Ms. Bree's First Trim

I have been paying close attention to Ms. Bree's ends for weeks now and wondering if it was time to trim her hair.  

A lot of us wonder about the same thing, when its the right time to trim our children's hair.  Curly hair is not like straight hair where you can easily identify when the hair is experiencing split ends.  

Trimming their ends, especially those dry dull tips, will help to keep their curly hair looking neat and healthy. 

During my research I came across one of my favorite blogger's recent post, "When To Trim My Child's Hair" and it provided me with the answer I was looking for. 

"Trimming should be done when the hair needs it", Kandy Land Kurls states on her post and it made sense.  

I noticed my daughter's hair needed it a trim because of the following:

1.  I noticed that I had to moisturize her ends more than usual;

2. Detangling process required a little extra time;

3. I was only noticing one or two splits ends while braiding or twisting her hair.

After noticing these and after reading Kandy Land Kurls' post about when its the right to trim your child's hair, I decided that it was time to trim those rough ends.

The next step to take after you determine whether or not your child needs a trim is who is going to do it?? Should you do it yourself? or go to a Hair Salon?

Trimming the hair is very simple because the only thing you are doing is taking the very ends off.  You are not looking to make the hair even or trying to give the hair layers, you are simply getting rid off those dry ends.  

Trust me when I say this is something you can do at home.  

How I did it?? I did it by simply following the steps on Kandy Land Kurls' Post "Trimmed N's Hair". 

1.  I washed Ms. Bree's hair with Creme of Nature Argan Oil Moisturizing Shampoo;

2.  Used Herbal Essence Hello Hydration;

3.  Moisturize her hair with our favorite moisturizer- Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer;

4.  Banded her hair.  She wore her hair banded like this for almost two days.

Why band the hair??  Curly hair suffers from shrinkage, and its better to trim the hair while its dry, it will give you a better idea as to how much you are taking off.

As you can see on the above pictures, Ms. Bree's hair is quiet long. 

Trim the Hair:

1.  Make sure you use the right shears.  By that I mean, shears that are sharp and easy to cut with.  Dull and rusty shears are probably are not a good option.

2.  Work in sections:  Do not take all the bands out at the same time, instead try Kandy Land Kurls' technique by unraveling each section and trimming it, once you are finished move to the next section.

Once we were finished with the trimming process, these were the results:

I only took about 1/4 of an inch and in some sections I took even less.  Remember you are only taking off what is damaged.  

After trimming her hair, I decided to style it in Box Braids.  

1.  Sprayed a bit of water and applied more Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer with a bit of Bee Mine Curly Butter.

Do you have any cool tricks to trim your child's curls?? Come and share with us, we love to hear your comments and or suggestions.

A Royal Weekend...

I'm going to try to make this short but I doubt I will be able to succeed on that!

As some of you may know, we went on our last vacation before two of our biggest and busiest holidays arrive.

Although my husband and I have an amazing time with our kids during the year. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the most busiest holidays for us.  We have started following his parents' family tradition as well as our own family traditions, which includes a lot of decorations, not just indoors but outdoors.  The planning of the Thanksgiving Dinner is a special event as well as the Parent-Child activities that we have during Christmas holidays.

For our last vacation, we choose to go to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, where their Dreams Come True!

Ms. Bree's last style were cornrows and box braids.  You can see our 2nd Attempt- Cornrows Post.  The day we left, I took her box braids out and I only sprayed the cornrows with Bee Mine Daily Spritz.

Florida weather did not agree well with my daughter's hair.  Now, I can add that to my list of things I don't miss from Florida!  Ms. Bree's hair got frizzy as soon as she got out of the car and so did my hair.

Before Ms. Bree went to bed:

1. I co-washed her hair by using Herbal Essence Hello Hydration and lightly rinsed it out;
2. I applied Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and Creme of Nature Argan Oil.
3. I section her hair in 2 by parting from ear to ear.
4.  I banded each section.

Disney's Downtown Marketplace

The next morning, our family decided to go to Disney Downtown Marketplace for the girls to have a little fun shopping while the boys were at Disney's Magic Quest.

I took the bands out of her hair and pick a style that I could easily modify the next day and do her "Cinderalla Bun"..

1. I parted the bottom section in two (from top to bottom);
2. Each section was secured with a pony tail by using Goody's Ouchless Bands;
3. I sprayed a bit of water and applied more Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and created two twists in each pony tail.
4. On the top sections I parted three small sections around her hair line, used very small ouchless bands to secure each section.
5. I braided each section and combine them with the top section in order to create a big pony tail (Veil style).
6. I then created three twists on the top pony tail.
7.  I accessorized each pony tails with Yellow Bows to match her "Belle Dress".

These were the results:

After a long day out at Disney's Downtown, we went back to our sleeping quarters for a good nights rest before our big day at Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Before bedtime: I removed the bands that secured each pony tail (without removing the twists) and put her satin sleep cap on.

Our visit to Magic Kingdom

On Saturday morning, Ms. Bree and I got up a bit earlier than the boys and because her hair had already been sectioned the night before, I was able to save time on that part.

