More curlygirl styles

So I've been working hard at styling curlygirls hair lately. Ever since our curly hair information session where I was able to practice cornrows with an expert, I've gotten much better.  I realized I was holding the braid too far away from the scalp, so it wouldn't hold the style as long because it wasn't tight enough.  So problem solved!
That doesn't mean that the styles hold for weeks, they still only hold for maximum 3-4 days, but that's actually long for 3b/3c curls.

Some things new curly hair musings I've had along the way.

1. Curlygirl loves beads.  They click clack away and she loves to swing them.  When I put them in her hair she says "I beautiful" and it's true.  So we are big fans of beads in this house. We probably have beads in her hair about 50% of the time these days.

2. Natural and loose hair is much harder to manage.  When I leave her hair or part of her hair down we are struggling more and more with knots and tangles. It also feels much dryer.  Braids and styles really help hold in the moisture (especially when locked in with shea butter) and make detangling and washing much much easier.

3. Angled braids hold better than straight braids.  That is, cornrows straight back off her crown last about 2-3 days, but if I angle them (doesn't matter which angle)  they last longer.  I think this has to do with how so rubs her head.

4. Coils can quickly turn into dreadlocks.  I love coils and they look so beautiful.  But as curlygirls hair gets longer I'm finding that coils very very quickly turn into dreadlocks and create a big tangled mat around the coil, so this style is one that is only used for short periods of time and only when we will have time to bath and detangle it that night.

5. I recently spent a day doing braids for a friends daughter, and her curly little lady has 4a curls.  Ok, for all you mama's (and papa's) with 4+ curls and 4+ curly kids.. kudoos to you.  It was MUCH harder to style and manage.  We did a head of cornrows, but it took 4 hours.  Thank goodness she was patient.


Here are some photos and general comments on curlygirls recent do's.

Here is a photo of finger coils with a side part.  These look super cute and are quite easy to do on her hair.  I find when we use the curly curl cream it seems to hold them the longest.  She loves this style, and it's one of her daddy's favourites.  It's a one day only style, or we have some major dreadlocks starting (and while I love locks, I don't want to commit to that style).

Here is her daddy's absolute favourite hairstyle.  The Frohawk.  I find this style works best when I take larger secctions of hair and cornrow upwards.  The further up you place the cornrows, the more of a "hawk" it will make.  If we don't go swimming we can get this style to last 3 days.  But there is some every day maintenance of detangling, moisturizing and setting the top.  I usually use "The Great Detangler" and the "Curly curl cream".

Curlygirl calls these her "Ethiopia braids" because we were reading a book and the little girl from Ethiopia had hair braided in straight rows to the back, which was left out and natural.  Super cute, but the back does get matted so this style requires every day attention to detangle and moisturize the back of her hair.  Usually this style will last 2 days.  

Curly Haircare Session- Tips from an expert

Yesterday myself and 13 other curly mama's and papa's, spent the afternoon at the Afro Hair Salon on Commercial Drive in Vancouver.  Emy, the stylist put on a curly haircare and styling session for interested families.  It was a fun event and I think everyone took away some key curly hair tips.
Here is a summary of some of my notes from the session.  Some of these tips apply more to 4+ hair types- which I've indicated.  She also had some great ideas for styling short hair and encouraging curly hair to grow more.

Washing Curly Hair: 

1) for 4+ curly hair types, also condition first, then shampoo, and then condition again.
2) Shampoo should always be conditioning shampoo, conditioner should always be detangling conditioner
3) for 4+ curly hair types, section hair off into small squares and really ensure the conditioner and shampoo is worked into each section.  Otherwise the curls stick together and you don't actually shampoo the hair to the depth required.
4) When deep conditioning, leave the conditioner on overnight with a sleep cap then lightly rinse out in the morning
5) Shampoo once every 1-2 weeks, but not needed more often than this

Combing Curly Hair:

1) Always comb from the bottom up
2) Before combing, moisturize the hair with a spray bottle.  The spray should have 2/3 water with the remaining 1/3 containing hair oil (can use olive) and conditioner
3) Comb using a tangle teaser

Cutting Curly Hair:

1) Curly hair should be cut every 4-6 weeks, maximum 8 weeks. Otherwise the damaged ends continue to work their way up the hair and lead to more breakage.  This was a big "oops" for me.  As a curly mama, I never cut my hair.  Maybe once a year if I get up the courage.  And curlygirl has never had a haircut.... we shall be making a salon appointment in the near future.

