Diva R's Skin Care of the Past :) Age Newborn-Age 3

I thought it would be fun to recap back when Diva R was a newborn baby and reflect on her skin care from being a newborn through age 3 :)

I will begin with the bath time/wash products that were a part of Diva R's skin care journey.
When she was just born in the hospital, for her first bath they used the Johnson and Johnson's Baby wash in the yellow bottle...                            

 This Baby wash we used up until she was 1 religiously and up until 2 years old interchangeably with a few others :) For the first year of her life this was used as her body wash and a shampoo when Johnson's and Johnson's Baby Shampoo wasn't being used.  I liked this one alot because she never reacted to this one and it was hard to find a product for her when she was a baby other than this one because she was EXTREMELY sensitive to everything when she was born and especially for the first 6 months of life. It wasn't the best for moisturizing but sure did have a great smell to it :) This was an old faithful product of ours and we even used it on our son up until recent times. 

The Huggies Extra Sensitive wash in the Teal colored bottle was our relied upon heavily product from the first week she was born until she had fully gotten over her skin sensitivity at 8 months.  At this time Dreft was our ONLY washing option for her clothes and the whole Extra Sensitive Huggies Line stayed plentiful in our household for all of Baby Diva R's care needs. This one was the only wash aside from the yellow Bottle baby wash pictured above that Diva R was using for the first several months of her life. Her skin was so sensitive if she were to have spit up she would break out instantly, drooling broke her out, tags on clothes and any fabric softeners or detergents other than Dreft washing her clothes would give her a full body rash also.

This wash was an old faithful by force not choice, the scent wasn't pleasant even thought it was "fragrance free" there was still an oily or medicated scent that was just bland :(.  It wasn't moisturizing and it seen to be a "stay on only in the bath" type of product, although that yucky scent liked to linger forever... I was so glad to be able to move on from this to the Bedtime wash and the Shea Butter Wash! We didn't have to use this on our son Z at all! THANK GOD! we went straight into the products that we loved with Diva R gotta love previous opportunities to try out many products and dwindle them down to your FAVs for future tense :p

This Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Bath/Wash in the purple bottle was the second wash that we used on Baby Diva R in hopes it would help her sleep better at night or at least be more soothed to sleep. Since it was a Bedtime wash we used it as a bubble bath and a body wash at night time and it had a different type of smell which was so lovely and she began to know that when we used this that it was night night time and id say it worked great for us! The claim proposed that its supposed to help your baby sleep better and longer through the night. It also claimed that it is allergy and dermatologist tested and approved, but my Diva was still reactive to it and will sneeze like crazy in the present times if its opened near her. I believe it is a good sleep aid system along with the other two Bedtime Johnson and Johnson products; The Massage Gel and the Bedtime Lotion. 

We used this wash from her being about 8 months old-her being 2 1/2 before i began to suspect she became sensitive to something in this wash because she would sneeze uncontrollably when i put it on her or in the bath... This would also be used hand in hand with the Bed time lotion and this became the clear indicator that she was allergic to something in it... So regardless of its good previous effects on Baby-Toddler Diva R i discontinued use and passed it on to her baby brother who had no issues with it and seen the best of results from using it :) I just ran out of our last bottles of the Bedtime products for our son Z a few months ago.

This Johnson and Johnson Moisture Care Baby Wash in the pink bottle we used on and off from 8 months old-2 1/2 years old.

It was also one of the few washes that never irritated Diva R's skin or allergies, we only used this on her body, not hair.  I didn't get the moisture part of it because it didn't really overly moisturize her thirsty skin much and we always had to use a generously lathered lotion afterwards. We had lots of this from our baby shower and it took a while to use it all up but every last bottle was used and the smell was soft and baby power mixed with baby lotion scented. The fresh soft scent lasted after the wash and complimented well with the Johnson's Baby Lotion in the pink bottle. It was not a decent bubble bath though, the bubbles would diminish quick.  We used this with our son from birth through age 12 months when we used it all up :)

This Huggies

The Shea Butter ingredient is what pulled me on board to try this wash... We began using this around 6 months and as a side note it was tried earlier on baby Diva R but she was too sensitive at that time to branch away from her Huggies Sensitive Wash so we waited until she was a little older and it became our FAV.  I found that this wash left her skin softest longest of all we have tried at this point and the fresh shea butter scent lasted forever it seemed! I used this hand in hand with the Huggies Shea Butter Lotion and they were used for years! We only stopped using this Lotion because i felt it was time to move beyond baby wash when she became 3, if they had a big kid formula we would still be on board :). I began using this on Z also and it proved to work great on him also :) Loved the awesome scent and the texture was nice and a perfect mix between a shampoo and a wash.

