Want to Learn How to Cornrow, Twist or Braid??

This posting is one that i will add links and resources to as i come across them in hopes to help others to learn and grasp the concept of cornrowing which will then lead them off into other new avenues of styling in aspirations of being able to achieve any possible style imaginable...

I will begin by listing some of the resources that I personally have gained from and will branch out from there...

Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care- Creating a Practice Board for Braiding
Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care- How to Cornrow
Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care- The Difference Between French Braids, Dutch Braids and Cornrows
Cornrows.co.uk- How to Braid Cornrows- The Excruciatingly Long Version
Cornrows.co.uk- How to Braid Cornrows-The Brief Version (With Animation)

BlackBeautyTips (You Tube)- How to do Cornrow Braids

More to come!!!!

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

Back To School Hair Style Day 3

Day 3 has brought us to a new style so i had taken her previous style down and shampooed and deep conditioned her hair. I used our Bee Mine Botanical Shampoo and i let it sit lathered in her hair for a few minutes then i rinsed it out and followed it up with our Bee Mine Deep Conditioner. This time around using the Bee Mine Deep Conditioner i decided to leave it in under her shower cap for about 10 minutes as she played in the bath and i rinsed it out thereafter. This is something new i added to our regime weeks prior, as i feel this is instrumental in protecting and providing more nourishment to her hair that has just been styled for a period of time and it has proven as such.

Then the following morning i took off her sleep cap and applied a generous amount of our distilled water  through her hair and began to finger detangle. To help aide the process i applied our Curly Butter following and her hair was perfectly detangled and frizz free. 

Up until this point i had no style idea in mind so i just began playing around with different ideas and something popped into my mind. I thought hmm i wonder if i could pull off some horizontal cornrows on the very nape of her neck/head. So i sectioned off about an inch worth (thickness wise) of hair going across the back of her head and dabbed some Darcys Botanicals Vanilla Madagascar Styling Cream mixed with some Original Moxie Just Gel on the section as i cornrowed. I moved up to the section above the first completed cornrow and parted another same size section and cornrowed the hair the opposite way also dabbing the above mentioned mixture as i went

Diva R wanted beads to match her outfit so we broke out our animal shaped beads that we got from Curly Princess Hair Boutique a while back and some of our locally bought small pony beads and went to town :) She LOVES these beads and them being animals really tops her charts.

So at this point her hair starts to go out on to the sides more toward her face making straighter type cornrows impossible so i decided to throw her hair up into a trusty side pony tail with the help of our DB Madagascar and OM Just Gel mixture used for the slicking.  We LOVE side pony tails and are quite partial to them, they are just right for little girls. I put a purple pony tail holder in place and braided one big regular three strand braid, rubber banded the end and finger curled the remaining hair.

Id say not too bad for a first time attempt :) I'm sure if i keep working at them they will be better and better over time as with anything else. BUT we were overly satisfied with the results and Diva R exclaimed her FAV part are the braids with animal beads <3  30 minutes into the style we were complete and ready for her 3rd day of school which she looks forward to everyday. I like the varying look to the cornrows, almost as if they are layered, this is a cool beginning style idea for a whole heads worth of opposite facing cornrows too.

 I noticed that this section of her hair is thicker than most other areas. Her head of hair is very scattered, she has varying curl patterns on top of varying thickness/thinness, and varying textures throughout as well.  I love super cute and girly combinations styles! As a side note, these two products that i mixed together seem to work the best in fighting those stubborn baby hairs of hers that Ive been fighting and dealing with for years. YAY for that!

This can make or break you especially if you are new into taking care of your little ones hair or even yours. A bit of advice is this, DO NOT try one thing and give up if it doesn't work! TRY THEM ALL and tweak the idea/technique and you are sure to be able to manage ANY head of hair.  If nothing else there are tons of bloggers you can email who will not charge you to help you out TRUST ME! I often hear people saying that they cant manage their child's hair, cant style their hair and don't know what to do and are considering relaxers or chopping or giving up as a whole after receiving obviously horrible one sided advice from a non-hair educated person(s) (usually family or friends) but not wanting to step out of their local beauty supply realm, drug store environment or realm of things having to be "inexpensive" to really see what they could have at their finger tips.

