy voice I reserve for the tensest of situations, the one that lets everyone know that something is very wrong and I don't know how to fix it.

Since I have some experience with this, I'm going to give you a few tricks to try if you find yourself in a situation where you've got a rubber band or a cloth pony O that just won't come out. I'm going to assume that we all know to use scissors or a seam ripper to remove a stubborn band when either of those implements can be wedged under a loop of said band. What I want to share here is how to cope with the truly seemingly impossible situation when nothing is getting between the loops of the band, and the hair is wrapped around it, and you just want to cry.

• First things first. Don't pull. I know, it's tempting. Don't do it. You risk more than breakage, you risk pulling the hair right out. 

• Does the band have latex in it? Apply a generous amount of olive oil from your pantry directly to the band that's stuck. Oil makes latex disintegrate. Feel free to use coconut oil or whatever oil you have on hand. You can leave the oil in for some time and let it do its job. The band might just fall apart by itself after a couple of hours or overnight. If it doesn't fall apart on its own, it should come apart with a little help. Try using the end of a pin tail comb or a seam ripper to kind or pick at the surface and encourage the band to break. If it isn't working, your band may not be latex. Proceed to the next tip.

• Since you already have the oil handy, add a bit more to the hair around on, tangled in and around the band. Detangler or conditioner work too. Don't be shy with the product, you want lots of slip here. Use the pointy end of a pin tail comb to try to gently ease some of the hair off the band. This may take lots of time and patience. It may seem like a long time before that hair begins to budge. Stick with it and you may be able to work enough of the hair free to get the band out. This has worked for me any number of times, but the key is to go very, very slowly. 

• Still not getting anywhere? It's okay, this last trick is a good one. Get some infant nail clippers, not scissors, but the lever type. Position them over any section of the band that doesn't have hair on it and start taking little snips out of the band. This works beautifully on both rubber bands and pony Os because it doesn't require you get underneath any of the loops, you just start cutting from the outer surface. Keep clipping slowly until you are through the band. Like so*:

If you have to cut a little hair to get a band out, so be it. Remember that neatly cut hair will look and feel a whole lot better than broken hair.

*No hair was hurt in this demonstration, however an ancient Goody band gave its life for the cause.

Talking About Beauty

I often think of this story my mom tells about a high school. My mom attended a girls' Catholic school in the early 50s and in one class, Sister would stand at the front, puff her cheeks and say, "Girls, there is no substitute for intelligence."

Our cultural focus on youth, beauty and the quest for physical perfection has grown exponentially since the 1950s when my mom's teacher made that proclamation to class rooms full of young women she hoped to influence. The message that what a woman looks like is of paramount importance is one every girl is eventually exposed to. Too often it becomes deeply engrained. I recently read a blog post (Hi Mindy!) that linked to this HuffPo article. In her article How to Talk to Little Girls, Lisa Bloom, author of Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, posits that we do our girls a disservice every time we open a conversation with a young girl with a comment on her looks. We only contribute to the fixation on physical appearance when we do this. She suggests that if we reconsider how we talk to girls about their looks, and act on it, we can affect change.

I couldn't agree more. It annoys me to no end when a stranger, or someone we haven't seen recently, approaches my girls and starts talking about their appearance, whether it is a comment on their clothes, hair, or physical attributes. I try to control my rage when someone tells Little R she's pretty and then tells Little B she's tall. But even if someone says something well-meaning to both girls, it feels so reductive. I'm guilty of this. I cringe when I hear myself starting a little chat by asking a child about her clothes or hair. I understand all too well that it's easy to open a conversation with a little kid be commenting on her sparkly shoes or the turtle on her shirt, but why not ask a simple, "What are you up to today?"

At home, with my own girls, my perspective and my stance change. Here at home, I'm happy to tell my girls how beautiful they are. But that certainly isn't all I tell them, or what I tell them most. At home, there is balance. I think my kids are beautiful and often telling them so is just a spontaneous uttering on my part. Occasionally I make a conscious decision to tell them about how beautiful they are. I do it because every one wants to feel that they their looks are appealing to others. I do it because my Black daughters aren't truly included in the prevailing beauty standard, and there will be plenty of people who won't appreciate their beauty. I do it to build their confidence as a fortification against a future when the individuals, corporations, and the media will tell them, both directly and with subtlety, that they aren't beautiful.