Sleeping:

1) I know I've discussed sleep caps before, but she really emphasized the importance of these.  Again, here is where we buy our sleep caps and they are great, durable and support a good cause: http://africasleeps.com/

Styling Curly Hair:

1) Rotate your parts.  If you continually part in the same places the hair will break off along the part lines and create little bald spots
2) Emy uses a blow dryer with comb on the end to straighten really curly hair before styling. Personally I'm terrified of using hot air to dry curls so I don't think I'll be using this method, but when she demonstrated it on some of the kids you could see it really made a difference for the styling of their hair.
3) Don't try to cornrow with hair too wet- this is something I can really see I'm doing wrong.  Right now I'm styling curlygirls hair when it's wet, and ensuring I have my spray bottle prepared if it gets too dry, but Emy suggested that dryer hair would help the braids hold.  She also used a locking putty on the semi-dry hair to help the braids stay in place.  I'm going to try this this week.

Overall I think we all learned we were doing some things really well and that we could improve on some things as well.

One of my key take home messages was to choose a hair line and stick to it.  It's easier than having multitudes of products.  As it stands, my favourite hair product line is the Taliah Waajid curly hair line.  Love the scents and performance of most everything I've tried.

Wanted to also say a big thank you to Nandi Kids for sponsoring our event!  They were generous enough to send samples of products to our curly mama's and papa's to try.  It's fantastic we have such a great community of curly families across Canada!

More curly styles- and managing curly hair as it gets longer

I'm finding curlygirls hair is getting harder to manage.  It's quite long now, easily past her shoulders when pulled straight, but it is still a 3b/3c curl.  I'm also finding that her hair is getting thicker- so more little short curls are growing in and keep falling out of braids and styles.

Her hair is only lasting 2-3 days/ style and I thought I was doing something wrong until I ran into another curlymama with hair curlier than mine who said that for 3b/3c  curls you do need to re-do styles every 2-3 days, that this is normal. Only when hair gets past the 4curl mark does it tend to stay longer in braids and other sets.  This made me feel so much better... but now I'm back to the managing challenge.  Because her hair is longer it's taking me much longer to get it styled, 30-60 minutes for a full head of braids and 20minutes for an "easy style".  I can only imagine this will continue to get tougher as her hair grows longer.. but because it isn't curly enough I need to re-do the style in 1-2 days. So it's a lot of time spent in the "Salon chez nous".

So I think I need to come up with a better style regime... how do other curlymama's manage?
Right now I'm thinking:

Sunday: Set a 2-3 day style (Veil braids, cornrows)
Monday: done
Tuesday: evaluate, may need to be re-done
Wednesday: 1-2 day style (ponies, or twists)
Thursday: evaluate, may do an easy style
Friday: Easy style
Saturday: depends on the day.

I'm hoping that once her hair grows in thicker I should be able to maintain a style a bit longer and it will make my styling life much easier...

Here are some photos of recent styles.

The first was one that I saw done on a little ones hair (was a 4b curl).  Her hair was much thicker so it looked really full in this style.  I did like this style a lot, a fun way to do a mohawk (or "frohawk).  Evie thought it was fun and was flipping her beads all day.  The style lasted for 3 days, but by the end of day 3 the hair was falling out on the sides and little pieces were falling out of the braids.  You can see that my parting and sectioning needs to get better (lol), but I'm finding it tough to make the sectioning even when I have so many little hairs to try and pull into the braids.  I guess practice practice practice.
Curlygirl will probably look back at this style and laugh at me.

This second style was one I did for Thanksgiving dinner.  I created a side part, did cornrows that swept up sideways into ponies with beads on the end of the braids.  Cute style, one that we do a lot but only lasts for 2 days.  

Hair photos

I said I'd post photos if the side rows with top pony turned out.. so here they are.
As you can see I had to add a clip at the back of her hair, since it isn't quite long enough to carry up to the crown.  But it looked pretty cute.

Unfortunately, this style lasted only 1 day- her hair all fell out when she was playing.  I did think it looked cute while it lasted.  As you can see, I need to get better at making even parts on her head so the braids are the same width.

What to do with 3b/3c curls..