The following Johnson and Johnson's Baby Bubble Bath and Wash in the blue bottle we used from when Diva R was 2 1/2-3 1/2 (simply because this was bought for Z and why not use it for both and be less complicated :)

Diva R was done using Baby product at 3 pretty much but this one seemed to linger around a little longer... It was a good wash and had a pleasant scent i liked this wash best of all of the Johnson and Johnson brand washes and it was a GREAT bubble bath :) The best one in my opinion from JJ.  This big bottle we got lasted for months on end even ashing two kids regularly with it! I would buy this one again for future babies or even Z because hes still a toddler and not all products in our eyes have ages stamps on them, its only when the quality is exceeded by another product have we moved on or used it less frequently.  In this case we ran out and had a few others on had or i would probably still be using this for them :)

As for Diva R's after-bath skin care regime for the first 3 years of her life goes....

In the beginning of time we were given lots of the Johnson and Johnsons Baby Lotion in the pink bottle, this was the first ever lotion used on Diva R as a neewbie as well as this was also the most popular baby shower gifted item we got :) Needless to say we had tons of this!

This became a faithful product of ours and it went great hand in hand with Diva R's sensitive skin.  We used lotion every other day on her baby fresh skin because we were told by many people not to over use lotion on her skin so that her skin doesn't become excessively dry or dependant on lotion. (Wish i would have listened better...) We began using lotion on her every other day after bathing her and this one was the lotion of choice and she had no reactions from it :) Diva R was blessed with dry skin from birth so it has been a challenge keeping it moisturized from day 1.  We used this until Diva R was 3 interchangeably with others here and there and when she was young before i knew anything i mixed a little baby oil in with it. This lotion has been wonderful on my fair skinned son, we would be using it today if i wasn't a product junkie :P

Of course since Diva R had to have patch tests of every type of product before we put it on her i had to add the Huggies Extra Sensitive Lotion to our opposing regular lotion application days.

This i would say the ES lotion has been used more often and often in place of the JJ Baby Lotion pink bottle pictured above due to her on and off sensitivity days of being a baby :) Like i mentioned above with the Extra Sensitive wash, i didn't really care for the scent of this it was oil smelling with a hint of a medication-ish type of odor. Not pleasant and there were many times i tried to just mix a little of another type of lotion into it for some type of good smell.  This was used after her baths and maybe once at night depending on the dryness of her skin. She never reacted to this one and we ended up using the whole bottle and fortunately never had to buy it again.  I don't get how an item can be labeled fragrance free but stink horribly... Ive smelled this many times in different stores so i knew we didnt have a bad bottle, maybe my sense are naturally on overload. It did do its job to keep her skin moisturized while keeping the harsh chemicals and fragrances off her skin. This was used only for the first 5 months of her beautiful existence *_*

This JJ Bedtime Lotion pictured below in the white bottle with purple writing was a lotion that we had on hand from day 1 but weren't able to use until she got older because of the strong scent behind it. I LOVED the scent but her body didn't agree with it right off bat.

This lotion was introduced when Diva R was 8 months old as we found through repeated patch testing she was fine with using it at that age :) I was so glad because i was waiting to see if this would REALLY help her sleep better and through the night as its claim stated.  We would always use this before she went to bed right after her night time bath and she seemed to knock right out there after and slept through the night each and every night. Either we were just blessed with a perfect baby or this really worked :) I loved the texture and scent it was near heavenly Little Diva R knew when it was bedtime when this lotion was used. I had to get this for our Z also when he was born because this was such an awesome baby lotion he had to experience the joy also :) This was wonderful with him from day 1 and without this i don't think he would have slept well on the nights without using it... He had a hard time sleeping through a full night and it may have been heart related so this was a God send it provided me with a few hours extra sleep than what i was getting being a Heart Mommy as it is :) This worked great on Z along side the Massage Gel :) He LOVED that :)

The Huggies Shea Butter Lotion pictured below in the yellow bottle was a MUST have in our collection and this was bought at the same time the Shea Butter wash was because i needed to find ethnic baby products to try and add these needed elements that those had that the regular stuff didn't have in them, to Diva R's dry skin in hopes for a miracle.

This had become my FAV lotion for Diva R's skin as she was able to be moved from all the extra sensitive stuff and more plainer fragranced things.  The Shea Butter made a big difference in her skin!! I was in love for sure with the thicker texture and wonderfully pleasant fragrance! and better yet little Diva learned to love this one too.  I used this and the Shea Butter Wash so religiously hand in hand and went through a couple sets of these bottles through the course of her being 6 months on until i felt her skin required more big kid moisturizers. Of course i had to try this on Z and i loved the wash on him particularly and this was a decent lotion on him as well. He doesn't really have dry skin so extra moisturizing is never needed.  One application will do him good for a whole day :) This product is what made be fall in love with Shea Butter :)

Of course i had to jump on the bandwagon with using the JJ Baby Oil.

