Teen K Month 7

7 months of growth

Teen K went from bald to curls! She did her big chop back in December and has since been letting it grow back. The original plan was to use no color but, as you can see..that went out the window. Her routine is a work in progress. She washes it about once a week and then we do a deep condition. We combine a conditioner and any oil on hand then she puts a plastic cap on and sits under the dryer for about 20 minutes. We are back and forth with products but, I always encourage her to rub in an oil after her product.

O...I forgot to mention she is now blonde. I have to admit I am responsible for all her hair color jobs. I had previously told myself I would not take part in damaging her hair again. Once I knew she was dead set on having some color I decided I would rather do it than have her attempting. I also took the time to do a good deep conditioner over night where she slept with the conditioner, oil and plastic cap. She then washed it out the next morning in the shower.

We still struggle with dryness with her for now. Her curl type is much different than Baby KDs. Her curls are much looser and larger. Any suggestions for routines or products we should look into?

Corn Roll Twists

This style was another one of my loves! I was inspired by all the styles I was seeing online with the braid and twist combo. I decided to give it a try. I started off with freshly washed and moisturized hair. I then banded her hair overnight with leave in and oil. Banding the hair stretches out the natural curl pattern without using any kind of heat. I then made a part towards the top of her head that went ear to ear. After tying off the top I made another part going side to side towards the bottom of her head. I then corn rolled the bottom layer. As soon as the hair lifted off her head I began a two strand twist. I repeated these steps for the top layer of braids. Working with the top section of hair I made a slanted part and french braided each side going towards the ear. At the point the hair lifted off the head I began my two strand twist. I then gathered each side into a ponytail loosely with a black rubber band.

Each day we moisturized with a home made daily spray. I am still playing around the ingredients and will share as soon as I find one I am satisfied with. Has anyone ever made a home made daily spray? Were you happy with the results? What did you use?

Around day 5 we started having tons of frizz so I decided to attempt a twist out with this style. It was not as moisturized and defined as I would have liked it to be but, it pushed us through two more days until wash day!

One Simple Braid

This look was inspired by Kandy Land Kurls and her circle braid. When I first seen the style I thought it was the most simple elegant style I've seen in awhile! I started off with freshly washed and conditioned hair. I then used a leave in and an oil. Because Baby KDs hair is so thick I parted it first in four squared off sections. I then worked with each square braiding the hair into a french braid and attaching it to the next square. When I came to the final square on the side of her head I just finished the braid all the way to the tip. You could end the braid in any square you wanted to! The only product we used was a shea butter oil mixture.

Baby KD loves to play dress up. She says she is a real princess. lol. This style was very quick and cute. It was not a long term style for us beings it did not last a whole week. It did hold up great for about 5 days. What is your go to style when you need something quick?

She Turned 4!

The final week of the challenge fell during the week of Baby KD's birthday. She requested princess Belle hair (her fave princess of all time)! The only thing I could come up with was a half up and half down style. I started with freshly washed and conditioned hair. Leave in conditioner and oil was added. Usually I would band overnight for a style like this but, being pressed for time I went into styling after washing using a Shea butter oil mix.

 I made one part going ear to ear. After tying the back half off I did simple corn rolls up top. I then pulled them all into a ponytail with an ouch less band. To still be in compliance with the challenge I did two strand twists in the back. I then for her birthday did a twist out.

I am so grateful to have had the chance to participate in the protective style challenge. I gained so many tips from the ladies on that page! It was a wonderful forum full of knowledge! I can tell for sure her hair has retained some length and her moisture has improved. Those were my objectives for participating and they were met! I still find myself looking on the page for any updates. Have you ever did a protective style challenge?

Week 4 Challenge Style

Week 4 of the style challenge. Yes! I love a quick cute corn roll style. For this style I washed and conditioned her hair. We then used a leave in and an oil to seal. So far it seems like any oil works pretty good for us. I am still on the hunt for my favorite oil though! What oils do you use the most? Where do you include an oil in your style routine?

Both sides look identical including the one braid going front ward by the ear. To style we used a Shea butter/ oil mixture. I made a part down the center of her head and tied one side off. I then braided from the middle part to the side of her head (after parting off a section for the ear braid). Once all the braids were done I braided them into two french braids. One on each side of her head. This style lasted one week.

Braided Mohawk Twists

This by far was one of my favorite styles doing on her! Well, this and the heart braids. See that post here. This was our style for week 3 of the protective style challenge. I had been seeing so many BEAUTIFUL pictures of these babies with mo-hawks! I loved them and knew I wanted to try one.

