After Christmas Style

By day four something needed to be done with Baby KD's hair. I decided to use colorful ouch less rubber bands from Proclaim that I purchased from Sally's Beauty Supply. I sectioned her hair in squares and did a three strand twist adding a  band at the root and one at the end. I used the Shea Moisture product because that is what I have for her and plan to spray daily with the protective mist.  I plan on keeping this style in for four days. I will then take the rubber bands out and have her wear a twist out for three days. I know this style can last with the rubber bands for longer than a few days, but I am trying to be very cautious when banding her hair at the root.

Baby KD Christmas Styles

For Christmas I did a two day style. We went to a lovely party on Christmas Eve and for that I did a few side twists with a gold bead at the root of each twist. The rest of her hair I did two strand twists. I used a Shea Moisture Product for this style.

This style was done after I washed her hair for the first time with Hair One and conditioned with Hello Hydration. My review of Hair One for Baby KD: I was not impressed with using the shampoo on her hair. I did not receive any better results than using a regular shampoo on her hair. For now, I will just purchase a sulfate-free shampoo for her hair and use the Hello Hydration.



For Christmas day I undid the twists with a little Shea Moisture Curl Smoothie. This product seems to be a bit gritty in her hair. I'm not sure why. I do think I will research another product for her. I originally purchased this product for my hair and I will hold a review on that in a later post.

 Her hair looked pretty good, but there was major shrinkage. This time around I did not band her hair before styling, so that may have made a big difference!! Banding is key.

The day after Christmas we went to visit my mom to continue the celebration.  By this day her twist out had had it, so I did a simple cute mohawk style by leaving out a bang and loosely doing three ponytails down the middle of her head. I also added a bow at her bang to accessorize.

Teen K Update

The hair is definitely growing. I know it has a long way to go and I am still curious what the texture will be. I have been washing it for her with Hair One and using Hello Hydration for conditioner. I have been slacking on using coconut oil on her scalp and plan to get back to that this week. I will make it a point to oil her scalp three times a week.

Baby KD still hanging with the box braids

We are in our last days of these box braids! I have been putting them in a high bun and I love it. It is a quick easy style. We are three days away from two weeks:

Nine Days Of Box Braids

By now Baby KD has alot of frizz.  I do really like Curly Q Custard. The frizz is primarily at the root area where there is not a secure tie or band.  The body of the braid itself is holding up very well. I will be buying this product again and will also do a final product review when I take her hair down.

Everyday I just spray the protective mist and added water if I needed her braids to be weighed down for a certain style. Besides that, this style has been very good to us. Hardly no maintenance at all! Next time I may do them a bit smaller and play around with the flexi rods. I will be pushing this style a full two weeks and plan on taking it down in about four or five more days. Today she had a Christmas party at school. I put the braids in two ponytails last night and added one foam roller to each side.

These are a few of the styles at a glance we have done over this past week and a half:

First day

Two ponytails on top

Two ponytails with bows

Two french braids

Four cornrows braided into one

Top and bottom ponytails with bows

Mid Week Deep Condition

My hair was a little dry today and looking wild. Last night I did sleep with a silk cap but I have learned that does not work alone. It also needs to be twisted or braided as well.

A bit wild looking for my liking.  This was even after I sprayed my trusty oil and water spray on it. I had an orientation at school today and I needed to do something that put me together. Dropping off and picking up my daughter at pre-school I did a ponytail/bobby pin look that was a mess. I am so over a slicked back ponytail, so this is what I came up with:

I did a side part and did two flat twists all the way back and secured with bobby pins. They were not the neatest, but I think they came out rather cute. I felt comfortable and confident for my orientation. Oh ya, and I had to show off my freshly painted purple nails. Its been so long since I did my manicure and pedicure I was having a proud moment today :). 

Tonight I decided to deep condition. This is what I will use twice a week with a plastic cap for no less than one hour up to however long I can stand it:

•  Hair One
• Hello Hydration
• Pure coconut oil  

After rinsing out I allow to air dry until damp and then I will proceed with my style. Tonight I am going to try my flat twist out with the Curl Feather Cream.  Looking forward to the results. That was my fave so far!! I did notice though it frizzed really fast. That may have been the result of no product being used. Stay tuned for tomorrows turn out!!

Flat Twist Out

I love this style most of all!! (so far anyway). Last night I read about oil and water in a spray bottle on the website www.kandeelovesya.com. So, I decided to take my water bottle and add coconut oil.I will be using this daily, maybe twice a day. My hair seems to respond really well to it. I don't know if this means I don't need products at all but, for now I think I have found my natural regimen. 

I am starting to really dislike my ends! Ugh..I have not had a perm in so long, but i can tell it is still on my tips. They are very straight and dry. But I will be PATIENT. Soon they will be all clipped off. If I get to bothered by it I may look into having them cut off. That would put my hair more in alignment with the back anyway. Time will tell what I will do.