It took me about 35-40 minutes to finished the style and that includes adding all the accessories:

I created the curls by using the flat iron.  Instead of flat ironing the hair all the way to the ends, I stop at the middle then wrap the bottom of the hair around the flat iron (like you would normally do when using a Curling Iron) and brought the flat iron to the ends and these were the results:

The butterflies clips (clear in color) helped the tiara stayed in place.

Saturday Afternoon:

Due to the cloudy, breezy and humid weather I had to secure the back portion of her hair in a lose pony tail.

Ms. Bree's hairstyle was not affected at all by doing such adjustment.

Sunday Morning:

Going home.... the only thing I did to her style was undo the Bun and do a big twist and pin it with hair pins.

2nd Attempt- Cornrows

Here is this week's style.  I must say that I am getting better at braiding her hair.

I did a total of eight cornrows on top and six box braids at the bottom.  I recently purchased some snaps from Twist Braid Snap (http://www.twistbraidsnap.com/store/agora.cgi), and I love how  the snaps can make any twist or braid look even more fun!

Ms. Bree's cornrows are not tight at all, I decided to do them a bit loose because I will let the box braids out this afternoon.

After washing her hair with Creme of Nature Argan Oil Shampoo and Herbal Essence Hello Hydration, I added Creme of Nature Argan Oil and Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and proceeded it to band the hair.

What style are you or your little one rocking this week??

Are the Curls Ready for the Winter?

WINTER IS HERE!!!

Everyone is getting or is ready for winter.  Coats, gloves, scarves, and hats are out of storage and ready to be used. (Some of you are probably already wearing them).

A lot of people not only change our wardrobe but also change their children's hair routine to properly care for those beautiful curls during the harsh cold weather and winds.

We have purchased a few items for Ms. Bree to wear during the cold days.  Although her school curriculum changes in order to keep the kids indoors, they have to go outside sometime and play.

Here are few items you may want to purchase for the winter months.  (This items can also be used all year around) 

Satin Pillow Case and/or Satin Sleep Cap:

  

You may find this at your local hair store, Satin Sleep Caps are usual priced $0.99 to $1.99.  A Satin Pillow case are usually priced $2.99 - $3.99, this also can be found at your local hair store or on-line.   NOTE:  Satin caps can also be worn under a regular winter hat, doing so will prevent the winter cap from breaking and drying the little one's hair.

 or 
Crochet Beanie Hats or vented Bands.  I bought them a little big (Teen Size) because I would be putting the sating cap under it.  They come in several colors, I paid around $2.99 each, you can find them at your local hair store or you can find some really cute ones online.

Ms. Bree's washing routine has changed as well as her products. Her routine now includes the following:

Crème of Nature- Argan Oil Shine and Moisture Shampoo. *Product Review Coming Soon*

 or Herbal Essence Hellow Hydration Conditioner.  This is a conditioner that we have used for years and we seem to always go back to it.  We either use None of Your Frizzinnes or Hello Hydration.

 Crème of Nature-Argan Oil Treatment for Hair. This helps repair dry, damaged hair, strengthens & prevents breakage.

    Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer.

And thanks to Kandy Land Kurls, we will be adding Castor Oil to our regimen as well.      * I will update our "Washing Routine" Tab very soon.*

It is very important to take the time and care for the curls during the winter, the hair will be amazingly healthy comes Spring!

In a nutshell, these are the things you need to remember: make sure you have a weekly washing routine, do a good deep conditioner, have a good moisturizer at hand, do a lot of protective hairstyles and try not to let the little ones go outside with wet hair.

Please read Kandy Land Kurls post on "Natural Tips and Tricks to Keep Your Child's Hair Healthy This Winter".   It will provide you with very helpful tips.

Princess Cinderella Hairstyle & More

This weekend was a fun weekend for the kids. 

My son's karate instructor had an event called "Halloween Board Breaking" in which all the children got to wear their Halloween costume and break boards by using their punches and kicks.

Lil B. choose to be "Wolverine" and  Ms. Bree choose to be "Cinderella"!

After my son saw "Baby Big Hair" shirt: "It's All Mine Tee",  he asked me not to cut his hair (we will see how long that lasts!).  We did had a little hard time trying to make the face mask fit properly because he has a little "fro" going on.

Here is my baby boy:

Ms. Bree's hairstyle was very simple and easy to do.  

I did a combination of medium size box twists (instead of braids) along her hair line and then combine them into a Bun.  I did not tucked the ends under the bun like I normally would do, instead I decided to leave them out and do little curls at the end by using Kinky Curly Curling Custard.   

Here is Ms. Bree:

I only used a bit of Bee Mine Curly Butter on Lil B's hair, unfortunately I believe all the product was left on the mask.  Here are some pictures of Lil B. without his mask:

Ms. Bree without her tiara:

Back View: I hope you can see the curls.  I used her side twists to secure the tiara. Ms. Bree has two more events to attend so I promise to take better pictures next time.  
  

Hey, who said Halloween is only for the kids?... I was talked into dressing up too... the Evil Queen! 

Are your and your little ones dressing up for Halloween?  Share your photos and styles with us, we would to see them!!