After doing our regular wash and condition routine I banded her hair overnight with leave in conditioner and olive oil to seal. This is what her hair looks like after banding. It stretches out her natural curl pattern and for us makes it easier to manage.

For this style I parted off a front section to create a bang. I then made an off center part straight down the middle of her head because I wanted it to be a side mo-hawk. I braided each side towards the part and then two strand twisted her hair to the tip. I used no rubber bands. The product we used to achieve this was a oil/Shea butter mixture.

Again, with this style we got lots of frizz by mid week. I took all the twists and braided them into one french braid. It always looks cute when you decorate their hair! In this picture she has a flower clipped in the back.

Box Braids w Corn Roll Bang

We began by washing Baby KD with a sulfate free shampoo. Right now the one we are using is the Aveeno brand. I then conditioned with Hello Hydration by Herbal Essence. I usually like the way her styles come out when I band. But, because we were going into a simple corn roll/box braid, I skipped the banding process.

After her hair was washed and conditioned I used Knot Today as a leave in. In the past I raved of Knot Today but this time around it seemed a bit thin for her hair. I go back and forth on leave in conditioners so, I will give this one a few more chances. What is your favorite leave in conditioner?

I started off by sectioning a front bang and a portion of the side to go back. After tying off those pieces I began to part squares and do medium size box braids. To do this style I used a Shea butter mixture. I bought 100% Shea butter at my local beauty supply.  To that I added Knot Today leave in and argon oil. I then used my kitchen hand mixture to blend it up. It came out a nice consistency that was able to glide onto her hair. I will in the near future create a post on how I do our Shea butter mixes.

After finishing all of the box braids I corn rolled the front into a bang and the side straight back to keep it out her face. This was a very quick style and it lasted a week.

I am learning to enjoy bows and headbands. I have always been a huge fan of beads! The protective style challenge got me used to skipping the rubber bands and beads which in return her hair is thanking me.

Mini Twist Experience

Wow! It has been awhile since I posted anything. I have luckily been keeping up with our hair care and taking pictures. I am going to re-cap some of the styles I have been doing since the protective style challenge we participated in for 5 weeks.

I have to say...I am in love with protective styling! I learned so much threw the challenge from all the other participants. It was a great way to share ideas and gain some knowledge!  Just when you think you've researched it all, you learn something new.  Our first style stayed in for two weeks because, we actually put the mini twists in a week before the challenge started.

These twists held up pretty good. If you would like to see the steps I took to achieve this style please see here.  Each day I moisturized with Bee Mine daily spray. We got frizz really quick which is not uncommon for her hair.  Please share what you do to combat frizz!

Each night she slept on a satin pillow case. Some nights I would pull in a bun to stretch and some nights I just let the twists be free. Her hair seemed to like the freedom of the twists.

In the end we did have a problem. Her hair was stuck together at the roots when I tried to take the twists down. I heard other people talk about the hair locking up. I think this is what happened. So, in the end we had more shredding than I was comfortable with and it seemed like it took a long time to completely de-tangle her hair.

Has anyone ever had this problem? What did you do to overcome it?

Stretched twists

Last night I pulled all of the twists into a bun before KD went to sleep. This morning I took the bun down and used Bee Mine juicy spray throughout her hair.  That is a really great method! This morning when she woke up her twists were stretched pretty good compared to yesterday. You can check out her twists before being stretched here.   We will be doing this as our night routine the next few nights.  At the end of the first week I will be sharing our day/night routine for the mini twists.

Mini Twists

We have officially started the challenge for BBB! So excited. There are so many participants. It is beautiful to see all these parents striving to take good care of their children's hair. I have already learned a few things over the last few days just reading the Facebook posts.

This is our third day with the twists. Baby KD has tons of shrinkage. They do seem to be frizzing up a little already. I think I will just try to work around the frizz for once and leave them in for an entire two weeks!

So far we have been using Bee Mine juicy spray daily and on her ends the Bee Mine moisturizer.  I do plan on getting some coconut oil and adding that into the routine.

Tonight we are trying out an idea I read on BBB facebook page. The person had shared that she pulls her daughters hair in a bun before bed to give her twists stretch. I thought hmmm...that is a wonderful idea! So tonight I used an ouch less band and we shall see.  (Pic is in right hand corner) I will do a short post tomorrow to share how it turned out. 

