MadiMel's Night Time Hair Routine - Natural Hair (Children's Hair)

Many have asked me about MadiMel's night time hair routine.  It is explained in the video below.
Enjoy the video and ask questions!

 

We'll chat later and God Bless!

-Sdestra

Hey Ya'll - I'm Back !!!!

Well, I didn't really go any where...lol.  I took an unintentional hiatus due to life...so here goes:

Hey my lovely ladies and gents!

I am doing absolutely well and praise God for it!  Feeling blessed, great and excited...excited for what?  I'm living and enjoying life.  You don't need the finer things in life to enjoy it, as long as you have what you need, God in your life and love...you're blessed.  Give praises to him all day every day!

I had so much going on within the past three months and haven't had time to sit down and post.  Actually, I'm lying...lol.  I had the time to post but haven't had time to sit.  Makes sense?

Once I finish what I need to do, I basically shut every thing off and indulge myself in some me time.  I am on Instagram more than anything.  Instagram is quick, easy and mobile.  Blogger is mobile too, but I'm still a little leery about how it works.  But I have quite of things to talk about, mainly about events and hair molded into different posts.

Events, trips, holidays and birthdays are slowly coming to a halt soon (temporarily) and I'm going to start catching up on some things with you.  Sorry for rambling...lol.

But I posted a video the other day with some updates and random things.  Watch, enjoy and comment! Subscribe if you haven't done so, follow me on Instagram and like my Facebook fan page too!

God bless and we'll chat soon!

That Time of Year Again! Recitals, Weddings, Formals, Proms....(With Bun Video Tutorial)

It is about that time again for this season and school-end events (recitals, weddings, proms, formals) for many of our children.  For me, it is my daughter's dance recital.  She has been dancing for 4 years now and absolutely loves it.  This year, she will be in four different dance routines during the recital in June.  This week, was their professional photo shoot and that meant her hair had to be styled into a mandatory bun.

Each year, the requirement is to have the child's hair in a bun (for girls).   For some parents, it may be a challenge to do this depending on the hair the child has. There are many tools that cater to buns.  Such as the donut foam, sock bun, and other hair bun making tools.  Not everything works for every one and here are some reasons why:  short hair, fine hair, thin hair, thick hair, long hair.  Depending on the hair, you need to have something to accommodate what needs to be achieved.  From talking to several parents of all races that bring their to the same dance schools, many face various challenges: coarse hair, short/thick hair, long/thick hair, layered hair, long/thin hair, short/thin hair, curly hair....so many!

MadiMel has thick, coarse and dense hair.  Her hair is mostly coily and a small area where it is a little loose with small waves.  Straightening her hair could have been an option, but I choose and chose not to do that.  From the years since she has been dancing and received the hair style requirement, I have never used heat but opted for another option.  Going heatless.

If she already had a style on her hair such as cornrows and/or twists, I simply take her hair down (after each twist and cornrow), finger detangle and then use a Denman brush to make the hair more manageable.  Considering that her hair was previously styled, her hair would be more likely be stretched out.  Less work but just detangling that would consume my time.

If I shampooed or cowashed, towel dry as much as I can, put her hair into 4 jumbo twists/plaits or loose french braids to let it airdry after moisturizing it.  That also helps to stretch the hair (other ways: conrows, twists, banding, african threading).

Once her hair is dried, I take her hair down.  Her hair is a bit more stretched where it becomes manageable and takes so much less time to style.  And again, I also make sure her ends are well moisturized since that part of the hair, the ends, are the oldest and vulnerable to dryness.

If heat is a plan for you to straighten the hair:

*Be sure that you use a heat protector
*Do not flat iron the hair while wet
*Using too much product(s) and flat ironing may burn the hair and cause damage
*Use the lowest heat setting possible that will just do the job for your child's hair
*To avoid going over the hair several times with the flat iron, use a comb with it to help keep the hair aligned
*Moisturize the hair well - this will restore the dryness the heat caused

Here is a video on the bun I do on her hair for her recital (and other times).
The video was recorded back in Spring 2012.  Since it is the time for various events, several people had asked me for a video like this.  I thank you!