As far as products are concerned, I'm not sure if I should be using them or not. Oil, water and deep conditioning seem to be working very well. Since I already bought the Curl Feather Cream I think I will try it one more time with my flat twist out after I deep condition my hair again tomorrow.  It may help to tame my ends. I will make sure to concentrate on the ends with the product.  After that I will announce my natural hair care regimen.

Teen K big chop day 9

I have been massaging K's scalp with pure coconut oil at least twice a week. I am amazed by how much growth she has had in only two weeks.  I know my eyes cant be playing tricks on me so I am going to post pictures of two weeks ago vs today:

December 2, 2012

December 11, 2012

It is still holding a straight spiky texture as it grows and I am very anxious to see what it looks like in a few months. The most important thing will be encouraging her to stay true to no color and just letting it take on whatever pattern it wants. Her scalp is very dry and she is starting to experience dandruff which was has always been one of her hair issues. So, very soon I need to research on some remedies for that. We may need to do coconut oil more often than twice a week. 

Home Made Deep Conditioner

I was so over my dry hair that I started looking at www.curlynikki.com. She had some great tips all around. Love that site for this time of transition and trying to learn how to create my head of healthy hair. I am looking for my hair to be soft and manageable. I am not even liking the products that make you hair hard giving the style hold appeal. They maybe necessary for the braid out and twist outs to hold texture and I am determined to find that out.

Even though I just did my hair yesterday, I rinsed it out in the shower tonight. I then made my own deep conditioner:

• 3 pumps of Hair One
• 1 big squirt of Hello Hydration by Herbal Essence
• 1 squirt of honey
• 1 raw egg
• 1 huge squirt of pure coconut oil

While my hair was wet I slathered the conditioner all threw my hair. I then combed it and placed a shower cap on while I went on with my evening. It has been on about 1 1/2 hours so far. I am going to rinse it out and braid sections with no product. We shall see tomorrow how my hair feels. Once I get the desired feel and texture I will then focus on products. (At least that is my plan for now).

Another Box braid style

OK, over night it seems like Baby KD's hair frizzed up at the scalp. It may have been the water I used to weigh her braids down yesterday. By this time they just stick up every which way. I'm sure it has alot to do with the fact she does not sleep with any type of scarf. Today I did a cute french braid style.

Braid out with new products

This product was recommended by my youngest daughters grandma. It is a replica of the "Wen" shampoo. It is sulfate free and does not lather like a normal shampoo.  I bought it at Sally Beauty Supply for 12.99 which was a bit pricey for me but I had high expectations. I parted my hair and rubbed it in my scalp. It had a nice smell and made my scalp tingle a bit which made me feel it was being cleaned. I left it on in the shower for around five minutes and rinsed. My hair was very smooth and soft. The directions say you can also use a few pumps as a leave in, so I did that.  The next morning my hair was very soft and silky. If it was a longer length and had texture I may have been able to get away with no product at all or a light oil. 

While at Sallys I noticed a natural hair line by Soft Sheen Carson. They had a curl cream and I wanted to try it as a moisturizing styler. It was 7.99. Since I didn't set my hair after shampooing it, the next morning I wet my hair, added a little more Hair One as a leave in, took various sections, added the Feather Whip Curl Cream, braided it and placed a roller on the end.  This product does smell amazing. It is also a nice thick cream. 

 Actually, after a few hours I removed the rollers for fear that they would put too much of a bump on my ends.

This is the very back of my hair close to my neck that was shaved when I had my last full hair cut and style. It has grown back from nothing and is so naturally curly. I love it and hope to get my whole head to this state eventually with some length. This hair has never been processed with perms or color. I really like the size of my ringlets. Its so interesting the things we do to our hair and not realizing the pure natural beauty of it on its own.

This was my final result. The curl cream made it a bit hard like a gel, but to hold the hair pattern I assume it had to. My hair is still dry to the touch and I do not like that. Even after spraying it with the protecting mist it was still hard. It has a nice shine and I'm OK with the texture but this dryness has to go. It is causing my hair to still shed. I am still in desperate search of a product to give my hair some pure moisture.

Curly Q Day 3

 I am very impressed as of today with how Curly Q is holding up the box braids. The braids themselves actually have no frizz factor at all. The only issue I have is the braids sticking up in places I'd rather they not.  The protective spray we been using is not effective on her hair because it needs something to weigh it down. I can tell the main purpose of the spray is to moisturize, but for her I also need something to weigh down. I had to resort to a water bottle after I used the protective spray. That was effective. I'm still loving the box braids. I do have to style the top constantly due to the top being crimped from a previous style.

 We went to Bounce town today for free play. I placed the top in two ponytails with bows at the top. This was after each braid on top took on a mind of its own. It was an easy style. She did end up losing one of her bows, but i realized "what can you expect, shes three".

Baby KD box braids Day One

Tonight I took Baby KD's banding down. It came out really well. Again, for week two there is still a level of dryness when I take the bands off. I am in need of a product to do her banding with to add moisture. Leaving in the Hello Moisture and using coconut oil has not provided enough moisture. I think I will post this question to one of the blogs and see if I can get a response. 