Understand quality isn't cheap and if it is you should question it!  It sure isn't quality, its quantity at that point masked with foreign wording which not everyone knows to dissect right away.  What better to use on natural hair than NATURAL products? This is coming from a natural and nature standpoint because Makes sense if you add 2 and 2. Why people attach a dollar sign to quality i will never understand. Things like that are worth saving for if nothing else.

If nothing else, as a second point, there are tons of ways you can sample products for free or get discounts on if you get into blog reading/participating, contacting companies and entering some of the many giveaways always going on through the oodles of present natural hair care bloggers/companies. Don't forget to check around for sales too! While your at it know that you could also win huge packages, gift sets or gift certificates and much more without have to come majorly out of pocket.

Nothing is impossible!

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

Hair Care /Styling Tips for Those with Thin Hair (Children and Adults)

This post is for everyone out there who has experienced, is experiencing, has loved ones with our deal with THIN hair on a day to day basis.

I am providing some tips so that when it comes to wearing your hair out naturally, styling, using accessories, adding extensions, and using tools to maintain/tame your hair you will have some food for though and information at hand to help you through each element carefully and successfully.

Diva R has thin hair, always has and probably always will so this has been something that over the years i have had to learn how to work with, having no choice in the matter *_*  Regarding Diva, it has been extremely hard to style, use certain accessories and learn techniques to be soft on her hair and scalp because generally when people have thin hair they have a tender scalp too.

I will begin by touching on the use of Beads... There are normally 3 different size hair beads...

Small (Regular Size Pony Bead)

Medium (BGP's or Chubbie Beads)

Large/Extra Large (Barrell Beads)

The sizes and quantities are very important when deciding how many and what types to put in the hair.

The small pony beads are the lightest in weight and have the smallest holes (aside from the Sidewinders which are feather light), so more of these beads are required to complete a style than any of the bigger ones for stacking/proportion sake.  So by adding more you are also adding more weight, this in return isn't good for thin hair especially let alone thicker hair, because with this hair the more weight added the more the risk for damage, breakage, splitting and pulling out the hair increases. The small pony beads cannot fit a whole lot of hair through the centers, so the braids/twists have to be quite small for them to slide on with ease. For baby/toddler thin hair i would recommend limiting the amount per strand/braid/twist to 2-7 and that is length dependent, because you DO NOT want to load a babies hair up with beads from scalp to ends, that's only paving the way for disaster. Thin hair that is about shoulder length or beyond can safely use 2-12 small pony beads per grouping.

With the medium size chubbie pony beads, these are slightly heavier than the small pony beads. One of these is equivalent to nearly 2 small pony beads in outer diameter. The holes are slightly bigger than the small pony beads allowing for more hair to fit in through the bead allowing you to be able to braid and twist a little bigger or use bigger sections of hair to slide the beads on to. With these you must take into account that because they are bigger than the standard size pony bead you have to use less of these. So for example, 5 of the chubbies would equal 7 small pony beads. So the weight of the chubbies is about two beads less BUT only 5 beads make up the weight of 7 small pony beads so in this case less is more. When using these on thin hair it is best to not go bead crazy and by my recommendation i wouldn't put any more than 2-4 on baby/toddler short hair and 6-8 per medium thickness braid/twist/strands on shoulder length or beyond for safety and hair preservation's sake. These are the best choice for medium-thick/thick hair. 

About two small pony beads equal the size of one medium chubbie bead.

(Chubby on left, small pony bead on right pictured below)

The Large/Extra Large Barrel Beads really resemble actual Barrels, like the sort that hold wine.  These are LARGE in diameter and hole size, the hole size is double the hole size of the small pony bead and a whole and a half size bigger than the chubbie bead's hole.  So obviously these weigh even more than both the small pony beads and the chubbies.  One of these are equivalent to about the length of 3 small pony beads and 1 and 3/4 of two chubbie beads. Meaning that these are way heavier than the small ponies and chubbies so much fewer of these must be used at a time to preserve the already thinned hair. 