Here's what I don't do, I don't get too specific. I tell them they cute, or beautiful and leave it at that. I try not to objectify them, and that includes putting serious limits on their exposure to this site. I get down to little details when I talk about their talents, their abilities, what they've learned, their likes and dislikes, and other aspects of their developing personalities. I compliment them on what they've accomplished or how strong they've become. I'm trying to let them know that their appearance is just lovely as is and what really matters is who they are, what they do and the choices they make.

My mother's teacher was right, a pretty face, expensive clothes, beautiful hair, and a thin body are no substitute for intelligence. I think Lisa Bloom is right too. However, we live in a culture obsessed with how people look and my kids have to live in that culture. Our unfair and unrealistic beauty standard doesn't embrace them, so I want them to have a solid foundation of belief that they are capable, strong, intelligent, and beautiful before they meet a culture that tells them they are not.

Just for Fun Friday: Neigh

I was straightening up Little R's room the other day and came across a near perfectly executed two strand twist. 

I'm so proud!

Reader Question: Preschool and Natural Hair

This morning I had a great question in my inbox from Happy Girl reader Andrea. She asks,

Little Miss O starts preschool in August. I’m feeling pretty confident in our hair routines, but I noticed in your latest blog about the cute little hair bands from Target that you were saving the bands for school. What advice can you give me for a mom of a 3 year old going to preschool and all the cute little things I may want to put in her hair? I get the mental picture of her going to school with a head full of beads and returning with three beads dangling on a wild head of hair.

That first preschool experience can be so nerve-wracking for moms. It was for me. Little B and Little R went to two different preschool programs, one was a nature school where they were outside a lot of the day and one was a traditional preschool. I learned which hair styles worked best as I went, and I made a lot of mistakes along the way. Here are some styling issues to consider if your little one is headed off to preschool for the first time.

Jumping in with both feet. Little B and Little R on their first day of preschool. 

Styling:

• At this age, kids don't really have a sense of personal space and a three year old can't be expected to defend her hair against kids who want to touch it. If your child is attending a school where the majority of children are not familiar with natural hair or styles like elaborate cornrows or big afros, consider keeping styles simple. That's kind of boring, but by keeping styles very simple you can remove much of the temptation other might feel to touch her hair. That's helpful in maintaining your daughter's sense of owning her own body at an age when she is just exploring her sense of independence and control.

• Keeping it simple also helps make mornings easier. Something long-lasting, protective and durable, like small box braids or twists, is a good idea. Or, chose a style that is dead easy to do, like loose puffs, because even if it looks a little rough at the end of the day, little time was invested. Either choice will take very little time to freshen in the morning. A style that is ready to go in less than five minutes is a beautiful thing when trying to get out the door with a three year old.

Accessories:

• Really little kids like bright, colorful, shiny things. A lot. Beads, barrettes, ballies and other hair pretties might prove to be a huge temptation for your child's classmates. Your sweet girl probably knows to keep her hands off her hair decorations, but that doesn't mean other kids do. I would keep hair accessories to the barest minimum in preschool, or skip them altogether. After all, we are talking about three and four year olds here and who knows, a another little kid might think it's a good idea to get his hands on a classmate's hair bead and put it up his nose, or in his ear. Shudder. Baring a traumatic event like that, it can be distressing to a little girl to lose or break a bunch of her accessories during the course of a school day. If they are accidentally tugged out, some hair can come with them, and that's no fun for anyone. I learned this the hard way; I've had a lot of broken accessories handed to me at pick up time. 

Anyone else have hair advice for Andrea as her daughter heads into preschool? Feel free to add your two cents in the comments.

Who Could Resist?

