Wash n go with side braids

Ally asked me to style her hair this way, and I thought it was too cute not to share. 

Ally has been a travelling li'l lady recently; and after spending two weeks in Illinois with family, stopping home   for a few days before travelling to North Carolina for a family reunion, her hair was in need of some TLC. For the most part, Ally maintains her hair well. She remembers (most of the time) to braid it at night, and moisturizes it daily. But as all of us curly haired girls know, that's not really enough. That's where mommy steps in. :)

I gave her hair a protein treatment with a homemade concoction  I threw together. I used an egg, some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and some honey. I didn't measure anything (except the egg; I used one), so there is no recipe. I thought I used too much honey, because her hair was super sticky while I was applying the guck, but when I rinsed it out her hair was instantly softer and healthier looking. So maybe it was ok. 

I washed her hair using Nubian Heritage's African Black Soap. We have been using this for about 2 months, and we no longer use shampoo in my house. We all have healthier scalps because of it, and it does not dry our hair like shampoos do. 

After cleansing, I did an ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse, and conditioned with a Tresemme conditioner. I applied Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie throughout her hair, and parted a section of it off for braids. The part is not down the middle of her head, it is more toward the right side because she wanted it to fall in her face somewhat. It is for this reason that I probably would modify this style if I were doing it on the little girls' hair, I like to try and keep their hair out of their faces. 

I used a little bit of Eco Styler Gel for the braids, but the only thing in the rest of her hair is the Curl Enhancing  Smoothie. 

 I used a blow dryer with a diffuser on the medium heat setting to dry her hair about 90%. As you can see, the SM smoothie doesn't do much to define her curls, but it is great for adding moisture and shine. It also prevented her hair from frizzing up too much, and since we were going for the 'effortless' look anyway, we both loved how it came out.

 The plan is to turn this wash and go into a braid out by spritzing with water and braiding it at night. She does have swim lessons tomorrow, so we shall see how that works out. We will try and check back in tomorrow with an update. :)

Tween Style-Cornrowed updo from 'The Hunger Games'

Over the past few months, Ally has become more independent with her hair, and has pretty much taken over caring for, and styling her hair. Once or twice a week, I will give it a good detangling/moisturizing; other than that, its been all her.

Wash and go, with clips to take the hair off her face. Classic style, but not so great for everyday wear.

Unfortunately, that means a lot of braid outs, wash and gos and ponytails, because that is really all Ally knows how to do with her hair. I am constantly offering to style her hair, but she always adamantly declines, stating that she no longer wants 'braided styles' or 'elaborate designs'. I understand where these changes are coming from; most of Ally's friends at school wear their hair down most of the time, and while she wants to be 'different', she doesn't want to stand out TOO much.

While I am proud that she is independent enough to know what she wants, and while she has been doing a great job caring for her own hair, I think the occasional protective hairstyle is necessary to give her hair a styling break and help is retain some moisture long term. So I have been scouring the Internet for inspiration; styles that are both simple and mature-ish (to satisfy Ally) and at least semi protective (to satisfy me.) This has proven to be a not so easy task; most styles I present to her and met with a grunt and the rolling of eyes.

Then I found this gorgeous hairstyle on Pinterest:

Source: cutegirlshairstyles.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

And when I watched the tutorial, it mentioned that this style was worn in The Hunger Games, I knew I had a shot at it being approved. Ally read all of the books before there was even talk of a movie, and the obsession  fad has become big enough in my house that it may arguably be as worshipped liked as Twilight.(Gasp!) Yep, its THAT serious. Anywho, the style was approved (yay!) and here is our rendition of it:

BTW: This was my first time french braiding. How'd I do?



She loved the way it looked, and I loved the fact that it kept her hands out of her hair for 4 days. If you are interested in doing this, its just two french braids with the ends tucked in and over each other and secured with bobby pins. Confused? Click the Pinterest picture and watch the video. :)

Straightening natural 3b hair using the Instyler

Ally has been asking to wear her hair straight for awhile, and after giving her a styling break with protective box braids, I figured I would oblige and let her wear her hair straight for a week or two. I used the Instyler to straighten her hair; this is the ONLY heat-styling tool I use on her hair and mine, and I absolutely love the results we get from it. If you haven't heard of it or seen the many, many infomercials about it, you can check out their website here.

I prepped Ally's hair by washing and conditioning as we normally would. Then I detangled her hair and put it in medium sized box braids, using just a bit of Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie on each section that I braided, combing it through her hair with a fine toothed comb. We used her sleep cap and she kept her box braids in for the entire next day (not on purpose, I intended to straighten her hair the following day but life happened, and we got too busy.)When we were ready to straighen her hair, I did so by removing one braid at a time, spraying a bit of Shea Moisture's Raw Shea Butte Reconstructive Elixer and ran the Intyler through each section just once. The results were absolutely amazing!

Her hair looked so shiny and healthy, and it had SO much body! I did use the instyler to add some curl and flip to her hair, but of course the curls only lasted for about a day and a half. At night, she just pulled her hair back into a ponytail and slept with her satin sleep cap on. In the morning, she removed the ponytail, fluffed her hair, and off she went.