We'll chat soon and have a blessed and wonderful weekend!

-Sdestra

Daughter's Hair: A Natural Hair Journey

Hey All!

A lot of you are familiar with my daughter, MadiMel who has very coarse hair and the length of her hair is almost down to her waist for her current height. 

For those of you who did not or do not know, I started my daughter, MadiMel's natural hair journey at the end of 2007.  This was when my sister in law told me about Fotki, a photo sharing site, where so many women documented their hair journies and share information.  I became fascinated and fell in love with the idea of taking care of our own hairs since I was on my own healthy hair journey.  It also meant that I would be saving so much money in the process!  Prior to MadiMel's proper hair care routine, I did so many things to her hair that probably would have made her scalp length right now.  We are talking about the use of Vaseline, tight rubberbands, hard brushed, bands with metal prongs, etc.  But I was left with was dryness and and damaged edges and ends. I was using Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo to wash her hair.

 

MadiMel was born with a full head of curls and over time they started becoming dry as her true texture starting coming through.  At first and prior the major hair care change, I was using Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo.  I changed her shampoo while looking at some of the natural sisters regimens on Fotki.  Added natural oils to her routine and moisturizers.  I started to incorporate healthier techniques....after a while, I noticed that her hair started flourished.   I rarely used the rubber bands, I learned a technique to comb her hair, I learned to cornrow and most importantly...I learned more about patience. I always say that if you have patience, you waste less time than if you rushed.

 

I felt that it was also important to start her healthy hair journey too since I was on my own.  As she grows and matures, she will in turn learn techniques until she cares for her hair completely on her own.  But for now, my stance is to let her see what I do with her hair so she can be armed with knowledge.  

 

I will have future posts about her hair journey, techniques and styles!  Stay tuned for more of MadiMel beside myself of course!

Watch our video I posted today!

 

 

 

Growing My Son's Hair Out...

Faux Hawk

So let us begin with my hair journey and my daughter's hair journey!  We both started at the end of 2007...well, I started both of ours at the end of 2007.  I currently have bra strap length (BSL) relaxed hair and her natural hair is near waist length (WL) for her current height (she just turned 7).

My son was born January of last year and is currently eighteen and a half months old.  When he was born, his hair was so straight!  Of course I knew that his true hair texture would grow in soon and it was a matter of time.  Interesting to point out, my son has 3 hair swirls (hair whorl) on his head.  One towards the back of his head, which is where it usually is on most people and two right at the hairline in the front.  His hair is not dense like my daughter's, but like mine.  But his hair is as coarse as hers.  



A week old

I suggested to my husband one day that he get a hair cut which he responded to it by saying,"Well, why don't we grow his hair out for a while?"  I looked at our son and said to myself, Yes it would be cute to grow his hair long...but what about all of the hair I already have to deal with?!



Shrinkage & Stretched Out Hair

But without too much thought, I decided to go for it.  I am curious to find out how well his hair responds to my care.  I started my daughter's hair journey when she was about two and a half years old.  We'll see where this journey takes us.  I also would compare it to her hair journey because I am starting his a bit early than when I started hers.

*I have been cowashing his hair with VO5 Conditioner mixing it with EVCO.
*I moisturize his hair every day with a Shea Butter mixture that contains EVCO and Castor Oil.
*I shampoo his hair when needed and then condition with VO5.
*I gently use a wide tooth comb and Denman Brush (which he tries to use himself too...lol)

His hair gets dry very easily and screams for moisture.  Otherwise, it is growing well so far and I will continue with his simple regimen.

Feel free to check out the tab labeled, "My Children's Hair Regimen".  It will have their regimens and a link to their hair photos as the journey continues.
(*still needs updating- they will be added to my Facebook Fan Page). 

I don't know when we'll decide to cut his hair, but for now he is on an UNOFFICIAL hair journey!

God bless!