I was browsing in the girls clothing department at Target yesterday, lingering over what passes for an exciting outing these days, when I saw these cuties. They are simple, cloth, braided Alice bands. They'll  go with anything remotely pinkish, are dark enough not to show too much dirt, and at $3.99, pretty darn reasonable. I was there for T-shirts and lightbulbs and nothing else. I already resisted the temptation to buy some cute dresses for the girls, could I resist these too?

I could not. I bought two.

I will save them for school though.


How do you buy hair accessories? As you see them or do you set out to shop for them and buy a bunch at once?




PS I think the headbands came in hot pink, gray, navy and one more neutral color.

Reader Question: Styling Cream, or Creme, or Whatever

I won't attribute this question to any one particular reader because it's one I get weekly. Inquiring minds want to know which styling cream I use. You know, that one that I'm always mentioning. The one I sometimes spell cream, and sometimes crème, and sometimes refer to as moisturizing styling product - just to be vague as possible. Yeah, that one.

Wonder no longer, it's Madagascar Vanilla Styling Crème from Darcy's Botanicals. I thought about writing a review of it but then decided I wouldn't. You already know I like it. Instead, I'm going to tell you what I need in a styling product and why I've chosen this one. I hope you will tell me in the comment section which styling product you use and why you like it.

What I need in a styling product for twists and braids:

• It has to have good hold, why would I use it otherwise?
• I like lots of moisturizing ingredients that help leave the hair soft even after a long term style.
• It needs to be easy to use and work into the hair.
• I'm not made of money, so it needs to be a good value.

What I don't need in a styling product:

• Shea butter.  There are a whole lot of shea-based styling products that meet the above criteria. I have nothing against shea. In fact, there is nothing my own hair likes better than a nice overnight treatment of whipped shea. Little R's hair has no problem with it either, but any kind of shea-based styling cream or butter leaves a chunky, funky, flakey mess on Little B's scalp. Frankly, it's gross. She can do shea in a liquid leave-in or in a rinse out conditioner, just not in a creamy butter form.
• Mineral oil, petrolatum, silicone. Silicone also causes a buildup problem for Little B.

Why I buy Madagascar Vanilla Styling Crème again and again:

• It meets all of my ingredient and performance requirements.
• It smells good. 
• A jar lasts me a long time. Since I go through products like water, that is saying something.
• I just like it.
• It doesn't leave build-up on the girls' scalps.

The second question I get about my choice of styling product is, how do you use it? I don't think there is a right or wrong way to use it, but I like to use it on clean, detangled hair. I use it over a leave-in and/or detangler. I've used it on both damp and dry hair. I usually part my section, make sure it is really well detangled, add the creme to the hair nearest the scalp and then through the hair I'm about to twist or braid. If I've used too much, it kind of oozes out as I twist or braid. When that happens, I kind of wipe the excess away and try to use less on the next section. This stuff is a pretty heavy product, I can use it on Little R but when the style comes out after a few days I can usually still feel the product in her hair. It doesn't build up on her scalp though, and a quick shampoo wash takes care of any residual product on her hair.  I also use it to touch up the ends of braids or twist when a style is in for weeks. 

Okay, your turn. Don't be shy. What is your favorite styling product for twists and braids? What do you like about it?

Just for Fun Friday: The Bantu Not

On the last night of our recent trip back east, we all enjoyed a dinner at a nice restaurant. The girls are always well behaved at restaurants, but Joyful Dad and I are not always such a sure thing. We were all sitting at one end of the big table while the grownups sat at the other end talking. We might have been getting a little bored waiting for our meal, because Joyful Dad turned to Little R and asked if her could put a Bantu knot in her hair. It seemed like an excellent idea at the time. I offered some direction from across the table.

He did it. And it was very good. It was one of those free-form, interesting knots. It was really very pretty, right up until he tried to take it out. He started to untwist it and then leaned toward me and hissed, "It won't come out." He tried harder and it got worse. I could see the panic rising in his face as he worked at it. He kept urgently whispering, "It won't come out. It won't come out. It won't come out." while shooting pleading glances at me and concerned ones down the table toward his parents and mine, hoping they wouldn't notice.

Eventually, I rescued him by having Little R come sit by me for a while. I took a few surreptitious photos before I got the hair untangled. He made the classic rookie mistake of letting a few strands of hair wrap tightly around the rest of a twist.