By the third day, Ally's hair had begun to frizz a little around her hairline in the front, so I put some thin corn rows in and we had a whole new style. Note that I still have not used any more heat since straightening her hair, and it looks great!

I apologize for the horrible pictures. But you get the idea. :)

And just to give you an idea of how well this combination of instyler/Shea moisture products worked for us, here is a shot of Ally's curls, no product added:

Wow, right? Curls on curls on curls. And I went through each section with the Instyler on medium heat setting ONCE.

I am hoping to be able to keep her hair straight for about 10 days, but that is an incredible stretch for Ally, because her hair tends to get greasy in down styles. But we are already headed to day 4, and her hair looks great! And it only took about 40 minutes to straighten her hair, so I am very happy with the results.

Half updo style on box braids, and update. (Day 10)

Today marks the 11th day that Ally has been wearing her box braids. This is the longest that I can remember her going without washing her hair, and she is just starting to complain of an itchy scalp. I had planned on co-washing her braids this weekend anyway, so a couple of extra days won't hurt. Just a few more notes regarding Ally's box braids since our last update on the box braids:

• Ally has been remembering (or I have been remembering to remind her) to wear her sleeping cap every night, AND IT HAS BEEN STAYING ON!! I got the cap from Sally's, and it is the first one that has worked for us.
• Ally has swim class now, so there is the matter of the style ruining protecting swim cap. Yeah. The swim cap.
• On day 8, I moisturized her braids with Bee Mine's Luscious Curly Moisturizer. I just rubbed it down her braids with my hands.
• We have been styling her braids minimally. As with any style, the more you manipulate box braids, the less 'fresh' they look.

And on day 10, (yesterday) I indulged myself with a little styling session on the box braids. Ally and I were way excited to try out some new styles on them.

All I did for this style was take half of her box braids, pull them up toward the center of her head, do a little twist and I secured it there with bobby pins. The night before, I put her hair into 3 corn rows to give her hair the 'crimpled' effect.

As much as I pinned, that one little curly guy in the front just would not stay back!

(I asked her to smile. This is what she gave me. She was really trying to get back to her new book)

I hope you enjoyed this post. Comments are always welcome! :)

Update, and new style on box braids. (Day 5)

Ally has had her box braids in for 5 days now, and they are holding up nicely. We love that they are so low maintenance. As a matter of fact, other than sleeping with her nightcap on, we had not done ANYTHING with them up until today. I am not even sure we will have to co-wash them this weekend like I had originally planned. Her scalp is not itchy, and her hair does not look dirty at all. See?

The braids are looking a little frizzy in this picture. But they are not. I'm not really sure why they look this way...

The first style we have done with her box braids is just a simple flat twist to the side with a pretty flower clip. Next week, I intend on trying some more elaborate styles on them, but I decided to give her a break from styling this week. Those box braids took a LONG time to put in, so a break was much needed for myself, Ally, and her hair.

Stay tuned for more box braids updates! :)

Ally's big braidout, and our last minute rush to prepare for swim class.

At about 7pm, Ally was nice enough to let me know that her regular gym class switches over to swimming class. Tomorrow. Her hair was still in the  beaded style I did last week, minus the beads. My plan was to keep them in until Friday night even though they had begun to get a slight bit fuzzy. However, with swim class tomorrow and no time to prepare, I worried what the chlorine and water and showers after would do to her braids. (We could not find her swim cap, or the bottoms to her swimsuit. Really, no time to prepare.) So we decided it best to remove her braids. Here is her awesome braidout:

(In the top picture, she was in her swimsuit. The girl grows so fast, we had to make sure it still fit. Then she changed into jammies. :)

Ally actually loved the braidout so much, she was upset she could not wear her big hair  out to school tomorrow.

Instead, what we decided to do was put her hair in 2 cornrows, super moisturized and conditioned, so she could swim that way. After swim, she will shower, take the braids out, co wash her hair and pony it up until she gets home. Here is how I prepared her braidout for the corn rows:

• First, I parted her hair down the middle, and sprayed one side with a water bottle.
• Next, I sprayed on some "Turn Me Loose" leave-in conditioner by Its Perfectly Natural, and worked it through her hair with my hands.
• Then I added some Shea Moisture's "Curl and Style Milk", and worked that through the same way.
• To seal in all this great moisture, I added It's Perfectly Natural's "Splendid Hair and Body Oil".
• I did the same thing with the other side, and braided. :)

I used a LOT of product in her hair, but I am she is going into some heavily chlorinated water tomorrow unprotected, and I will not be there afterward to make sure her hair is ok. After school, we will wash and deep condition and restyle. We will definitely be more prepared for her next swim class. This child always seems to remember things like this last minute. 

Beaded style suitable for tweens. (And, of course, littles too!)