So while I have found when helping friends whose children have 4+ curls, the texture makes it quite difficult to manage, what I'm finding as curlygirls hair gets longer is that the 3b/3c curls really won't hol some of the styles that I love (such as cornrows) for more than 2 days.  after 2 days it starts to fall out and there are so many fly-aways that the style just won't hold anymore.  Because the curls that fall out aren't really tightly curled you can really see that the style needs to be redone.  Curlygirl also runs around, plays outside and rolls in the grass a lot- which I know also contributes to her styles not lasting very long.
To try and combat this I've tried gels, setting products and making sure the braids are really tight on her scalp.
As curlygirls hair gets longer it's taking longer and longer to complete the braids-which are having to be removed after 2 days.  She's still willing to sit, but more and more the cornrows are becoming a once a week event.
The styles I'm finding I'm using more are: Ponies-with braids or twists, natural (with finger coils), puffs, headbands, and veil braids.  I'm particularly loving the veil braids- as these will last 3 days.

I'm going to try some cornrow crown braids (wrapping the head) and see how it looks with a puff on top.  I'll post photos if it turns out.

Product Review: Curly Curl Cream

Overall summary: We decided to give this a try after a friend recommended it as her new favourite product for her daughters 3b hair.  Overall I really love this product.  It does provide good hold and excellent curl definition.  What I like best about this product is that once it's been put into the hair it actually keeps the hair frizz free and soft for about 8 hours- no need to reapply product or re-do the style.  Found this works really well for finger coils and twists as well.  

Price: $$ ($10.00). A moderate price for 6oz.  I've rated it as two $$, since I tend to use quite a lot in order to get the control I like- when using this product for Evies hair which is about 4" long, I scoop about 4TBSP each use.  

Consistency: Thick pudding like consistency.  

Scent: I'm not too keen on the scent, it's a bit of a fresh floral scent, but it kind of reminds me of baby powder/ clean diaper scent.

Recommended for: At this point I'd recommend this for moderate frizz control and hold for hair types 3-4+.  I'm not certain how well it would work for 4+ hair types, not without particular attention paid on twisting and manipulating the hair into individual curls but I think it would work.

We will definitely buy this product again, much prefer it over the Kinky Wavy Natural Style and Shine- it has better hold and doesn't leave the little white flakies that the Kinky Wavy sometimes leaves.  It's my new go to styling cream for natural hair, twists and coils.

Oops.. back from holidays!

Well I really did mean to set up some posts to "self publish" while I was away on holidays, but somehow parenting and various other responsibilities got the better of me and it didn't happen!

We  have had an eventful summer.  We went camping, and spent time all over the interior of BC visiting friends and family.  Curlygirl had her first camping experience- and loved sleeping in a tent with Curlymama and Daddy.  We on the other hand, didn't love trying to get her back into her own bed when we got home.

Care for Curlygirls hair when we were away was a bit challenging.  I had great intentions- cornrows which hopefully would last 3 days while camping (lasted 1 after swimming, sand and dirt).
Then applying yummy smelling product wasn't the best option with all the mosquito's either.  So I ended up having to ditch the coconut oil in the hair- bugs loved it too much, and stick to less fruity or food smelling products.

Here are some photos.. for any of you curly mama's or dad's out there, how do you manage curly locks when camping?  While I do like her 3b/3c curls, it really doesn't stay in braids or cornrows very well without falling out after a day or maximum 2.  I'm open to suggestions!

For haircare we would: spray down hair with water bottle each day we needed to re-style, then add leave in and detangle (++), then for the loose hairstyles we'd add curly curl cream, and for the braided styles I'd use vanilla shea styling butter (which the mosquito's loved).

Our camping hair styles over the weekend went something like this:

Departure day: Put in cornrows.
Day 1: Cornrows
Day 2: Cornrows falling out and frizzing everywhere (see photo below)

Day 3: Natural hair with ponies/ front braid to keep out of her face (see photo below)

Day 4: 6 front cornrows to ponies
Day 5: 6 front cornrows to ponies (see photo below)

Never brush dry curls and 10 other rules for managing curly hair

Here are some general rules for curly haircare.  You'll find all different rules for curly haircare on the internet.  I've combed through the rules and tried to summarize them based on my own personal experience and my experience with curly girls hair.
Again, I'm not a stylist.  Just a curly girl who has had some really hilarious and bad experiences trying to manage my hair....