OK i don't even know where to begin with this one, BUT before i had Diva R i used this as tanning oil and i would get DARK it was something my mom has used from day 1 of her tanning life also. I was skeptical about using this on Diva R especially in the summer because i seen what it did to mine and my moms Caucasian skin as it was. SO I only used this during winter and cold months where we wouldn't be out in the sun at all. I began using it on her hair and did this for some time before i got tired of it getting on her clothes, crib bedding and our furniture. It was just downright messy. LOVED the scent of it in her hair though and wow did it make her tiny curlees POP! I know oils like this are bad for the hair now, but then i was listening to anyone who i felt had more knowledge than me. I used this in her hair when she turned 1 month old- about three months along side of the very FIRST ethnic hair lotion i have ever purchased and then stopped. I began to experiment with it on her skin and it was just to slimy and oily so i mixed it in with a lotion from time to time and i liked how soft it made her skin, it seemed like it sealed the lotion in her skin :) That was a great use for this oil after all but nothing more and DEFINITELY not in the summer months or sunny days.

We also used the Aveeno Calming Comfort Lotion with Colloidal Oatmeal, Lavender and Vanilla pictured below.

I really liked this one over most of the huggies and nearly all of the JJ, this was my stepping outside of the box product and it was so heavenly scented and the texture was VERY nourishing. This had one of the best FAV yummy scents of all time. We have never tried an Oatmeal having product so that was kind of different of a thought. BUT glad we did. This product was of great quality and the scent lasted until she was washed. This like every other lotion used was used right after Diva got out of the bath.  We had this product on hand from right when she was born but didn't begin using it until she was about 5-6 months old, and we used it until it was gone :) Never tried this one on Z.

We bought the Johnson and Johnson Head to Toe Fragrance Free Lotion when Diva R turned 3 and figured this would be good for her and her new found allergies.

We pre-planned on using this on Z also. SO this was the product of choice at this time because of it being on clearance mainly and that it was fragrance free. It was a new product so it was puzzling as to why it was clearanced. But we tried it anyways and still have this on hand as our daily lotion, not for long though. This lotion seems to be potentially bad as i am not finding out. I definitely do NOT like the scent of this one it nearly reminds me of a pure wheat scent. Aside from that it is just a "normal" JJ product that doesn't really variate from the rest. I will not recommended this one to anyone and shortly after this post i will be searching for a new safer lotion for them. The cone ingredient in this and in alot of other JJ products is rated an 8 in hazard number ratings indicating this as being a high hazard ingredient that can cause Kidney and Liver problems!!!!! Nothing more to say about this one....

As you all can determine by now i am a product junkie and have been from day 1, so we mainly used all of the brands or tried them all at least from Babies R Us ( i was big into R-Us when Diva R was a baby so everything came from there that we had or would buy besides what was bought for us and her whole nursery decor.)  There were always so many JJ and Huggies formulations coming out i just kept trying each one until i found ones that worked for us and since Diva R had the skin texture and SAME exact hair texture and luster as me i didn't feel the need to do anything extraordinary or ethnic incorporated. SO since i now have good sound knowledge on most of all the organic ingredients out there that can make good skin care products that are hazard free i will be moving on to either buying new ones for our household and or making our own.  I have to say that we will be discontinuing the JJ and Huggies brands along side the other associated brands of this nature and moving on to better and more pure products :) BUT HEY at least i learned when i did and learned from all these trials and errors. No one is perfect and no one should be criticized based on their mistakes or ill knowledge. Thanks to the Internet I've become a hair and skin care guru!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed our blast from the past on Diva R's skin care from day 1-3years. I will be updating this series as the years pass. Look out for our current skin care post in the near future :)

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

Way Back Wednesday Style Reflection

Since we were just on the subject of yarn extensions i thought id do a throw back yarn braids reflection! This was her first ever yarn braids doo and i decided to do medium-large sized box braids with a brown multi colored 100% acrylic yarn! I chose the Red Heart brand as this is what i found to be the best and has always been the most recommended type of yarn to add into hair and i was all for trying to learn extensions. 

I used the Lets Jam Extra Hold Gel at this time and it worked well for us :) No special treatments or anything beyond hot oil treatments at this time... I secured the beads in a different type of way. I took the beads and put them on the beader as i normally would and then put them on the ends of each braid and then i took one strand of the yarn and wrapped it up the outside the bead and back down through the center of the bead and then u rubber band the ending strands of yarn including the one i looped back through the bead and they stay on and aren't even wrapped on the hair meaning that just the yarn is taking the rubber bands abuse and not her ends :) I thought this turned out great :) It was super easy and i can definitely do all types of extensions just from messing around with the yarn.

The style took about 2 hours from beginning to end...

It stayed in for a week which is usually longer than any styles will stay in regardless of anything. But these stayed great looking for probably even longer than a week if i would have kept them in :) I thought it would be note worthy to take a picture while i was taking them out...

The crimp is POPPING and this level of crimp was simply created by braiding as tight as i could as gentle as i could, and the yarn helps form a GREAT crimp that's why i am a fan of using yarn for braid outs because the crimp is so defined afterwards and it last so long :)

Here is the after math of taking out the yarn braids :) I did fluff her hair slightly with a "pick" and POOOF... <3

This was one of most major 'poofages' we have achieved :) It was super full and fluffy as a cloud :) The fluff-fro is everyone's all time favorite in both of our families and beyond it seems :) This Braid out lasted several days...