We've all done that at least once, right? But probably not at a fancy restaurant.

A Kinder, Gentler Veil Style

It's been a long time since I styled either girl in a veil style. I love the look, but the potential for serious damage from all the required banding always stops me from doing it. I need to get Little R accustomed to styling sessions again and a veil style is perfect for that because it needs precise parting which forces her to practice sitting still but the style itself doesn't take very long, especially if the boxes are on the larger side. Since Little R has enough damage already and I didn't want to risk more, I tried an approach wouldn't put as much stress on her hair and that eliminated the need for a band in each box.

I went with a block pattern with big boxes and only two rows to test my ideas for a gentle veil style. I didn't want to invest too much time in case it was a flop. You can find a refresher on the veil style or learn the difference between a block and brick pattern here.

I began with clean hair that had been deep conditioned, moisturized and braided loosely the night before. I spritzed with plain water, added some hair lotion and began to part off three sections in front.

In the center section, I divided the hair and made a small rope twist with just two or three turns as close to the scalp as possible. My idea was that the twist would replace the traditional band. It would provide a center point from which I could divide the hair and braid. I used a clip to hold the twist in place while I divided the hair into two braids. 

I clipped each braid on the ends and repeated the process on the two side sections. 

When all sections in front were complete, I parted off the second row of boxes. I tried to keep them roughly the same size as the first row by continuing the parts for a block pattern. To form the veil style, I took braids from the first row, crossed them diagonally and gathered them with the hair from sections in the second row. 

I braided the second row sections individually and then gathered them them together. 

I put  small band around the three braids in back to hold them in place. I took her remaining loose hair and braided it around the banded braids. 

I added a flower clip to hide the band.

I'm pleased with the results of this little styling experiment. I got a pretty veil style with only two bands. I suspect it would work very well with small sections too. Without the traditional banding of each section, there is a lot of room for experimentation. The second row could be done in a piggyback braid style, then  a third row with the veil style. The could be mixed up with any variety of braids or twists. 

If you have ideas for a kinder, gentler veil style or if you've experimented with one share your thoughts here of come on over to our Facebook page and share a photo or two. 

Home

We're back! Did you miss me? Did you even know I was gone? I tried to ensure you didn't feel abandoned or get bored by providing you with fresh content to read while we were back East visiting family. While you were here reading the posts I left for you, this is what we were up to.

Little R takes a call after her 1st red eye flight.

In 10 days, we collectively experienced: 40 hours of total travel time, 1 wedding, 2 birthday parties, 31 birthday presents, 1 5k race (that I chickened out of running), 2 pools, 1 water park, 2 border crossings, 4 birthday cakes, 22 cousins, 2 tubes of sunscreen tossed out and 2 new ones purchased, 8 pizzas, 1 boat ride, 4 airports, 3 crying meltdowns, and a trip to Niagara Falls.

Whew! In our photos from the beginning of the trip, we all looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. By the end, we all looked like we barely survived a zombie apocalypse. Or maybe we looked like zombies. I can't decide, but I do know that when people start telling you how tired you look, it's bad.

Joyful Dad and I took a side trip to a friend's wedding during the first part of our trip and Grandma did a terrific job caring for the girls' hair while I was relaxing in the Adirondack Mountains. When we got back and it was my turn to care for the girls' hair, it all went south.

Little R develops her own unique diving board style. 

I tried to keep up with it at first by co-washing the girls' hair when I got back to Grandma's, but I didn't anticipate the heat, the humidity, the extent that jet lag would bother us, the insomnia, and just how far we'd stray off our normal schedule and routines. It wrecked us and maintaining the girls' basic hygiene was about all I could do. I'm glad I chose the styles I did because even with minimal care consisting of the occasional spritz of Oyin Handmade's Greg Juice, we did okay - for the first few days anyway. It wasn't great, but passable.