I thought Ally's beaded days were over. But the other day, she surprised me with ar equest for a style with large-holed beads. Ok, so maybe I am a sap, and maybe I am making a big deal out of nothing, but I did a little happy dance (on the inside) because I was reminiscent of days with pigtails and beads and lullabies and babydolls. Back to reality, and the need to incorporate corn rows and beads into a style that is appropriate for a tween. (A very mature tween, might I add.) Here is what we came up with:

She really liked the style, and the fact that she wont have to worry about styling for at least a week. The beads are not too "young", so that definitely helped.

As you can see, there are a LOT of beads in her hair right now. I keep asking her if they are too heavy, but she claims that they are not causing her any discomfort at all.  None-the-less, the beads will be coming out Tuesday after school, and we will be back to show how the hairstyle has evolved.

Of course, Ally has already found ways to make the style her own, even with the beads in it. Yesterday, she wore the hair in a low side ponytail, and today she put the top layer in a pony and added a cute flower. I would have pictures, but my camera is acting kindof funky. :(

Inspired Style, a fauxhawk, a banquet, and a VERY proud mommy. :)

Ally is involved in many, many clubs and sports. I think it is important to give children ways to channel their energies positively, and to teach them to keep themselves occupied without getting into trouble. Bored children are problem children, I think. One of the groups she belongs to is called 'Young Civic Learners', and today her group was invited to and mentioned during an honorary banquet held to honor people who have contributed to the community and inspired young people to strive for excellence and greatness. This was a VERY big deal, with the mayor, state representatives, the news, and radio stations there. She was the youngest person at the banquet, and ya'll know momma had to hook her hair up! :)

Enter inspired style. I saw this style done on one of my favorite go-to blogs for inspirations, Goldilocks n Me. I loved the simplicity of the style, and decided that I needed to make it into an updo. Ally is in love with fauxhawks, so I thought, why not a fancy fauxhawk for the banquet?

So she co washed her hair with Herbal Essense's Hello Hydration. She finger detangled her hair and I helped her apply Kinky Curly's knot today to her hair by sections, combing it through. The rest is pretty easy to figure out, we used some Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie to her hair where it needed extra hold. The ends were braided and the braids twirled and secured with bobby pins. I hope that explains it.

Enough talking already! On to the pictures!

My baby is so beautiful. :)

 Ally and I at the banquet.

Ally insisted on taking this shot of me. I HATE bathroom pics, but since I did it to her.....:)

We had a blast, and it was a really good experience for the both of us. Ally was complimented on her hair several times tonight, which made us both proud. But I was already proud. She does that to me everyday. :)

Ally's BIG hair, and homemade bow. :)

I apologize for our absense. I have not been posting much because we have been soooo busy. But we are back! And Ally has been styling her own hair for the past few days. I help her part, condition, and detangle her hair at night. Then she separates her hair into about 6 sections and braids each section as tightly as she can. The first time she did it, she wore her hair in a braidout. Sorry, no pictures. Then she decided that she wanted to switch it up a little. So on day  2 of her styling her own hair, she removed the braids that we put in the night before, and disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out, she had pulled her hair into a ponytail and picked the heck out of her braidout! I mean, this thing was as big and puffy and beautiful as you can imagine. Then she added a headband that she made herself (proud momma over here) and she was just grinning from ear to ear.

I took these pictures a couple of hours after she did her hair, so the back is not as big as it was when she first styled it, but still amazingly beautiful! #teambighair

Yes, that is my child in the tree. How else are you supposed to get the biggest, bestest apple from the top?  And check out that headband! Ally designed it herself, cut her own ribbon, glue gunned it, and wore it with pride!

Thanks for reading, hope y'all enjoyed this post. If you like what you see, please pass along our name!

Ally's fauxhawk

Isn't it funny how you can do the same style 50 times, and it will come out looking 43 different ways? Maybe its just me because I freestyle just about everything, but this is especially true when it comes to Ally's favorite style....the faux hawk.

So, here is how I got this style:



 I started on freshly washed, detangled and conditioned hair, after a protein treatment. First, I parted her hair from ear to ear

Next, I began corn braiding the parted portion of her hair and securing them with rubber bands.

Then I parted the remaining hair down the middle.

And I free styled the braids toward the center.

The finished result: Check out that shine! No, that is not just the flash..the protein treatment really did her hair a world of good.

And my tween was not being very cooperative today. Since I didn't want to post a bunch of pictures of her with her faced scrunched up and tongue out, this is the best we got. But she didn't mind taking a picture with her little sister (the dog)



Cornrows, ribbons, braid outs, and a big blue flower!

It sounds like there is a lot going on here, but it actually all works together nicely, and the style is was easy to achieve and maintain.

First, I parted her hair from ear to ear. Then  freestyled some cornrows and added ribbon, lacing it in her hair like you would a sneaker. The ends of the corn rows are pulled into 2 ponytails and secured with an ouchless band. (note: I braided the cornrows all the way down.) Then I braided both of the ponytails of braids together into one big braid. The rest of the hair is braided at night into 3 cornrows, and in the morning I take them down for a beautiful braidout. Ally says she has gotten so many compliments on this hairstyle at school, even teachers are stopping her in the hallway to get a closer look! And seriously, it doesn't get any easier than this!

If you like what you see, please recommend pass along our name!