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

PARTY TIME!!! Part 3 and a Side Note**

Finally the day of her party arrived!! This is something she has been looking forward to since last year! Her birthday isn't even as special to her as her party is.  So i went back and forth for so long bout what type of style i could do Diva Rs' hair in that could be suitable for Easter as well since it was the very day after her party... I had ordered a special custom bow for Diva and the style had to pretty much be created with the bow in mind.  I was thinking of a pony tail design, but then i envisioned incorporated coordinating yarn extensions into a combination cornrowed style for lack of better words.  Adding a funky different-ness to her rocking unique outfit. So i went downstairs and got white and baby blue 100% acrylic Red Heart yarn since i have bags full of it, gotta use it up somehow! I cut up a whole bunch of LONG pieces of each, long enough that i could fold each in half twice and it still be longer than Diva R's hair length.

Her hair was washed with our Bee Mine Botanical Shampoo followed by our NEW conditioner that i will not be unveiling at this time, topped off with the BM Juicy Spritz. I let it air dry for a few hours and then i re moistened it with our distilled water and added a little more Juicy Spritz. 

I parted her hair from just above the ear on her left side across to the top of her ear on the right side (ear to ear). Creating a top and bottom section to work with. I left more hair on top, purposely.  I decided then that i wanted all of her hair on the top to be designed going to the right side of her head so i could end it all in one big yarn loaded braid. I applied generous amounts of Bee Mine Curly Butter as i began cornrowing my sections that i parted as i went with my rat tail comb. I did the top half first so that i could finish the bottom half in the morning because if i did this reverse the back would be all frayed up over night. I added 5-6 LONG folded in half pieces of blue and white yarn together per EACH cornrow as i braided.

(This is looking gorgeous already!!!! Oh it just POPS with excitement, i haven't cut the yarn pieces to be in sync with each other as of this point yet :))

I'm still only using the satin pillow case over her pillow for her over night hair protection... Minus the bonnet.

Here is the finished Birthday doo without the accessories :)

(and yes i did plan on leaving the extra length on :))

In case anyone is wondering how i secured the yarn on the hair at the ends by using no rubber bands or accessories, its super simple!!! I took one of the single strands of yearn and wrapped it around the bunch of them and looped the end through the hole and lightly tightened it so that there was no play in the "loop knot/slip knot" that i created keeping them together just like a rubber band would MINUS the rubber band.

I pretty much just tied the "slip knot" right where her hair ends so that the knot is under the hair endings.

Here is the Diva getting her nails did before her party sporting her COMPLETE Birthday Style, Toodee bow and all to match her lovely special Birthday outfit :)

 Here is a close up of the bow and shoes :) The shoes were Diva R's personal pick, i was going to have a bowtique make her a custom pair of shoes but needless to say the deal we had fell through, she had me believing she was going to make these and have them ready for Diva R's party BUT at the last minute she couldn't do them... (While there were tons of other orders going out that were placed after mine.)  Upsetting, highly... SO by choice i went back to our original plan which turned out to be the best plan presented to us anyways... Because i will NEVER pay 70 plus dollars and shipping for a pair of shoes i can buy of much better guaranteed quality for 45 OTD... SMH at crooks...Diva R has been talking since September about the "Twinkle Toes" shoes and i held off getting those for her up until April because she kept stressing she wanted these because another girl had them and that is one thing that i consistently worked on with Diva because "Mommy will not buy something that you like only because someone else has it." I STRESSED for several months that we want things because we LIKE them personally, not because someone has them or wants them" So after she became in tune with that notion we were all for letting her pick out her very own pair. The catch was that they had to match her Toodee themed outfit, she agreed and these were the first ones she pointed out and they became the ones she chose :) As for the bow, it is a custom Toodee bow to match her custom shirt we got her made with her name on it with a Toodee applique above it :)

So i had based all of the accessories off of the outfit that i had originally seen on Etsy.com after days and days of searching, emailing, not being responded to being told what i want cant be done and on and on that went... Until i found a shop that had EXACTLY what i was looking for and it was customizable!! and 45.00 later for the shirt and tutu including shipping ......

Diva R is geared up!!!!! and READY to party!!!!

Toodee

I seriously called the whole world it seems trying to get someone to make us a Toodee cake but had no luck at all :( Because of copyright and all that jargon that they were scared of infringing upon.... So we had to pick something else that THEY could do and out of all the ones to choose from Diva R picked a Tiana cake and I was so happy she chose this one because this was just too cute and i loved the detailing of it myself.

(Please excuse the added clip arts i added to cover her name)

This year we decided to do it at Chuck's again for many reasons... BUT this wasn't just any party at chucks, we had the most banging party at Chuck's that day!

This was Diva R and me in the ticket blaster!!!! This was the coolest experience ever! Her tutu kept catching all of the BIG prized tickets that were worth 50-200 each! So i was just picking them off of it :) We both had to wear some goggles and let me tell you, the Diva was very skeptical about this and i nearly had to step in first before she would...