Little B's twists got fuzzy along the center part line even before we left and they just got fuzzier as we traveled. I styled the twists half up/half down and two big cornrows during a lot of the trip. For the half up/half down style, I grabbed the front twists and gathered them into a little pony tail on top of her head, leaving the back hanging down. That hid the center part fuzziness well, it also hid all the part lines on top of her head which was nice for sun protection. The cornrow idea came from this post at Tweeny Hair.  I liked the look a lot and it helped keep her hair nicely contained and comfy for swimming.

Little B jumps on in.

Little R's hair was looking pretty nutty for a bit there, especially along the hair line. The breakage she has spent a lot of time flapping in the breeze. I tried to keep it under control with a flat twist along the hair, but I was way too tired to do it well. As we neared the end of the trip, her hair looked really rough. Eventually, I had to summon the energy to co-wash and fully detangle it. For the last two days, we did headbands and loose hair and it looked much better.

Little B discovers Encyclopedia Brown on the flight home.

Now that we are home and getting back to normal, I need to treat the girls' hair to some coconut oil and a deep conditioning. Little R will get a style and Little B's twists will be left in until her hair is trimmed later this week.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream Review

Many of us struggle with dryness and eczema, either with our own skin or our kids'. A few months ago, my dermatologist recommended CeraVe cream for a couple of stubborn patches of eczema I had. After using it on myself a few times, I tried it on the girls. Little R can get patches of eczema on her face and Little B's skin can dry out and itch like crazy within twenty four hours of a heavy application of lotion.


CeraVe Cream is a heavy moisturizer about the consistency of Eucerin cream. It doesn't have a scent and works into dry skin pretty easily. It comes in a 16oz tub and costs about $16. It can be found at drugstores, Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

Cera Ve contains Water Purified, Glycerin, Ceteareth 20, Cetearyl Alcohol, Capric/Caprylic Triglycerides, Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Ceramide 3, Ceramide 6 II, Ceramide 1, Hyaluronic Acid, Cholesterol, Petrolatum, Dimethicone, Potassium Phosphate, Dipotassium Phosphate, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Phytosphingosine, Carbomer, Xanthan Gum. If you only interested in using all natural products, or if you avoid parabens, this product won't appeal to you. If those aren't concerns for you, read on.

I use it on myself every day and use it on the girls every other day. After a week or two of consistent use, I noticed a huge difference in my everyone's skin. My eczema began to clear up, Little B's skin didn't itch and Little R's eczema patches disappeared. Hands down, this is the most effective heavy moisturizing cream we've used. It leaves our skin feeling soft without that dewy lotion residue many moisturizes leave on the skin. After a few minutes, I can't even feel it.

There are some downsides to CeraVe cream. At $16 a tub, this product isn't cheap and we go through it fast. When it is applied to wet skin, it doesn't work in very well and can get messy. It also has the annoying habit of slipping out of my hands when I scoop a bunch of it out of the jar. If a bit of it drops on the carpet it can be a problem. When it isn't cleaned up right away it dries hard and then it takes a little effort to get it cleaned up.

Last time I tried to pick up another jar at Target, they were sold out so I got the CeraVe lotion. That is much lighter although it absorbs in even more quickly, it didn't keep our skin nearly as well moisturized as the cream.

Have you tried CeraVe cream? What do you think?

The Sweaty Kid

Do you have a sweaty kid? You know, a kid who sweats so much at night you have to check to make sure she hasn't wet the bed? Or a kid who is dripping wet within a few minutes of her arrival at the playground? Maybe your sweaty kid can glisten after just a few seconds of dancing in the family room.

I have a sweaty kid. I won't tell you which kid it is, although if you know us personally, I don't have to because you already know. Having an extra sweaty kid requires a little extra work. In addition to changing bed sheets a whole lot more often, extra showers and face-washing, doing laundry like mad and bringing wipes or a cold damp washcloth along with us when we go to the playground on a hot day, I have to take special care of my sweaty girl's hair.

