TWIST-OUT!

Twists in 4A hair

 To complete this style, I first made a circle part about an inch from the girl's hairline that went all the way around her head.  I banded the rest of the hair into a ponytail.  I sectioned the hair around the hairline into square inch sections, more or less.  I dampened and combed the hair, banded it at the base of each section, divided the section in two, and twisted.  When I got to the ends I twirled the ends.  When I completed that circle, I sectioned off the next circle and repeated.  There were four circles total.  I think it was around 40 twists.  These looked ok hanging down, but would have looked better with smaller sections, and I was worried that they'd be ruined at daycare.  So up they went.

The twists lasted a week  worn up in a ponytail every day.  At the end of the week I was anxious to see what the twist-out would look like.  That's next.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Jenny

Getting Better and Faster at Cornrowing

This style only took me one and a half hours instead of, like, three!  It's 8 cornrows from an off-center point at her hairline in front to a ponytail in the back.  I didn't braid the hair at the nape of her neck, instead just pulled it up into the ponytail.  That saved me from having to cornrow upside down.  Hate that.  I divided the ponytail and created two braids.  But after a couple of days I redid that and made a six-braid ponytail that the girl enjoys flinging around as she shakes her head.  This style looks great and is lasting about a week.  I should re-braid tomorrow, but we'll see what I have time for.  

Ciao!
Jenny

Unexpected Hair Style

This hair style happened after I spritzed the girl's hair with water and conditioner and took out her cornrows from last week's style.  We were headed up to the bath to wash it, but it looked cute, long and thick and I had to get a few pics.  I love that her hair is long enough to put into low ponytails like this, and can't wait until she's old enough to wear it this way.

I ended up putting in cornrows after we washed her hair.  That's the next post.

Ciao!
Jenny

Cornrows and Ponytails

I love this and it's lasting all week!  Hair parted in the middle from forehead to nape.  Front hairline separated out and cornrowed down to backs of ears.  The rest of each side parted into 5 sections and cornrowed toward the center where hair is banded and braided into two hanging ponytails on each side.  

Saturday we go to the first meeting of a group for people with textured hair.  Looking forward to swapping some products and hearing about others' regimes.

Ciao!
Jenny

New Product, New Do

Went to a beauty supply store the other day and read the ingredients on the Kinky-Curly Come Clean shampoo.  And liked what I read!  I bought some to try out, and have now officially made the switch.

Below is the lineup of products I am now using regularly, and specifically used for the style below.  From left to right, the Kinky-Curly Come Clean shampoo and Knot Today leave-in conditioner/detangler; Darcy's Botanicals Vanilla Delight Leave-in conditioner; Darcy's Botanicals Natural Coils Curling Jelly; Tangle Teezer brush.

After shampooing and conditioning/detangling in the tub, I scrunched some Daily Leave-in Conditioner mostly on the ends.  Then I sectioned the girl's hair and applied Natural Coils Curling Jelly with my fingers and brushed it through with the Tangle Teezer.  My goal was to get product on every single strand, and really define those curls.  Here's what her hair looked like when done with that part.

Next, I stretched her hair back into a low ponytail and banded it while I got my supplies ready to complete the style.  It was going to be two braided pony tails, one on either side of a center part.

But hubby and I liked this simple style so much, we let it be.

I put her sleep bonnet on her and am waiting to see what it looks like this morning.  I will have to spritz the pony tail to uncrush her curls and will likely put a couple of clips on the sides to keep flyaways from escaping as her daycare day progresses.  I'm hoping the Curling Jelly gives it enough hold to keep her hair mostly contained, but I am expecting that a lot of it will pop up and get fuzzy. We'll see.  I'll get an "after" shot at the end of the day. :)

This is a grown-up looking style for the girl, who is looking less and less like a toddler every day.

**Edited to add this before school photo.  I completely forgot to get and end of day photo.  The style held up surprisingly well which I attribute to the Curling Jelly we used.  However, we took the hair out and put in a new style that evening.  New post/pics to follow.

Have a great week!

Ciao,
Jenny

The Willow Smith-Inspired Mohawk Revisits

 The mohawk reappeared for one day in June.  This style makes quite an impression and looks, well, really cool.  The girl's hair is really too long to sport this now, though, so after a day I braided it down.  It  was fun while it lasted.

The girl's brother had a wide mohawk at the same time.  Family shot.

Here are photos of the original mohawk, one year ago.

Do you have fun with alternative or extreme styles?   What's your favorite?

Pippi Calzelunghe

The girl LOVES the Italian dubbed European Pippy Longstocking tv show.  Here's our version of Pippi's braids.  

Happy WBW!

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from August 1st-7th.  The Girl and I wish to recognize all breastfeeding families especially those that are adoptive breastfeeding.  Warm hugs from one breastfeeding family to yours.

There's a Facebook page for you - search Adoptive Breastfeeding.

Please leave a comment listing how your child refers to breastfeeding.
Happy WBW!
Jenny

Beach Hair, 2012

We spent a week at the beach last month, and I contemplated which type of style would be best to, 

1) Keep the hair out of her face when swimming  

2) NOT get horribly tangled  

3) Prevent sunburn of the scalp

4) Look nice

5) Be relatively easy to get sand out of

Not in that order.

I settled on this style, and put sunscreen on her scalp for the first few days.

 The style stood up pretty well.  It got fuzzy, so when we'd go out in the evenings I'd spritz it and apply Darcy's Botanicals Natural Coils Curling Jelly to curl down and hold the fuzzies.  Surprisingly, we did not have a problem with sand getting trapped in the braids.  So I thought.  When we got home at the end of the week, took the style down and washed it, the tub was FULL of sand.  Sand, in my mind, is just coarse dirt that people throw their cigarette butts and scraps of food into, and little kids pee in.  Yuk. She got a good shampooing.

Here is the girl exactly one year earlier, at the beach.  We did loose hair last year.  Her coils were adorable and she looked so windswept, tan, and beachy.  No way we could have gotten away with loose hair this year.  And, wow, it's really grown in a year!

Happy Summer!
Ciao,
Jenny

We Don't Do This Very Often

Loose hair, that is.  It is lovely, but gets tangled SO quickly.  Then I have to comb it which is a great way to snap and break strands.  We used to be able to get away with loose hair until it was between 6-9 inches long.  And I never understood the big deal about protective styling back then. Until the girl is no longer rubbing her head on a car seat, the bed at nap time, the floor randomly, her stuffed animals, and throwing blankets over her head, she will be wearing her hair in mostly braided styles.  It really is the only way to go.

Coming up, Beach Hair.  How do YOU style your curly hair for the wind, sand and salt water?

Ciao!
Jenny

Hair Day