1. Never brush curly hair dry.  Never!  I can't think of any exceptions to this rule.  When you comb curly hair you should comb it when wet, with lot of conditioner using a wise tooth comb.  The conventional brushes that you see at drugstores are not meant for curly hair.  If you are looking for a curly hair brush or comb, I'd recommend looking at online curly hair stores to see what they carry.

2. Don't over shampoo (and use a sulfate free shampoo).  As I've mentioned in previous posts curly hair should only be shampooed when dirty, or about once/twice a week.  Shampooing more often strips hair of it's natural oils and makes it more frizzy.
A good rule I learned from a curly hair stylist is that you should be going through 3 bottles of conditioner for every one bottle of shampoo (approximately).  And don't be afraid to use lots and lots of conditioner-condition every day.

3.  Use a cool water rinse to rinse out the last bit of conditioner.  I'm not 100% sure on how it works, but I was told this helps to seal the hair cuticle.  Either way, I find it way easier to manage curls that have had a cold rinse.
(Note: I don't use cold rinses on curlygirl.  It seems too cruel on a baby/ toddler. I'll wait until she's older and can understand why we are doing it).

4. Always let air dry (In other words.. don't use a blowdryer).  I'll be honest, I own a blow dryer.  A stylist once convinced me to buy one.  It's been used about 4 times in the past 12 years and each time my hair has become extremely dry and frizzy.

5.  Don't towel dry curly hair.  The terry towel material makes hair frizzy.  Use a micro fibre cloth or better yet, just leave it (see rule #4).

6. Sleep on a satin or sateen pillow case- this is the same rule as using a sleep cap.  Helps with frizz.

7.  Put your hair product in your hair when it's wet.  You'll find this recommendation all over curly hair blogs.  I'm not sure this is unique to curly hair.. but wet hair holds product.  The best order to put product in is to use a leave in conditioner first (some sort of curl cream or heavier moisturizer) followed by a gel.

8.  Find a hair stylist who knows what they are doing-hard to do.  I've lived in Vancouver for 8 years and I haven't found one that I'm 100% happy with yet.  You will find at Ouidad salons in the USA they cut curly hair dry- but I have found that very few stylists are willing to dry cut hair.  If they say they want to take off an inch, tell them to take 1/2 an inch.  I think every curly girl knows this rule (lol).
Another thing I've found that works well for me is to bring my own styling products to the salon. After my hair is cut, I ask them to wet it/ wash it, and then I put in my own styling products.  Getting the stylist to use a tiny bit of their hair serum and maybe a bit of gel doesn't work at all.  I usually end up walking out looking like a cotton ball.  So I've now started being more assertive and styling my own hair at the salon.
Curly hair also doesn't need to be cut as often as straight hair.  (Unless maintaining a particular style).  But if you are going for natural, it takes so long to grow that you can cut it less often.  I spend my money on good hair products rather than at the salon.

9.  The less you touch your hair the better.  So try not to put your hands in your hair too much.  More manipulation = more frizz.  This is partly why I find braids or twists work so well on curly girl.  She doesn't pull them as much.

10. Embrace your curls, and that includes embracing a bit of frizz.  This is something I still struggle with.  No matter how much time and energy I put into my hair, it's still a bit frizzy and messy looking.  I never feel that I look totally put together- and I think that now it's ok.  It's who I am, my hair is such a part of my identity I couldn't imagine being straight locked.  I've got nothing against people who straighten their hair, but it's not for me.  The few times I've had it straightened I've felt as though I wasn't myself and I spent way more time worrying about my straight hair than my curly hair.

Taliah Waajid: Kinky wavy natural berry clean three in one shampoo

Overall summary: This is a new product for us, and while it does say it is a 3-in-1 and that no conditioner is needed, I went into this product with the understanding that I would likely still use conditioner.   There are sulfates in this product, so those who are working on "no poo" routines would want to avoid this.  However, the sulfates seemed to be moderated somewhat by the curl softeners (chamomile).  

After washing the hair felt a bit astringent (the sulfates)- or that squeaky clean feeling.  Something that isn't really what I like to feel with curly hair shampoos.  However, it didn't irritate curly girls eyes and it washed out quite easily.  Definitely requires conditioner treatment after use.  

Price: $$ ($8.00). A moderate price for 8oz.  I used about a dime sized portion on curly girl and had a full head of lather.  

Consistency: Regular shampoo like consistency.