Sweat is not a problem itself, it's the bacteria it mixes with it that makes it stinky. When a sweaty curly girl (or boy's) hair is only washed once a week or less the scalp can really start to smell bad. In the summer, the problem can be compounded by the use of bike or sports helmets. Often adding a little swimming into the mix eliminates the stinky scalp issue, but when my sweaty girl isn't swimming, we do as many co-washes as we need between shampoo washes, even if that turns out to be every day. I'm careful to use a good conditioner, coconut oil and leave-in to keep her hair moisturized after all this extra rinsing. We also try to do styles that can withstand an impromptu rinse or wash because there is no doubt that those emergency washes are going to happen when you have a sweaty kid.

How do you care for curly hair on a sweaty kid?


PS Curious about the fan in the photo? It's a Samson Safe-flex circa 1938. It has rubber blades. Even if they are spinning fast and they are touched, they won't maim. It doesn't feel good, but no fingers will be lost. The fan still works too. I bought it for a couple bucks many years ago and Joyful Dad uses it in his office. He very kindly photographed it for me. Have you noticed how his photos are always in focus? Makes for a nice change around here, huh?

Happy, Happy, Happy

Happy birthday Little B! 

Happy Birthday Little R! 

Happy Independence Day, Everyone!

We are taking the next few days off to celebrate and eat birthday cake, cupcakes, and ice cream cake galore. Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

Reader Question: Sun Damage Protection

Until I got a question about sun damage from Happy Girl reader Mindy, I never gave it any thought. We live in the rainy, cloudy, misty, and lovely Pacific Northwest. When we do see the sun, I step outside and my thought process begins and ends with something like, "Wow! It's sunny! Oh. That feels weird. The sun is HOT!" I'm no expert on protecting natural hair from the sun, but I did a little research and found some information that may be helpful to Mindy and happy girl readers living in sunny climates. Mindy is concerned about breakage along the hairline, noting that she keeps the hair in a protective cornrow there, she adds,

She has lots of breakage there. I moisturize and moisturize. I think it's from the sun- can you talk a little about how to protect hair from the sun?

There are several hair care products out there that provide sun protection. Anything that is intended to be rinsed off is probably not worth it because it will be, er, rinsed off. There are now quite a few leave-ins and sprays with UV protection to choose from. A quick search at Naturally Curly for products with sunscreen produced these results. There are a few disadvantages to using a hair product sunscreen though.

• The FDA does not approve or test sunscreen claims for hair care products.
• Many of the products contain ingredients that may not be desirable such as drying alcohols and silicone.
• It is difficult to ensure equal sunscreen coverage on the hair and it may need to be reapplied after some time in the sun.
• Other aspects of hair care may need adjustment depending on the product ingredients and frequency of use.

I did read tons of references to shea butter and its sun blocking properties. I found a lot of claims that shea butter can have up to SPF 6. Although several articles and sellers of shea products mentioned studies on the sun blocking properties of shea butter,  I could not find a scientific study. (If anyone else can, please let me know.) Shea is great on most natural hair, so it couldn't hurt to experiment with this as a bit of sun protection for the hair.

The alternatives to putting a sunscreen product on the hair are to live with any potential damage, reduce the amount of time in the sun, or cover the head. Hats are great for protecting the hair and shading the face from the sun. They are a simple, cheap and effective way to deal with the issue. Some kids, like Mindy's sweetie, have their own ideas about wearing hats. If your daughter won't wear a hat, you might consider covering the hair partially. A wide headband that covers the hairline might be a good option for the girl who refuses a hat but spends a lot of time in the sun. A piece of long, lightweight, silky fabric works best for this. Simply fold it to the desired width, wrap it around the head and tie it in the back. If the fabric has unfinished edges, they can just be tucked in though it's fairly easy to make a finished band, even with few sewing skills. The ends can be left dangling down the back to add a little drama and glamour or they can be wrapped around and tucked.

I made this wide headband by folding a square play silk into a triangle and then folding it in from the pointy corner. 

Enjoy the summer! Enjoy the sun!

Just for Fun Friday

I've been doing this whole styling thing for a good while now. I've been writing about it for almost two years. You'd think that I could part a straight line, especially when the part is only an inch long. Maybe you'd even think that I could place a center part somewhere in the vicinity of the center. You'd be wrong on both counts.

She wouldn't even let me fix it.