I tried lifting my shirt up to catch em all in my shirt (like back in the day when my brother and i used to go to shoe carnival and get in their money machine we would pin our chin down on the neck of our shirt and lift up our purposely BIG t shirts from the bottom and just bag the cash and coupons like it was nothing LOL the employees sure didn't look forward to seeing us every time we came in LOL) BUT it didn't work for the ticket blaster it seemed as if the tickets just keep circulating around us so i caught on to grabbing them off the ceiling and we ended up getting near 3,000 just from the TB alone. 

And as usual we ended up having hundreds of tokens that we were sure wed never spend entirely so game galore!! She likes the shooting games because Daddy plays shooting games! Look how serious she is!

Here is Diva opening a present! and this just so happened to be one of the FAV ones she got, The Tangled Tower :) and it was from us :) Yay Mommy and Daddy!

Our baby girl had the best Birthday ever!!! She is still raving about it :) and her hair got MANY raves at Chuck's, where Chuck's is just happens to be in an urban mixed area so there were lots of cute styles all around BUT none were half as unique as hers!

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

Side Note
**Ive seen alot of "white" girls cant do hair comments on the web, or that certain styles don't look good on "white" or "black" girls hair and my thought is....Who in the worldly form designates certain hair styles to certain color of people??? This was part of a discussion i seen online, the terminology used here is NOT my terminology I was quoting what they were saying, for those who don't know i am very ANTI racial terms and we DO NOT allow that type of talk in our house... How can a parent refer to their daughter and other little girls as B******.... I mean seriously?? Praying for these people...

Happy Hair Styling :)

FYI- If your looking to start a blog or begin on a hair journey just ASK QUESTIONS!



Hope everyone liked Divas Birthday elements as much as we did :)

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

Diva R's BIRTHDAY Part 2 :)

Happy 4th Birthday Diva R! Mommy, Daddy and Z love you to pieces baby girl! Have a Blessed day in the Lords name and be ready to receive all the blessings ahead of you :)

I bet your wondering what a Diva would eat on her Birthday for breakfast.....
WELL by the choice of Diva R herself and let me tell you it took nothing but a second for this decision from beginning to end... She got to eat.................

AND she was living this moment up because this normally would NEVER fly in our household! What makes for a better breakfast of choice for kiddies than JUNK FOOD :) and I had made my son Z a bowl of cereal already and when he seen sister getting a cupcake he HAD to have one too :P Following breakfast was a day filled full of her choice in foods and activities!

I conventionally added it to his cereal so he would eat his cereal as well :) and he ate it all up!! and what a MESS i had after that :) But as the saying goes, cant do for one and not the other... *_*

Here is how Diva R's actual Birthday went and all of the included elements PRE-PARTY :)

We had just did an overnight set of braids the night before and before i took them out i spritzed her braids lightly with our Juicy Spritz and let it soak in slightly... Here are the results!

This one turned out rather gorgeous!!! and off to the Dr's we go... ( bad day for a Dr appt i know, but we had no choice :/) Mommy promised NO POKES though :) Needless to say her day turned our spectacular because Childrens Hospital knew it was her Birthday so they had given her a brand new board game, a bag full of American Doll stuff, a BIG box of new Crayola Chalk and oodles of easter goodies also :) Yay for Childrens they sure made my baby girls day turn right around :) KUDOS! 

After that we got her FAV MCD'S, i painted her nails, we played games, we went to the BEST local play place ever and played until we couldnt no more and then fell asleep LATE!!!

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

Diva R's Pre Birthday PART 1 :) PIC LOADED

Diva R's Pre-Birthday celebration began at school and for her 1st ever Birthday during school we decided to get some custom made cupcakes from a local bakery for her to take in and share with her friends :) Her chosen Birthday theme was Toodee from Yo Gabba Gabba this year.  I went all over the world and back trying to find a bakery that would make JUST Toodee cupcakes or ones with the individual characters on each one of them BUT for copyright reasons and my not knowing someone personally who could make these for us we went with the next best design idea and chose a group shot of the characters waving :)

These were ENORMOUS and had the sugary icing! I'm sure her classmates parents loved me after this treat :) It was a huge hit! No other kids in her class have brought in something original, and me being over the top as usual had to do one better than the rest and I'm glad we went this route because the kids are still raving about them! Diva R was so excited to share these with her friends and they were just YUMMY she said :) The kids loved how the characters were actually on them and weren't substituted with the cheap plastic junk on the cupcakes that parents usually go for at the deli already made...

Hi-5 to me :)

So for her school party Birthday doo AND professional pictures following i decided to just re-invent the previous style that i had done on the 12th click here to reflect on it :)  The alterations i made were simple and took all of 5 minutes. 