Scent: It says it is Berry scented, but to us is sort of smelled like bubblegum or fruit.  Artificially scented, but it is not offensive.

Recommended for: At this point I'd recommend this for a shampoo for curly hair types below a 4.  If hair is 4+ I'd definitely recommend avoiding sulfate based shampoo's.  For now this is an ok shampoo and I may consider ordering it again.  

Does anyone use this product for 4+ hair types?  Do you find it drying?  

Are you using conditioner afterwards as well?

Taliah Waajid: Kinky, Wavy Natural Style and Shine

Overall summary: The jury is out on this product for me.  We've been using it for a few months now, and I go through stages where I really like it, and where I'm not so sure.  It's supposed to help add shine and moisture as well as stop and repair breakage.  If you use too much it leaves small white flecks throughout the hair- strange little white crumbs really, not your usual product build up.  I'm still not sure if it provides much hold though.  Right now I've been using the vanilla styling cream for braids and it's a bit better for braids and twists.  This is something I will use as an alternative to curl sealer.  

Price: $ ($8.00). A little goes a long way with this product.  We've gone through 1/3 of this container in over 4 months.  I suspect it will last us about a year.  

Consistency: The consistency of this product is thick and sticky. It's almost like icing.  It feels sticky to touch, but it doesn't make the hairs sticky or crunchy.  

Scent: Coconut- smells a bit like banana boat sunscreen to me.

Recommended for: 2+ curly hair.  A non traditional gel option. Use if you aren't looking for hold, but use sparingly to prevent white build up.  

Is anyone else using this product, how is it working for you?

Good Hair versus Bad Hair-curly mama baby photo

This photo is me as a baby...  I love this photo, it makes me laugh.  This photo is a good example of a curly girl with really out of control hair-yes, I was victim to the dry brush out every day.

Yes it's cute, but as an adolescent I remember going through my baby photos and thinking "bad hair"!
Funny how we assign labels like good and bad to something like our hair!

My hope is that curly girl doesn't think of her hair as good or bad.. rather instead uses words like beautiful and is proud of her hair as she grows up.  It's something I'm still working on myself.

Or more likely she will laugh at photos of herself when she was a baby and say "oh mom, what were you thinking"...

Curly girl hairstyles

Our curly girl wears a number of different hairstyles regularly.

I'll preface this post by saying I'm not the expert and there are a lot of curly mama's who can do curly styles better than I can.  But here are some examples of what I've been doing and working with.

Since curly girls hair isn't too curly (3b/3c) I find it falls out of some styles by the end of the day, so for example, twists and individual braids need to be taken out at the end of the day (1 day hairstyle).

So far I've only found a couple hairstyles that last more than 1 day.

The style we choose each day also has to do with what we are planning to do and our timeline.  So when we are rushed she may get braids and ponies, or a single cornrow on the front of her hair, or sometimes just a headband.  When I have more time I may do little braids and beads all over her head, or cornrows.

When I know we are planning on swimming I try to do cornrows that are full of coconut oil to protect her hair- but this style which usually last 2 days only lasts one on a swim day.  I also have to consider how much time we are spending in a car.  If we have a drive into town where I think she may pull off her sleep cap then I try to do a style that won't get too knotty from rubbing on the carseat (like small braids).

Her hair is also quite short (chin length), so if I have done a style with beads she may not nap well, or may be uncomfortable in the carseat if there are beads pressing into the back of her head.  Hopefully this will change when her hair gets a bit longer.

Here are some photos and a summary of how many days each style lasts.  I think this may also have to do with my skill at placing tight braids (not so skilled yet), as well as that she has a number of small, short finer pieces of hair that don't stay in the braids very well at this point.  Hopefully as her hair grows longer it will stay in longer.

I've also been experimenting with loose hairstyles a bit more.  I think with the right product to hold the curl and keep away the fuzz/ tangles, her curls look amazing loose.  Certain styles like locks/ coils tend to get very matted- particularly when she pulls off her sleep cap in the car or during nap time.  I think until she gets older I may avoid coils.  The last time I did coils her hair was a mess to detangle that evening.

1 day hairstyles:

Easy fast/ styles:

(The one braid off the forehead)- I use this style when we are in a rush, or when we will be playing outside a lot.  I like that it controls the hair in her face but allows her curls to fly free :)

When I do this style usually I use some shea butter cream to hold the braid, and then use a detangler/ leave in conditioner and then curl sealer in the back to prevent fuzzes.