I then parted her hair in middle size squares and did box braids. I used a good amount of Curly Q Custard on each section and braided. Her entire head took a little over an hour and I was thinking I couldn't imagine doing mini braids.  Her hair came out really cute. I felt the way the braids in the front hung in her face were a distraction so I braided one side in a french braid and placed a bow to secure. I am a little worried of how straight her braids will stay over night. But we shall see. She has a history of her braids pointing upward after sleeping on them. I think as time goes on I am going to have to teach her to sleep with a night cap on. Especially to preserve styles.  I am hoping for two weeks from this style.  Plan is to let her wear them out this first week and then start braiding them in styles the second.  Then I can work on coming up with a Christmas style.

This is a really cute style. I feel it is a protective style because there are no rubber bands, beads or barrettes being used.  This will be very low maintenance. I only plan on spraying it daily with a protective mist. This style can be accessorized with almost anything. Have fun with it! I will post an update on this in a few days. 

Tiny Twirls final product review

For week one we used Tiny Twirls styler. I did Baby KD's twists, corn rolls and ran it threw her twist out. I am not impressed with this product. Her hair became frizzy really quick. Her twist out also was a bit dryer to the touch than what I would have liked it to be. It did not provide the hold factor that I was looking for. Her twists were only defined in certain places when doing the twist out after five days of having the style in her hair. The Constancy was a bit thin for her hair texture. Maybe I should have used more of the product on each twist. In the end we will not be going back to this product for any more hair styles. I have a friend whose daughter has hair that is not as tightly coiled or as thick as Baby KD's and I plan on passing this on to her.

Decorations and Organization

So, I was able to do a little organizing on a tiny budget (lol). I bought zip lock baggies for 1.00 and used those to separate color beads, barrettes and ouch less bands of different sizes.  I used a few baskets that I had up in the closet and a shoe box that the beads were already in. My dresser has a side door with two shelves and that became the new hair care home for Baby KD. We went from this :

to this organized, easy to access, cheap system.

 Bows and headbands in one basket, products and combs in another.

Beads and barettes of all colors nicely seperated and easy to see.

Baby KD hair wash week 2

Tonight I did Baby KD's second hair wash since our natural journey began. I enjoyed her laughing and am sooo grateful for our new position at the kitchen sink instead of the bath tub. She actually asked to have her hair washed with "the hose".  We have came a long way! I used the same Pantene shampoo and our new best friend "Hello Hydration" conditioner.  Her hair was hardly tangled at all.  I was very surprised. It even looked like it took on a pattern...maybe I was delusional (lol), but here she goes after the wash. (I did only a soft rinse with the conditioner leaving most of it in.)

Afterwards I just rang her hair out with my fingers and used an old product I bought at Walmart: Coconut Hair Milk to seal in the moisture and then banded in four sections. Two in the front and two in the back. I also placed the bands much closer this time. Tomorrow I am planning to do box braids with Curly Q Custard.

Twist out from Day 4 three strand twist and corn roll

By today Baby KD's hair was very frizzy. The protective spray daily is helping somewhat. I believe the initial product that I use to style her hair needs to be a heavy moisturizer to get a good solid layer of moisture in her hair. That, or the repetition of routine will help. We shall soon find out.

  Today I decided to do a twist out. I just untwisted her hair and left the corn rolls in. I decided to stay with the same product Tiny Twirls Styler. I ran that threw her twists along with some protective spray, threw on a bow and we were done. There were parts of her hair that were more fizzy than I would have liked but even extra product in those areas did not help. Overall I like the style. She looked really cute. I am trying to learn to live with and adapt to her natural hair texture...maybe it is just frizz prone. That is OK. We will work accordingly.

 I loved these stockings for her.  They were at our local flea market, two pairs for five dollars.  They are really thick cotton for the cold winter days and they had all kinds of colors and designs. I cant wait to go back and get her more. 

 The top part of her hair is where I got the most frizziest at. I also realize the twists were the biggest in that area. 

Love to accessorize now. I realize what a difference it makes to venture outside of balls and barrettes.

Baby KD three strand/corn roll update Day 3

I am still loving the three strand twist. I believe this will be my twist of choice going forward.  I was a little disappointed the next day after freshly doing her style. When she woke up in the morning some of the rubber bands had popped and beads had fell out. I wondered did the coconut oil weaken the rubber bands.  But, it still looked decent so we kept rolling right along with it. Today I pulled it into a pony tale and left a few twists out to not force them to stretch into the Goody Ouch less Band.  It was really cute with minimal fly aways. Most of the frizz is along her edges.

I was lucky enough to purchase a product today. It is a daily spray I can use on the both of us. It is a protective mist by Taliah Waajid. I got it for $7.99 at a local beauty supply. I actually sprayed it on her hair and there was instant moisture. It has a nice coconut smell. Since she does not sleep with a cap, this will be something I spray each morning. I also picked her up a few hair accessories. The dollar bins at Target have some really cute Hello Kitty hair ties and  Princess bows. At Walmart I picked up some bows for $2.50. Not bad for around five bucks!