Diva got a gift bag from her teachers with ALL KINDS of goodies in it for her :)

(This pic was taken after she got home from school)

I re-did the front two cornrows making them neater and fresh again, using the Bee Mine Curly Butter as i braided. I Then merged the two pigtails on the top center of her head into one pony and re-finger curled her curlees back into her lovely ringlets. I refreshed and left the back single pony in on the lower back of her head re-fingercurling those curlees also. Here is one of Diva R's Birthday Pics so you can get a partial idea of how her hair was styled and a preview of her Birthday outfit!!

(I put an image over her name for our safety, as an FYI in case anyone was thinking that was a part of her outfit)

Since we planned on Diva being in two outfits for her pictures i chose wisely the accessories that i will be changing VERY quickly in between shoots... This is also why i chose to do such a simple style.

The very night before her actual Birth date i decided that a Braid Out would be our Bday style :) I washed and conditioned her hair as normal and used a little bit of the Lavish Curls Moisturizer followed by our Bee Mine Juicy Spritz and finger detangled her hair. Not forgetting to use the Curly Butter as i braid :) I then started sectioning away (not striving for perfect linage) and braided the individual sectioned braids tightly and rubber banded them off.

Off to bed she went :)

For a few weeks now i have been experimenting with JUST using her satin pillow case nightly as her hair protection through the night versus our normal sleep bonnet and satin pillow case dually in hopes of noting any differences and/or providing helpful information to those curious or skeptical.

Last year my husband and i wanted to try something new to add to her Birthday morning and we decided to add Bunches of balloons in her room for her to awake to them...

BUT probably because this was a first attempt and because i didn't think to READ the package like i should have the balloon's were MINI balloons! LOL We were aiming for big ones BUT it turned out being a success anyways! Diva was just THRILLED!

This is a glimpse of Diva R at this time last year on her special day :)

As for this year i decided to actually READ the balloon packages LOL and opted out of the smaller sized ones and grabbed some bigger sized latex balloons in princess colors :) and with help from the Hubby we blew up over a hundred of them and....

(This is all of them in front of her door and in the bathroom BEFORE we released them into her room)

This had to be done VERY quietly and sneakily so our surprise wasn't ruined before the morning. STILL praying that she didn't have to wake up to potty before the morning also...*_*

We got them in!!!!

AND made it through the whole night without our surprise being foiled!!! The next morning i woke up super early beyond excited with my video camera in hand and started singing happy birthday as i walked in until she woke up (mind you she HATES the birthday song for some odd reason LOL always has) and she was so happy yet shy and telling me to STOP singing that song at the same time that she didn't notice the balloons due to her hiding under the pillow until i stopped singing LOL (All the while her brother was dancing to my singing and he noticed the balloon's right away! He was in paradise and jumped off into them :))

Diva R noticed them and WENT BONKERS! "Mommy why are there balloons in my room?" IS IT MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" YAY TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY" and she started singing the Spanish happy birthday song to herself! HA like the Diva she is and we all just jumped in and started a whirl wind of balloons in every direction :) This was beyond the last years balloon morning and next year we will add a few hundred more!!!

For my son Z we will be starting off with 200 balloons for his Bday coming up in Aug :)

So what would a Diva have for breakfast for her 4th Birthday morning???

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

UPDATE on Bee Mine Growth (No Sulfur) Serum Trial Period

Product Description

Bee Mine No Sulfur Serum & Moisturizer is a Growth Serum as well as a Moisturizer and Sealer. It can be used on your hair & scalp for optimum health and growth for your tresses. Great for hot oil treatments pre-poos sealing your ends and softening new growth. A little goes a long way!

100% Natural and Organic Hair Growth Serum

Ingredients: Organic Coconut oil, organic extra virgin olive oil, essential oils, herbs & fragrance.

Directions: You would use Serum daily or every other day for best results. This is a oil based Serum and a little goes a long way not much is needed oil entire scalp so use sparingly. Make sure you apply to the areas that need it the most. This Serum does not contain sulfur and can be applied to the scalp and hair.

Ok so beginning February 5th 2011 we started using the Bee Mine Growth Serum with No Sulfur on Diva R's hair... This trial run lasted until we found out that Diva R was allergic to Peanuts, and Mixed Trees, i chose by my own discretion to discontinue use of the Serum as i became very cautious of everything touching Diva R.  We used the Serum every other day for a total of 2 months and two weeks. I applied it only to her scalp, as our goal with using this product was root stimulation which promotes hair growth.

My review is as follows...

Scent: Strong and Minty

Color: Yellowish

Consistency: Liquidy/Oil resembling

Diva R has always had super thin hair and it seems to have thinned out as she got older so we have always been in the market for a growth serum that actually helps her hair grow. As everyone should know regardless of serums and other types of products created for growing purposes GENETIC is the key factor in hair growth rates and volumes... This serum was created to STIMULATE hair growth as well as it serves as a moisturizer/sealer. I strongly believe this is a WONDERFUL sealer and excellent if you have damaged ends, color damaged or heat damaged hair especially. I used this Serum on the ends of my badly damaged dry hair and i could see it working before my eyes! The fragrance isn't bad at all in my opinion and the minty element of it is whats responsible for most of the stimulation. 

