Cornrowed Spider Hairstyle

My girl wanted to be Spiderman for Halloween this year.  I got an amazing toddler costume from buycostumes.com and then you can imagine how excited I was to find a corn-rowed spider hair style here at Beads Braids and Beyond and here at Keyative Styles hair blogs.

I attempted to copy the spider part of the style.  It turned out really big.  So big I couldn't even capture the whole spider in a single photo.  Here's the best I could get:

I didn't even try to braid the intricate spider's web with the rest of her hair.  Instead, I braided it all into a head band cornrow.  Unfortunately the finished product only lasted four days.

The following video is almost not even worth watching, it's so dark.  But I posted it for documentation purposes.

Happy Halloween from Batman, Supergirl and Spiderman!

Sleep Bonnet

I finally found the answer to our sleep cap dilemma...the sleep BONNET!  This is a drug store cheapy in the photo.  I tried something similar when the girl was 1 year old but it would fall down over her face.  Now, it mostly stays on.  

So, actually, this photo is a few weeks old, and my next post will be a nice variation of the bonnet that is my favorite and working really well.  Got to get a couple photos first, but if you want a sneak preview, check them out here.

Ciao ciao!
Jenny

Whip My Hair - toddler version

Hair Shine

I just read this great post on The Natural Haven.  TNH is a natural curly hair blog that features the science of curly hair, curly hair care products, etc.  But it's not like reading a science textbook.  It's interesting and so informative.

The post is about shiny hair, why hair is shiny and does shininess equal hair health.  It's also got a great diagram comparing curly hair to kinky hair.  If you were ever wondering what the difference is, or what kinky means exactly, then check out the post (here).

Ciao!
Jenny

Length Check

It's Growing, It's GROWING!

Kinky-Curly Knot Today and Curling Custard Early Review

There are a handful of curly hair care product brands that I see mentioned over and over again in the cyber curly hair care circles.  Kinky-Curly is one of them.  After a year of consideration I finally ordered two Kinky-Curly products, Knot Today and Curling Custard.  What held me back all these months?  Several things.  

First, I have to order online and had a hard time finding a site with reasonable prices that would ship to my location.  

Second, I'd read on hair care forums that there is a very particular method of application for Kinky-Curly products.  They don't mix well with other products and have to be applied to dripping wet hair.  

Third, we wash my girl's hair once a week in the evening.  I won't put her to bed with soaking wet hair so I wouldn't be able to use the product properly at all.  

This summer it seemed our tried and true products weren't giving us the same results anymore and I decided to bite the bullet and order the Kinky-Curly line.  I'm not sorry. Here's how it went for our first trial.  

We washed the hair, applied Knot Today to dripping wet hair and detangled.  Here are our detangling tools used in order from left to right.  

Here's the hair after application of Knot Today.  We didn't rinse it out.

After the hair was detangled we added the Curling Custard loosely following the Tightly Curly method and shook the hair out.

Here it is after it had been drying awhile.

She slept with a bonnet on (more to come on the sleep bonnet) and the next morning I just spritzed the hair with water and pulled the smashed curls apart a bit with my fingers.  The Curling Custard has great hold but allows the hair to shrink up.  The hold lasted all day, even through 3 hours of rubbing on a car seat, a nap, and a few minutes of rolling around on the floor with cousins.

Next time I use it I will wash and condition with our favorite Aubrey Organics shampoo and rinse out conditioner, THEN use the Knot Today as a detangler and leave-in conditioner.  I need to use these products for a few weeks to determine if they are adequate for keeping the girl's hair moisturized.  But so far, I like the Kinky-Curly line.

Happy long weekend!
Jenny

Sleep Caps 3...still searching.

We've got quite a collection of various sleep caps.  We've tried them all and none of them stay on the girl's head all night.  This is frustrating to say the least.  The other day I picked up yet another sleep cap at the local drug store for about a buck fifty.  It's shaped like a hood, the back of which ends in two long tails that are wrapped around the head and tied off. 

 Here's what it looked like just after we put it on.  It fit nicely and even looked cute.  I really thought it was going to work.

And here's what it looked like five minutes later.

Dang it!  Back to the drawing board.
What's your favorite sleep cap?  (and where can I find one?)
Ciao~ Jenny