Mini Twists

For the next month we will be doing a protective styling challenge from beads braids and beyond . A protective style is a style that will allow low manipulation and without beads, barrettes or rubber bands on the ends. I chose our protective style to be mini twists.  I am so excited for this to be our first one! I usually don't expect a style to last more than one week on Baby KD. She gets a ton of frizz quick and frizz is my enemy. I know some people are able to keep pushing threw and learn to embrace the frizz. For some reason I have not reached that point. When I see frizz I am ready to take the style down. I will try to work on this issue in my mind..lol.

Also for the next month I am going to primarily focus this blog on Baby KD and the maintenance of her twists. I will also take this time to do some product reviews. Teen K is so opposed to taking pictures (for me anyway, she snaps a thousand of herself with her phone). I have to hunt her down just to get a shot of her TWA growing out. So, I will give her updates of growth and products once a month. I will also be doing the same with my hair. I am at a standstill and still searching for what works for my hair and will give monthly updates. 

So, for the challenge I put in mini twists. I went as small as my patience would allow me to go! This is how we achieved this style:

MINI TWISTS

1. we washed hair with a sulfate free shampoo (Aveeno brand)

2. conditioned with Garnier Fructis

3. leave in was applied also Garnier Fructis

4. hair was banded in six sections using Bee Mine luscious moisturizer

5. I let her hair dry banded overnight

6. The next day I took down one section and parted it in four square sections

7. I worked on 1 squares grabbing a small section, adding Bee Mine curly butter and twisting

This style took about four hours. Of course we had many breaks in between. For us this was one of the styles that you have to be prepared to dedicate a whole day to. I do love the finished product. It is a bunch of small soft twists that can be styled in a number of ways.

I will be coming up with a maintenance routine and will share what worked for us. Stay tuned! Also, don't forget to check back for product reviews!

Hearts

 I looove this style. Winner winner salmon dinner! I found this style on my favorite hair care blog Beads Braids and Beyond . I have been doing two strand twist in her hair for the past month and was ready for a change. I also wanted to practice my braiding skills. The best part of it all is I was able to use Bee Mine products! This is most exciting for me because since I began natural hair care I have been hearing great things about these products. I procrastinated on ordering due to cost and shipping and handling. I have spent so much money disappointed in  products that end up half full under the sink. I ordered these products with high expectations that this is what will work on KDs hair and I can just invest the money. A product review will soon follow.

I love the hearts. Figuring out how to part was the hardest part. After that it was the braid itself that I was able to completely focus on.



This style was done on freshly washed and banded hair. I then used Bee Mine Moisture and their Curly Butter to braid.

I Am Coming Along

I FINALLY got my mind back to loving and caring for my own hair accepting it how it was...dry, brittle and dull and making the commitment to change it if I can.  In the future I will post my styles and the routines but, for now I just wanted to do an overall update. I have started to experiment with twists (leaving them in), Bantu knot outs (dry and wet) and I have resorted to the slick back pony tail a few times.  

In the future I will be creating my own daily spray and playing with a few ingredients. I also want to try adding my leave in and oil to soaking wet hair. I watched a few people on You Tube that add their products to soaking wet hair and get a better result that way. Hmmm...that may only work for a wash and go but, we shall see. Stay tuned!

Teen K

I have been gone for the last few weeks from blogging but..I did not waiver in looking for the best hair routine!  Teen K's hair is coming back and on a hunt for the correct moisture. When it is wet she has pretty small curls that are almost fine grade. Then when she returns home from school it not only looks dry but it is also poofed out. 

So far her routine has been washing it at least once a week with a sulfate free shampoo (brand varies), we still love and use Hello Hydration for the conditioner, a leave in conditioner (brand varies) is used an an oil (kind varies). Other than that I am at a loss. I will continue to research and experiment with products and processes. I am open to all suggestions and hopefully by the time she has length it will be healthy and she will have a great routine.

Afternoon

Morning

   

Another update! She wanted sooo bad to color her hair. I've said before she is a fashionista and thrives off of her personal style. I knew as her hair grew out it would be too boring for her. The tail is gone thank goodness. But, her being 17 and who she is you know it had to be replaced with something else. She went to a shop and had a strip of color put in and she shaved her sideburns!

By the way..my baby had a birthday on March 30. I cant believe how time flies.

Two Strand Twist

OK, I love the twist again! So happy to have a hold on her hair. I have been feeling like her hair was a bit dryer than usual. This is the routine and product I used to achieve this look:

Two Strand Twist:
1.  ran extra virgin olive oil threw hair and massaged it in
2.  washed hair with Aveeno sulfate free shampoo
3. conditioned with hello hydation by Herbal Essence
4. I ring hair out instead of towel drying, finger De-tangled
5. Banded hair in 4 sections

This style was left in overnight to dry. She sleeps on a satin pillow case because I still have not found a sleep scarf or cap that will stay on her head. I band because it stretches her hair without the heat and stops her styles from rolling up. Her hair is so tightly coiled that when not banded twists and braids tend to curl up. So, it just depends on the look I am going for.