I would wash and condition Diva R's hair before i put the serum on so that her pores were open and that would allow for better absorption in her scalp.  I would section her hair in 12 sections or more sectioning as i went so that i could ensure optimum spreading of the serum and this is when i realized that this bottle would last FOREVER! A TINY eensy weensy amount goes miles it seems. The applicator tip dispenses the serum in droplet formation so i would use 1-2 drops TOPS for each section or two depending on how big i would make them. I then massaged the serum into her hair with the pads of my fingers as i went and as i was doing this i could see the serum activating and her scalp just drinking it even before i massaged it in :) It was awesome to note because usually with products you see long term results and not necessarily activation right away and consistently. This is impressive! and Diva R liked the minty scent and said that she can feel it tingling through her hair and it as comfortable to her she really liked how neat it felt !  This serum doesn't need to be washed out and in fact it can be left in for days or more at a time and re applied as needed. 

I liked its results best when i put it in after freshly washing and conditioning her hair and leaving it in for 2-3 days with maybe one more touch up application :) It seems that i knew when it was time to reapply for the full effect of the serum when i could barely or not at all smell the minty scent. I experimented with it in so many ways and i was pleased with ALL the ways and results used and received. It was still great when our normal products were used on top of it and along side of it, nothing would diminish the stimulation nor would it be so over powering or unbearable. 

SO does it work??

ABSOLUTELY!!!! hands down this is the only serum that i have found to produce results quickly and consistently. Diva R had great amazing growth results of 3 inches total now using the Bee Mine Product line, and im sure her hair would have kept growing if we were still using the serum.  I seen a solid inch of growth in this time frame!!! I was measuring her hair consistenly to monitor so i could get an exact measure and i was so completely stunned that in just 2 months her hair grew that much and i isolated this product and didnt use it with any other products out side of her moisturizer and shamp and conditioner that we were already using, so i could verify if it was or wasnt working...

Id say this is an incredible serum and worth ANYONES trial, definitely not for babies or toddlers because they tend to be more sensitive to any product than an older child or adult.

I am so pleased with this serum and i was super skeptikal at first but im glad we tried it!!!! This serum in the sample size that i got initially would last several months.

After finding our Diva R was allergic to MANY types of elements that are in essential oils and herbal oils being that they are usually from Trees and the like, for all possible issues i discontinued use and it was a heart breaking decision but i had to make it for her health sake... Poor kid :( Allergies to nearly everything it seems... BUT not everyone who has nut or tree allergies would be affected by this, Diva is highly sensitive and it was precautionary more than anything because i would still be using it today if she wasnt.


Diva R's Mommy- Kim

Way Back Wednesday Style Reflection

As promised my WBW post is here already! Its seems like yesterday was Wednesday :) Yay these are so fun for me because they bring back so many memories!

This is another one of my first design doos... Combination styles have always been a fav and will always be near to our heart...Half Criss Cross Cornrows with sectioned pony tails with single braids  beads and clips! Busy style and at this time i was so confident at my regular cornrowing skills that i started getting head over heels with design cornrows and this isn't the best set I've done but its darn good for only cornrowing on and off for 2 months at this time :)

Since Diva R's hair is so thin that instead of her cornrows looking like "spaghetti or Alfredo noodles" in thick ness (if you can imagine what i mean) they are always box shaped with the cornrows going down the middle... I am still overly happy with her hair and love it for how it is in its entirety :)
Its not easy to part perfectly all the time because of how thin her hair is it also takes some time to evenly sculp styles.
This pic was taken in October 2010 and it took about 2 hours :) But that should be expected since this was in my newb stages :)

Hope you enjoy and gain at least inspiration from my styles :)

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

Todays Curlee Style: Combination Switchable Style Strikes Again :)

So, in our house Combination styles top the charts :) Simply because they are switchable, i can create combination styles that i can make slight alterations to and keep them in for a few days at a time with slight refreshing as i go :) This style Diva R wore a few days ago and i kept it in for 3 days but altered the style each day with new accessories and tightening of ponies along with touching up the cornrows :)

 

I finger curled her loose hanging hair into ringlets and at the base of each pony i used ballies matching her outfit :)  For the cornrows in front i chose to do this type of cornrows going down the side of her head because of those stubborn baby hairs that are 3 inches or better long in most areas... Her hair isn't evenly lined at all anywhere around her head so they will never be perfect in front but i can still keep them girly and cute by adding design to them as well as ballies or something with weight at the ends to prevent them from curling up...

This style turned out so cute, elegant and girly :) It was super fast to do taking 30 minutes from beginning to finish.  I am currently using the Bee Mine Botanical Shampoo on Diva R's hair followed by a little Curls Lavish Moisturizer and our new Bee Mine Juicy Spritz. We are still without a conditioner since it seems no one makes any that are safe for her to use that we could find as of yet beside the harsh chemical filled ones in the stores....

