No Ponytails For Mom

I always take the time to make sure Syd's hair is properly cared for and styled nicely. She rarely walks out of the house with her hair just thrown up into a quick ponytail. Me, on the other hand? A messy, just-get-it-out-of-my-face ponytail has actually become my normal style. Sad, huh?

Well, things are going to change. I decided that I need to put as much love into my own hair as I put into Syd's. Working at home is no excuse for me to put no effort into my appearance. So for the next 3 weeks, I have decided to put an end to my ponytail habit.

From now until Mother's day, I will not allow myself to wear my hair in a ponytail. The only exception to this rule will be when I am working out. Running with my hair down just doesn't sound like a good idea.

To give you an idea of what I'm working with, here is a picture of my hair in its completely natural state. I washed it, combed it, and left it alone until it had completely air dried on its own (about 4 hours). It's very thick, very coarse, and can get pretty frizzy at times, despite being almost completely straight. (There goes the theory that frizz only attacks curly heads!)

Since I don't want to use a flat iron every day, I'm going to have to get creative. I have a feeling bobby pins are going to become some of my very good friends. I'll post pics every day or two on my facebook page in case other ponytail addicted moms want to see what I come up with. Check out that page at https://www.facebook.com/TweenyHairCommunity and feel free to post pictures of any styles you've done that might help me out!

Anyone else want to abandon ponytails with me???

Wordless Wednesday: A Throwback

Old Reliable - Box Braids

We decided that since we just had to trim Syd's hair due to damage, maybe it was time for a little protective styling. We've been doing twists almost non-stop for months, so we settled on one of our favorite protective styles - box braids.

I did these braids on Syd's straightened hair, which made parting her hair a breeze. I used my regular crescent shaped parts, starting in the back and making half-moon shaped parts that build on each other as I move up her head. I also added a bit of Bee Mine Curly Butter to each little section before I braided it.

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Since her hair was straight when I braided it, the ends didn't have any curl to keep the braid from unraveling. To fix that, we just wet the very ends of her braids with water and some Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer after the style was complete. The ends coiled right up, ensuring that the braids won't be able to unravel on their own.

These braids have already been in for almost a week and they still look fabulous. I wonder how long they will last!

Straightened Out And Cut Off

The ends of Syd's hair have been looking kind of rough for a while now. Several factors joined together to cause that damage, including the cold, dry winter, more "out" styles as she gets older, and the fact that Syd is learning to do her own hair. Let's face it - natural hair in the hands of a beginner is probably going to get a little damaged. No biggie, though. We just decided to cut the damaged ends off and keep moving. It's only hair...it will grow back in no time.

I usually trim her hair while it is in small twists (you can see a post about that HERE), but this time I decided to straighten it with a flat iron and then cut it. After all, it had been over 2 years since Syd's hair had been straightened. We were both interested in seeing how it looked all straightened out. Here's what we did:

Syd washed her hair and I detangled it, added some Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer, and banded her hair overnight.

Starting in the back, I removed one section of bands. I added some heat protectant and used a flat iron (set to med-high) on somewhat small sections of hair at a time. I tried not to go over each section more than once, but I did need to make a second pass on a few sections. Bottom line, I used as little heat as possible to get the desired results. This took the first back section from this:

to this:

(Yes, I did this while we were both sitting on the floor....lol)

I then repeated the process for the other 3 sections of banded hair. When I finished, I was actually shocked that her hair reached her waist. I didn't realize it had gotten quite that long!

I let her wear her waist-length hair down for a day, but the following day I followed through with her hair cut. Instead of taking her to a salon, I opted to cut her hair myself. If you choose to do this, I cannot stress enough the importance of using hair shears. Do not use your regular household scissors, as they are not sharp enough to cut your hair cleanly. They can tug and pull at your hair as you're cutting, and you will have damaged ends on the hair that has just been cut. Talk about counter-productive! I digress...

I ended up cutting between 3 and 4 inches of Syd's hair, just to be sure we removed all the damage.

The shadows in this picture make the ends look really uneven, but by the time I realized it, her hair was no longer straight, so I couldn't take a better pic. :/

Day 3 of straight hair was Easter. Since her hair was still looking good, I decided not to do much styling. I just made 2 french braids around her hairline and brought them around to meet in the back. 4 minutes and we were done!

After 4 days of straight hair, Syd spent an afternoon being very physically active, so she got sweaty and her straight roots began to get puffy. We knew it was time to move into another style. She liked having her hair straight...she was amazed at how easy it was to comb. But that being said, she still truly loves big hair, so straightening will remain something that only happens on rare occasions. You just can't argue with her "bigger is better" hair theory!