This is a 5 minute hairstyle.

This style is ponies' and twists (or ponies and braids).  I'll need to find another photo closer up.  This style takes about 15 minutes, sectioning the hair into ponies, then twisting or beading.  I can add beads or just snaps to the end.  Looks cute, keeps the hair off her face but the braids/ twists tend to fall out by the end of the day.

The product I generally use is a shea butter on the braids and a locking serum to hold the rest of her hair flat and try to prevent fly aways.

We usually do between 5-7 ponies and she can sleep quite well with this style as long as there aren't beads on the ends.  When the beads are on the ends it's a bit too pokey for her head.

She wore this style a lot when she was little, just pulled up into a barrette.  Only takes 5 minutes.  The back is conditioned and then curl sealer is added to help control the fuzzes.  This is a "daddy" hairstyle (lol). I find the sides may fall out a bit, so sometimes to hold them a bit better I'll do a small braid on either side of her head and clip the braids up into the barrette.

Another easy style is just 2 pony tails at the top her her head.  Easier now her hair is longer.  She actually really likes this style. 

I don't have many photos of her hair in coils (aside from some blurry ones on my iPhone).  I'll try to take some better photos next time. I love the look of this style, but it tangles so easily sometimes I'm not sure it's a great style to use.  It gets really really tangled when she's in a carseat or stroller if she pulls off her sleep cap.  This style pictured below took a long time to gently detangle at the end of the day.

This is her hair au-natural with a headband.  I love this style- but it is much more prone to tangles and fuzzes.  Shows off her beautiful curls though.

2 day hairstyles:

This cornrow to puffs style is quite easy.  It only takes about 20 minutes to do and it looks cute.  Occasionally this can last more than 2 days, but generally it's a 2 day hairstyle.  The hair is moisturized first, detangled and then a shea butter is applied to each section before braiding.  The back of the hair which is loose is moisturized and curl sealer is applied to help with fuzzies.  After day 1, I usually have to wet down her hair and re-apply the curl sealer to the back.  Sometimes I'll apply a bit of curl sealer on top of the braids to help with the fly-aways.  This is why it's important to find a non flaking curl sealer. 

This style will really depend on what we are doing.  If the braids are place correctly I may get 2 days out of this style.  But if they are creating pressure on her head it may only last a day.  Sometimes I can remove the beads and leave the braids in, and then re-bead them the next day.  

I love cornrows in her hair.  This is small or short cornrows into little loose braids.  When she gets older I'd expect this style to last more than 2 days, but for now we are only getting 2 days out of the braids before it becomes too fuzy/ unkempt. 

This photo was the end of day 2, after we'd gone swimming.  You can see some of the shorter/ finer hair is starting to fall from the braids.  I can do cornrows at an angle-which seem to work a bit better on the natural part of her hair (not sure why), or you can do them straight back.  I will sometimes add beads to the end, and finish the underside of her hair in beads.  Depending on how much outdoor play she is doing that day this style only lasts 2 days.

3 day hairstyles:

So far I've only found 2 hairstyles that can even sort of last 3 days, but partway through day 3 I start to feel it's looking unkempt.  This is fine for at home, but if we are going out I'd generally re-do the style.

The first hairstyle that is a multi-day hairstyle is the diamond ponies with and without beads.  This is a very easy style and you can make it more fun by adding different coloured elastics or beads to the sections.  It lasts for 2-3 days and works really well for swim days.  It's also a very dad friendly hairstyle.

This is one of my favorite 3 day hairstyles.  Cornrows to the crown of her head, with beads on the ends, then loose and natural at the back.  It looks pretty, it stays in really well for 3 days and only requires a bit of attention to the back curls on day 2/3.  This is a great style for when Daddy is taking care of curly girl, since he only has to detangle and moisturize the back of her hair.  When her hair is in this style we usually use a cleansing conditioner on the back when in the bathtub. 

This was day 3 of the hairstyle above.  You an see it's  falling out of the braids by this point.

Darcy's Botanicals Daily Cleansing Conditional Cream

Overall summary: I ordered this product because we were getting low on conditioner and I like the styling cream (also made by Darcy's botanicals) so I thought I'd give it a try.