6. The next morning I took down her hair, parted in four sections and began doing two strand twists with a pure Shea butter/jojoba oil mixture and a dab of Eco Styler olive oil gel.

I expect this style to stay up for one week. Daily I will moisturize. I am still trying to find a good daily spray. I will be trying a new one this week so, stay tuned to see what I come up with.

Three Strand Twist

 

This weeks style is three strand twists with cornrows on the sides.  I washed her hair with Aveeno sulfate free shampoo.  Then conditioned with Herbal Essence Hello Hydration. I ran jojoba oil all threw out her hair and twisted it with a Shea butter/ jojoba oil mixture.  I love it. I am happy to see her back in twists!! 

Hair Update

 Baby KD has been rocking puff ball styles the last few days. I just wanted to give her hair and scalp a chance to rest. This is her going to ballet class. She has been believing she is a ballerina for her whole life!!

  Each night I have been leaving it loose. Before achieving this style I stretched her hair with five big braids overnight after washing, using Giovanni leave in, and a coconut oil/Shea butter mixture.

 I make sure daily her hair is well detangled and moisturized.I have been using a boar bristle brush to smooth the pony tale.

 To encourage the puff vs curl pattern for her free look I stayed away from using wet products. I stick to oils, leave ins and Shea butter. 









 

 Teen K has curls!! They showed up so fast I was not prepared with a routine. But they are here and her hair is super dry!! I need to get some suggestions really quick on this matter.

 They get puffy really quick. She has been using leave in a Deva Curl gel. It gives it a nice curl pattern but by the time she gets home from school it is puffy.

So I am thinking it may need a layer of moisture under the gel. It is to be announced!!

My Hair Update...The new cut

Over the past several weeks I have been so frustrated with my hair. Mostly the texture and the shape. I constantly had problems with straight ends. I decided to ask my mom who is a hair dresser to shape my hair out. So, she layered it and as you can see it has a lot more curl. I am also trying out a few new products and trying to learn my hair again. I will soon do a review of some products and share my hair routine.

Braids Again This Week

I love these braids! I cornrowed the top and then did singles in the back. There were so many braids that I decided to skip the beads. I used my new kitchen mix of pure Shea butter and extra virgin olive oil. This was after banding her hair. I was worried about the braids curling up without the beads. I have not had this problem and I am going to credit it to banding. Going forward because of her long length and tight curls I will be banding before a style to stretch the hair and keep it stretched.

I was inspired by some posts on Facebook to go to Whole Foods and look at their hair care products. The one near me did not have a big selection to my disappointment.  But, they did carry Giovanni products which carried a moisturizing spray that I am going to use daily in KDs hair.  Review soon to follow.

I also purchased her a satin pillowcase. I am still in search of a night cap that will stay on all night.

Big Chop update

Teen K never wants to willingly take any pictures..lol. As you can see, the tail is still there. It is such an example of her hair prior to the chop. It is not growing because it is dyed and fried by the flat iron. It just keeps breaking off. But, I guess it must be some type of fun for her because shes keeping it. I am not even bothered by it at this point. (I used to be). I accept it as her individuality. She now uses a sulfate free shampoo. Right now we are using Aveeno. It seems to work really well on her hair.

Cornrows and Beads

This is what I gathered together to get ready for baby KD's braids that will be in for atleast the next week.  The coconut and sesame seed oils were mixed in a spouted bottle and used as a moisturizer, then sealed in with a bit of Cantu. This is our first time using sesame seed oil.

I really need to improve my braiding skills. I am eager to learn, so I watched a few Youtube videos.  I picked up a few really good tips. I really liked a lady named 101LadyT. 

I am fond of beads. Shaped ones, colorful ones and all. I think they are so cute on little girls hair. BUT..I do not like the feel of KD's ends when the beads and rubber bands come off. For this reason, we will be leaving beads in about 3-4 days. I also purchased a beader. LOVED it. It made it so easy to add the beads.

Here she is! She is letting everyone know how old she is. I cant believe how time flies. I have noticed tons of growth and improvement in her hair. I am so glad I took the time to learn how to take care of her hair. You have to deal with either way, so why not make hair time manageable for both of you, and deal with healthy hair!