Our First Criss Cross Braid

I finally did it! My first criss-cross cornrow and I am very pleased with the results!!

It has been approximately five months since I took the challenge of learning  how to cornrow my daughters hair as it's a great protective style.

Below are a couple of links to some great posts which I believe are great for beginners:

"Cornrowing-for-beginners" by Beads Braids and Beyond and Learn Cornrows which is highly recommended by KandLandKurls.  

Now, Rory from Chocolate Hair/Vanilla Care has an amazing technique and many have learned by using a practice board, here is the link to her post "how-to-cornrow".

Although the above posts are great source of information, I'm more of a visual person.  While searching for youtube videos, I came across Kate's videos.  These are the videos that I truly learned from, the link to her youtube video is "How to Cornrow instructions".

Now let me tell you, as a beginner you will make mistakes, and after five months of practicing, I still make mistakes, specially when I have my six year old asking for snacks, or Ms. Bree needs a sudden "potty break".  Please remember it's okay to start over if you are at a point in your cornrow where you can start over, but if you are towards the end of the cornrow, just leave it! Most people will never notice your mistake unless you point it out.

After practicing straight and short cornrows, you will be able to do more than just simple styles.  I wanted to do something different this time.  I have wanted to try doing the criss-cross braid for a very long time, which I also learned from watching Kate's video "How to do Criss-cross Cornrows Part 1" and "How to do Criss-cross Cornrows Part 2".  I watched her video over and over again until I told myself, "this is it, I'm going to do this".

I opted to only do a single criss cross braid because I didn't know how long it was going to take me and i didn't know if Ms. Bree was  going to sit still for that long.

On my next attempt I will probably do as many three or four.

After a few days, I did a little modifying.  I undid the side pony tails and twisted her hair over night.  The next day I removed her twists. (twist out).

 and remember, keep practicing and don't forget to share your pictures and progress with us!! 

you can send your pictures to caramelcurlznswirls@yahoo.com

Our Thanksgiving Styles

This post was meant to be published the day after thanksgiving! Sorry about the delay...

Since we traveled to Grandmother's house to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, I am behind on a lot of things and now I'm playing catch up.

One of the many things  I completely love about my husband's family is all the family traditions they have and how important it is to be thankful for the great memories we are able to build every time we are together.

This Thanksgiving was very special for so many reasons.  We had plenty of time to spend with each other because we did the cooking ahead of time allowing us to have an early dinner and plenty of time to sit and reminisce.  In all honesty, I never get tired of hearing my sisters-in-law talk about the old days.

I also got the opportunity to spend extra time with our niece's daughters... they are twins!  Due to the great distance between our families, we don't get to see each other as often as we would like and I believe the children also miss each other, since Lil B and the twins are only a few weeks apart.

I have said it a million times before, doing hair can be a bonding experience, and this is exactly how I bonded with my beautiful twins nieces.

Ms. Bree opted to rock small cornrows into rope twists and medium size rope twist on the back (this lasted for almost two weeks).

We only used the following products to create this style:

1. Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer / Bee Mine Curly Butter;

2. Eco Styler Gel (Argan Oil) - to make the cornrows.

I maintained her twists and cornrows with Bee Mine Juice Daily Moisturizing Spritz.

After doing Ms. Bree's hair, Ms Jai (twin #1) wanted to get her hair done and to my surprise she let ME do it!!    Ms. Jai;  she wanted something very similar to Ms. Bree's hair style and I was more than happy to oblige.  I made a few changes to each style in order for the girls to share but yet have their own unique style.

While detangling her hair, we talked about what was her favorite colors, what she likes to do and she was so relaxed and very talkative.  I loved it!  

On Ms. Jai,  I did two small cornrows on the center and rope twists all over.  The twins hair is less curly than Ms. Bree's.  I would say their hair is a combination of a 3b with a few 3c curls in between.

Twin #2: Ms. Jia 

On Ms. Jia I created two cornrows starting at the middle and along her hair line.  She also had rope twists all over.  

These are the products I use on them:

1.  Kinky Curly Knot Today to detangle their hair;

2. Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer and Bee Mine Curly Butter to do the Rope Twists;

3.  Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer with Eco Style Gel with Argan Oil to do the cornrows. 

As you can see on the above pictures, the girls are having so much fun in the kitchen with Grandmother (Great-Grandmother) and it is one of the most wonderful memories they will always have.

The children had so much fun together and they were very sad when it was time to say good bye!  

I know our children did not wanted to say good bye to Papa and Grandmother either!

Styles for Short Curls

As we all know, not every curly top has the same length or amount of hair.  Sometimes you may feel overwhelmed or confused when it comes to styling your little one's curls, especially if their curls are extremely short.  

Ms. J's hair is short and her mommy is totally okay with it and instead of feeling overwhelmed, she has found several styles that work for her lovely daughter.  She has also modified some styles to make that those styles work on Ms. J's short hair.  

Thank you Mrs Rachel for sharing these amazing cute styles with us! 

STYLE 1:

STYLE 2:

STYLE 3:

STYLE 4:

STYLE 5:

STYLE 6:

STYLE 7:

Ms. Rachel says:

"Other simple styles I have done on my daughter are the following:

• Afro puffs are an easy style you can create in minutes, you can create one, two, four... or as many as you want;
• braided buns;
• four cornrows... etc.

Plaits are great protective style and easy to do, it works on all length of hair and they can be done in different sizes as well"

PRODUCTS USED:

THANK YOU again Mrs Rachel and Ms. J for sharing these beautiful styles!!!  

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.