The first time I used it I was initially impressed by the thickness of the product and it felt like it would go a really long way.. but it didn't make curly girls hair slippery enough.  It was definitely cleansing.. but it couldn't be used alone.  After using this I had to condition curly girls hair with a thicker conditioner to make it smooth and slippery enough to comb out the tangles.  

Price: $$ ($15.00). I'd say this is a bit of a pricier option because of it's consistency and the fact you actually need to use quite a bit to make the hair slippery/ soft enough.

Consistency: The consistency of this product is vert thick, like a thick whipped butter

Scent: Vanilla, smells delicious.

Recommended for: 2+ curly hair in place of shampoo but doesn't really seem to work for 3b/3c curls as a conditioner on it's own.  Consider using this in place of shampoo a few days/ week.. for us the full verdict is out on whether I'd order this product again...

Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme

Product Review: Madagascar Vanilla Styling Creme

Overall summary: I like this product for braiding and twists, I find her hair feels really beautiful when I take it out of the cornrows or braids and it does hold the moisture all day.  But I do find this product is for styles, not natural hair.  It doesn't seem as great to help with frizz when her hair is down and loose- it seems the hair has to dry in the style with the product in order to achieve the full benefit.
I also find this product works best when you use a lot of it, and moisturize the hair first.  Particularly for the parts off hair that have tighter curls.  When I do braids with this product I scoop about an eraser size portion of the cream for each braid.  When using this product my hands do get a bit greasy, so I wipe them off and have to clean them with a dry cloth between every 2-3 braids.

Price: $$ ($15.00). A medium priced option.

Consistency: The consistency of this product is quite thick, like a thick shea butter cream.  

Scent: Like vanilla cupcakes.. yummy!

Recommended for: 3+ curly hair in lock, braids, twists or other styles.   


I've also been asked where I usually buy my hair products.
I have a few places, but my go to right now is Nandi Kids: http://nandikids.ca/
I find the owner is really responsive and able to make quick changes to the order etc. She also ships things really quickly which I like.  

India Arie..

Love this song.. go India!

Woes of curly hair and traveling

One of the things I've always hated about having curly hair is trying to manage my hair without access to a shower or water.
This means managing my hair when we travel can be very difficult.  I can't leave my hair for a few days in between showering.  What I end up with is a tangled, matted and horrible mess- when I finally do detangle I'm pulling clumps of hair from my head.

Growing up this made camping also difficult.  I remember making sure my dad hauled a shower bag over the entire West Coast Trail to make sure I would be able to wet down my hair and put some conditioner in it.

To this day, one of my only conditions for staying at hotels/ hostels is that they have running water.

Yes, of course 1 day doesn't really hurt.. but 2 days without doing my hair, or "gasp" 3 days.. impossible.

What are your tips for managing curls when traveling or camping?

No Poo Shampoo.. what's the fuss about?

If you start browsing curly hair blogs and websites you'll hear a lot about "poo" and "no poo" shampoos.

The poo in the shampoo is referring to sulfates.  In most shampoos this is called Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or SLS.  It's a cleaning agent, or surfactant found in most shampoos.

Other sulfates you find in shampoos include:

• Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
• Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate
• Sodium Myreth Sulfate
• TEA Laureth Sulfate
•  Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate

Arguably less damaging sulfates include:

• coco-babassu sulfate 
• palm based sulfate

(For example, the palm babassu or coconut based sulfates are found in many Aveda shampoos)

So why does this matter?
Firstly, sulfates remove oil- just like a sulfate based cleaning supply.  Sulfates are the detergent portion of shampoos.  The more sulfatees in a shampoo, the more it foams up and bubbles.  Somehow we equate foam or bubbles to cleanliness, so this is generally a desired quality in shampoo.

However sulfates or poo can damage curly hair and strip the hair of natural oils, so hair can dry out more quickly, is potentially more prone to breakage and possibly lead to the thinning of your hair.

I'm not saying you shouldn't use sulfates.  In fact, for my own hair I'm not convinced. I've used some great sulfate based products and some pretty bad sulfate free products- But I completely agree that sulfates are harmful to the environment and by extension likely harmful to our health.

But my hair and my curly girl tend to do ok with some sulfate based shampoos (just not every day).

Here are a list of common curly hair and salon brand shampoos divided into Poo vs. No Poo shampoos.

