Announcing Our 2nd Annual Hair Show.... The Allen Family

Meet The Allen Family… 

Thanks for considering us for your Hair Show, I love your blog :) 

My name is Tavia and I'm a mom of three (2 boys and a girl). All three have beautiful hair imho, the three of them have the same hair type anywhere from a 2c-3b depending on which part of their hair you're looking at :) The boys are 9 (J1) and 3 (J3) years old, and my daughter is 6 (J2). The kids are mixed ethnicity, black, creole, irish. And they've got it from both sides, my husband and myself. 

I'll focus on my daughter J2, cuz there's not much to my boys' hair care routine. I've recently found some blogs (including yours) that focus on hair care, emphasis on "care." I have always just flat-ironed/pressed my own 3c/4a hair. Whenever it wasn't straightened I'd slap some hair gel on it and call it a day. Sadly, I treated my daughter's hair the same as mine. I combed it but didn't really care for it. I'd wash/ condition and just put it in ponytails. But now I'm realizing we can do so much more!

This hair care routine is literally about a week old because as I said, I'm just learning how to really care for curly hair. We're doing a shampoo once a week (gotta buy sulfate-free, just found that out too!) Conditioning with finger-detangling (another newbie for me), and then a wide-toothed comb. Leaving conditioner on for at least 10-15 minutes before rinsing. I then apply some leave-in conditioner and either band or braid her hair for bed. In the morning I refresh with a little water and leave-in conditioner. If I'm leaving her hair out I'll use Kinky Curly Curling Custard. We're planning on throwing in a no-poo/co-wash once during the week. This whole routine will be a work-in-progress as I figure out what works and what doesn't. But I gotta say, she is a BIG fan of the finger de-tangling before the combing out. BIG fan!

I really love what kinky curly is doing for her hair. It's so soft and smooth (no more crunchy gel)! I dislike my Herbal Essences shampoo which I found out has sulfates all over the place and which I previously loved :( Suggestions for a new shampoo are welcome! Preferably one not too exotic and that I can just find at a regular store!

We are a musical family. I was a music major in college, J1 plays electric guitar and J2 has recently started piano lessons. But one of our favorite things to do as a family is to go swimming . We are a bunch of fish, and this has always been a challenge as far as hair care is concerned. The plan will be rinse before and c0-wash after. We'll see how it goes during swim lessons this summer! 

 Hair time is not my daughter's favorite time I must admit. Watching Dancing with the Stars and American Idol does help! Usually she's happy with some little knick-knacks or her nintendo ds to play with. Distraction is the key for her. She's not happy during the process but she's always happy with the end result. She loves to look cute :)

Here is an amazing twisted braid style for lack of better words! and it is just a chart topper!!!

Here is J2 with Kinky Curly Products in her hair LOOK at those majorly defined bouncy curls!:)

(Sidenote: Just wanted to mention that NONE of the hairstyles pictured here are of my own invention. I've seen them all on other blogs like beadsbraidsbeyond and princesshairstyles.)

 We just want to extend a huge thank you Tavia for introducing your family and for sharing those superb hairstyles of J2'sJ Your daughter has such lovely hair and its SO LONG and healthy, you’ve accomplished some styles that I wouldn’t be able to because of Diva R's thickness and length  KUDO's to you J Your boys have awesome springy curlee’s also <3 It has been a pleasure featuring your family on our blog and it was a pleasure getting to know  You, J1, J2, and  J3. My daughter is the same way about hair time, a good portion of the time LOL But she has definitely gotten better from beginning of times. The results are what makes it worth her “inconveinence” As she is a Diva and all. We also swear by finger detangling it makes hair time more enjoyable that’s for sure *_* I must say I am impressed by your creativity with the hair styles , your styles turned out just GORGEOUS and most positively stunning, i will be considering re creating the twisted braided pony tail :) or maybe them all they are so gorgeous!.

This concludes our 2nd Annual Hair Show...

Diva R's Mommy-Kim