(The large barrel is the leftmost bead, followed by the chubby and then the small pony bead respectively)

I wouldn't even recommend using these on a baby/toddlers hair.  I would say that using no more than 3 of these on shoulder length or longer hair is recommended. To each his/her own when it comes to EVERYTHING but through many avenues of thin hair that i have traveled i have learned that beads are a huge culprit for damage and usually people use too many.  I have seen these quite frequently in Loc's because locks are generally stronger in nature and most beads don't like to fit on Loc's well, this is fine in moderation.  It is suggested that if you are going to use these that you use a smaller ending bead under the big barrel bead because wrapping the hair around one of these bad boys will for sure damage a huge portion of the ends very quickly. I cant say that i would ever recommend these size beads to anyone because of how HUGE they are... These have mad weight and are really bulky.

In summary of the normal hair bead variations this picture below should help to illustrate the quantity and size differences in relation to how many should be put on the hair safely (note that i used a random amount of beads and stacked them on top of each other in rows so that you can do the math as to the weight vs amount ratio.)

These sizes can range from small to large in diameters and holes. They come in many materials such as glass, ceramic, metals, clay, and the like. These ones are especially of concern with those with thin hair because they are HEAVY and variate vastly in shape as well.  The weight of one of the glass ones i have pictured is equivalent to 5-6 of the large barrels discussed above and a whole handful of the small pony beads!! That description sums it all up. 

The metal hearts pictured are HEAVY also, one of the hearts is equivalent to the weight of 5 small pony beads.  The small ceramic beads pictured are also heavy, one of those is equal to the weight of 6 small pony beads. Without me even saying it, you already know i wouldn't recommend ANY beads like this nor any bead that is NOT acrylic.

Acrylic/plastic beads are the ones to use PERIOD. You can even get cute shells and other shapes in acrylic. These are the lightest bead.

Hair ties, beads, headbands and the like with metal in them should be avoided at all costs, this metal will break, snap, cause hair separation from the root, create hair/scalp disorders, cause unexplainable frays throughout the hair shaft or tear the hair undoubtedly. Bouts of excessive accessorizing are also blamed for being culprits for causing hair to fallout, become dry/brittle and break off. Items that are commonly used to over accessorize are ballies(bubbles), beads, hair ties, ribbons, clippies, barrettes and things of that nature. Its fine to wear these in thin hair of course just in moderation :) The last thing you would want to do is weigh down already thinned hair. 

Now i am going to touch on the use of combs, brushes, picks, and the like on thin hair. 

It is recommended that on thinner hair types you use smaller toothed combs and brushes. BUT your selections shouldn't depend on that solely if at all, because since the hair is CURLY you have to keep in mind that the WIDER the teeth are spread apart on the comb the easier the hair is for detangling, less susceptible to be damaged during combing/detangling and there will be less tension applied to the scalp while combing/detangling/parting the hair. 

Here are some GOOD combs to have on hand if you have thin curly hair or thin coarse hair and thin hair PERIOD! These are great for all thin hair types and you don't have to buy the name brand ones if you choose not to but there are PLENTY of all types of brands as long as they look like these your good to go :)

          Wide Toothed Comb      Ouidad Wide Toothed Comb                Denman Comb
              

The closer the comb acts/looks like finger detangling the better off the hair will be because of the wide-ness of the detangling/combing tool, this will also benefit the hair by using less pull when combing versus a small tooth comb which would virtually yank on the hair if a knot comes about. the dollar store even sells some plastic versions of these combs that would make doo until a better one could be obtained. When it comes to taking care of your natural hair you must consider the benefits ahead by purchasing the good things that would spoil your natural blessings :)

As for brushes that are good for Thin Hair..

Finger detangling with the right products is a great go to first guide for a brushing alternative :)

Paddle brushes are suggested to be the brush of choice with thin hair because if its shape and brissle alignment, it fairs to be rather soft on thin hair and it wont just rip on knots such as brushes with really close together brissles will, not to mention how those packed brissle brushes damage hair also!!!
Boar brissle brushes are recommended for those with coarser hair types Safely i would say for 3c-4b and kinkier hair types.... So whether the hair is thin or not isn't the concern for boar brissle it is just a better slicker brush as well as tamer all around, this brush isn't known to pull on the hair either :)  The Denman brush is a brush with alot of faces, there are so many different styles to this brush that they suit every hair type from thin-thick. So for Thin Hair, since that is the topic we are discussing 7row Denman brushes would be a great fit, it is evenly spaced enough so that brushing wouldn't be dreadful and stressing on the hair and the brissle construction is soft too. Denman makes alot of good quality brushes and is widely recommended by hair guru's all around.