No Poo Shampoos

Mixed Chicks sulfate free
Shampoo- One I haven't tried yet

Sulfate free. and lasts a long time

This next "No Poo" list was found on a few other websites, so I'd recommend checking the ingredients:

Abba Pure Gentle Hair shampoo

Abba Pure Moisture Hair shampoo

Abba Real Fundamental Hair shampoo

Abba Pure Color Safeguard

Abba Pure Curl Hair shampoo

AG Hair Cosmetics Color Savour Sulfate-free Hair shampoo

AG Hair Makeup Recoil Curl Initiating Shampoo

Alba Botanica Cocoa Butter Dry Restore Locks Clean

Alba Botanica Coconut Milk Extra Enrich Locks Clean

Alba Botanica Gardenia Hydrating Hair Clean

Alba Botanica Honeydew Nourishing Hair Wash

Alba Botanica Mango Moisturising Locks wash

Alba Botanica Plumeria Replacing Locks wash

Alba Botanica Daily Hair shampoo (additionally clarifying hair shampoo)

Alterna Color Maintain Restore Shampoo

Alterna Color Hold Sparkle Shampoo

Alterna Colour Maintain Straight Hair shampoo

Alterna Scalp Treatment

Alterna Making clear Hair shampoo

Alterna Color Maintain Repair Hair shampoo

Alterna Volume Recover Hair shampoo

Anita Grant Babassu Rose Rose Shampoo as well as Bath Club (UK)

Anita Give Peppermint Babassu Shampoo Club (UK)

Anita Give Organic Algae + Ylang Babassu Hair shampoo Bar (UK)

Aubrey Organics BGA Protein + Conditioning Hair shampoo

Aubrey Organics Silk Henna Shine-Enhancing Shampoo

Aubrey Organics GPB Glycogen Protein Managing Hair shampoo

Doctor. Bronner’s Almond Fluid Soap Almond

Dr. Bronner’s Citrus fruit Lemon Fluid Cleaning soap

Doctor. Bronner’s Eucalyptus Liquid Cleaning soap 

Dr. Bronner’s Rose Liquid Soap 

Dr. Bronner’s Pepper mint Fluid Cleaning soap 

Dr. Bronner’s Flower Fluid Soap

Doctor. Bronner’s Teas Tree Essential oil Fluid Cleaning soap

L’Oreal Everstrong Hydrating Hair shampoo

L’Oreal Everpure Sleek Hair shampoo

L’Oreal Everpure Volumizing Shampoo

L’Oreal Everstrong Rebuilding Hair shampoo

L’Oreal Hair Expertise Everstrong Sulfate-Free Build-up System Bodify Hair shampoo

Neutrogena Triple Moisture Lotion Lather Hair shampoo

Organix Reviving Cherry Bloom Ginseng Hair shampoo

Organix Revitalizing Pomengranate Green tea extract

Organix Removing Shea Butter Hair shampoo

Organix Soft as well as Smooth Vanilla Silk Hair shampoo

Scruples Whitened Teas Sulfate Free Restorative Hair shampoo

Shea Dampness Uncooked Shea Butter Moisture Preservation Shampoo

Shea Moisture African Black Cleaning soap Heavy Cleaning Shampoo

Silk Components Colour Care Sulfate Totally free Hair shampoo

Softsheen Break via Fortifying Moisturising Shampoo

Alba Botanica Every day Shampoo 

Alterna Making clear Shampoo

Artec Texturline Every day Making clear Shampoo

Carol’s Child Rosemary oil Mint Purifying Hair shampoo

Waves Pure Waves Clarifying Hair shampoo

Elucence Volume Clarifying Hair shampoo

Giovanni Tea Sapling Triple Treat Shampoo

Giovanni 50:Fifty Well balanced Hair shampoo

Locks Rules Aloe Grapefruit Purifying Hair shampoo

Jessicurl Gentle Lather Hair shampoo

Kenra Clarifying Shampoo

Kiss My personal Face Aromatherapeutic Shampoo

Ouidad Clear & Mild Important Daily Shampoo

Poo Shampoo's (Note, even products designed for curls can contain sulfates.. look for sulfate free versions if you can), here are some curly hair shampoos that have sulfates.  You still may love them.

Mixed Chicks. Love the shampoo
But there are sulfates.  They do offer
sulfate free versions of other products.

Contains
Sulfates

Contains sulfates
(although not the kind
that stings the eyes)

Boasts a lower amount
of Sulfates.. but not
Sulfate free