Below is our style switch up, i decided to braid all the free hanging curlees into one single braid each section and split the middle pony tailed section into pig tails. The pigtails have some of our NEW gorgeous clippies that nana bought for Diva R :)  She got them from Kroger. Then I left the back section in one grouping and just braided one big braid with a rubber band to secure :)

I secured the cornrows that i re-touched with some of our Princess Pink Colored Sidewinders and a small pony bead at the end of each so they dont slide off.

Cornrows are getting better as i go :) and i am finally discovering how to manage these baby hairs!!!

I used the Bee Mine Curly Butter to braid with, as this is the best gel substitute i have found :)

Divas birthday party is this weekend and we have it all set and ready to go :) She will be decked out i cant wait to post all the awesome pics!!!!

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

How To Part for / Do Zig Zag Braids My Way...

First off i have to say that i am by no means a professional and i am not claiming to be :) Just learning as i go and this is how i do my Zig Zag corn rows. I received requests on how i part for Zig Zag C-rows so here we go :)

There are three types of zig zag cornrows

*First type is the S looking cornrows
*Second type is the Z looking cornrows
*Third type consists of cornrowing a zig zagged PARTED section of hair by parting the entire section in a lightening bolt looking fashion or closer together sharply slanted Z shaped partings going back or downwards and then braid a regular cornrow down the middle of the zig zag parted section of hair :).

I know how to efficiently do the S looking or staircase looking squared off cornrows and the zig zag parting :) I have done lightening bolt parted cornrows but i haven't fully grasped Sharp corner zig zag cornrow Z's going back someones head yet. Mind you, i wasn't trying to make my parts perfect in this demonstration, i was moving rather quick and the zig zag cornrow isn't exactly the best I've done but it shows what 5 minutes (at least) can get you rushing...

This being a manikin head its also challenging to get the hair parted perfectly since its not a real scalp :)  I first sectioned off my desired section that i want to be zig zagged and in this case i chose to do 2 /3 of a full length section from mid-head to nape...

Here is my section that i am going to be zig zagging, i chose to taper off the section of hair that i am going to cornrow at the bottom of the section so the cornrow gets smaller as i go down, tapering off as well :) This isn't mandated nor the only way to do these zig zag cornrows, its just my preference and you could make a completely even section if you wish with no tapering bottom, if you do that it will be more widely gapped.

 Ok here is the parting breakdown, ALL i did was section my chosen section into same sized RECTANGLES (where i have the rat tail of the comb in the below picture is the spot between my first section box i created and rubber banded off and the second rectangular box i parted off) going down repeating the sectioning off of rectangular boxes until i reach the end point of the hair, as i went i rubber banded them off individually to keep them separated from one another. I like to part out my sections before i braid, its just a peeve of mine and it makes it so much easier for me to cornrow more evenly so i can just snip the rubber bands out of her hair as i curve down into each new section. I begin at the top right box generally and create a regular cornrow going towards the left and end it when the hair runs out and then i snip the rubber band and grab a piece of the leftmost corner of the lower box i just removed the rubber band from and cornrow downward into that section while curving my wrists and I've tended to switch it up and make figure 8 shapes by criss crossing each rectangular corner across to the opposing lower box's corner...

 Here is a side shot of how the parting would look...(excuse imperfections) You can achieve any of the zig zag braids just from this sectioning of the hair, its all in the writs curving and finger manipulating as you go.

OK SO i didn't video this zig zagged cornrow because it is to just illustrate the comparison between the rectangular parting prior to being cornrowed and the S curved zig zag cornrow resulting from my chosen method of hair grasping and parting.

When i braided the zig zag cornrow i didn't really part as i went like i should have because it turned out slightly sloppy and looser in some points but if i were doing this on Diva R or someone else i would have taken my time and parted with the rat tail comb/my pinky as i went :) With coarser hair its easier for the hair to "hold its place" when parted through my experience rather than fine loosely curly hair than tangles like mad! Or even long hair that is curly :)
But this was to just illustrate parting mainly for zig zagging or "s-rowing". One could start cornrowing from the top corner of the uppermost rectangle SLANTING downward as you cornrow, moving OVER to the left or right (depending on which way you want your cornrows to be angled), and SHARPLY SLANTING the cornrow downward in the opposite direction you slanted previously...

In case anyone is wondering how i get the practice head to stay in place while i braid and bend it all around like i do here is a picture of what it goes on :)

I just clamp it to anything "clampable" and start creating :) To get the manikin hair shiny manageable and to keep tangles away i used our new Juicy Spritz to moisturize it and it works wonders on real manikin hair even!!! This is the ONLY product i use on the practice head and a TINY bit goes a long way.... and the head is MIA and the current time getting the hair washed and conditioned and i have to blow dry it for 45 min and then let it air dry by consistently flowing air so mold doesn't accrue and the head completely dries It dries so wonderfully and health is restored!:)

I am going to post a video in the future just wanted to get this out there for anyone searching for new ideas :) Hope this helps...

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

God Bless.