   Paddle Brush                                Boar brissle brush                       




Denman Brush




   
Brushing and the like are big concerns with thin hair because if your too rough the hair can break, split or crunch just that easy. Its important to start from the ends of the hair while holding the mid shaft of the hair so that when you brush/comb your not tugging down on the hair.  Its important to shop around and find the right hair tools!!!

Weaves/extensions

Another food for thought bit of insight when it comes to thin hair is weaving/extension use, considering all of the already present negative stories and connotations weaves have and have had, it is important to note WHY it could be considered a no-no for thin haired individuals. This addition to the natural hair has been blamed as one of the leading culprits for thinning of the hair and has made peoples hair fall out over time and or break off.  If it wasn't bad enough for all hair types on a consistent tightly weaved basis, for thin hair the problems get worse.  A good portion of people who use weave/extensions with thin or short hair usually go that route for added fullness/length or both, which is completely achievable with out destroying the hair.

This is where proper technique, professionalism and the use of good hair comes in.
A rule of thumb to consider is this, for weaving, it puts alot of stress on the hair as it is so it is best to choose sew in or glue in weaves versus braid in weaves or weaves that require the use of extra tension or tools beyond a curved crochet hook. What is most important about doing/having tracks put in is the tension applied and type of weave used. As the tracks are put in, the tightness of applying is what you must be lighter handed on. You can design your parts and sections in many different ways, the options are unlimited, but you have to keep in mind that tender heads and thin hair will suffer greatly from improper weave'age. 

With thin hair the scalp is more tender, hair is more fragile, and the roots are more spaced apart. When it comes to using free hair to add into cornrows per say, try adding the extension hair in using the "Feed-In" method that doesn't create the knot at the base of the beginning of the cornrow. Click here to learn more about the "Feed-In" method.

On to wigs... The safer weave alternative

Here is an idea for those who love weaves/extensions but would rather not go through the pain, risks and the cost gauge.  Wigs that have the breathable inner layer that you can remove are wondrous ideas compared to consistently using weaves that could be or are destroying your hair.  They make wigs so good now one cannot tell one from natural hair.  Wigs can be switched up frequently, styled, colored, permed and the whole sha-bang. Wigs are so common any more that its hard to tell real from the fake, and of course there are the many varieties of real haired wigs too that the options are endless!
This of course wouldn't be harmful in anyway to the hair :)

Tight braiding/styling

Here is what the majority of the problem with having thin hair and loving cornrows and the like comes in to play.  If the hair is manipulated to frequently in the same areas of the head the hair could start breaking off close to the base of the scalp. To try and avoid this experiment with parting in different spots each time you part the hair, wear varying styles, switch up the tool usage, and make what you do to your hair change from time to time so that your hair doesn't get set in one place and become difficult to style differently allowing your hair to be manageable from all angles and remain healthy. If you are going to venture out into the world of hair braiding, it is a great rule of thumb to learn how to be "light-handed" because this can make or break you as well as your client.  Tight braiding can cause whirl winds of problems for the one being braided.  Are you being told your heavy handed or that IT HURTS? Do you see a red scalp consistently or in certain sharp points as you braid? Do your inner webbing's of your hands hurt/throb during styling? Did you notice big chunks of hair falling out or breaking off after taking out a style or while a style is in?

If you answered Yes to any of those above, it is time to re-evaluate your braiding technique...

Here are some ways to tell if your braiding is too tight and some associated hair and scalp conditions

Traction Alopecia (Baldness)-  This is baldness that results from braiding/styling being too tight on the head. The hair actually falls/breaks out/off because the tension used during styling was too harsh, rough and hard. Usually there is alot of PULLING involved on the hair shaft that causes this condition to surface. Prolonged and/or untreated Alopecia leads to permanently damaged hair follicles and doesn't allow for new ones to develop speeding up hair loss and making it lasting.  The hair line is usually the first affected if not first then, ultimately the damage done till show in the hairline.


Scalp Dermatitis, Scalp Psoriasis, Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema), Tinea Capitis, Seborrheic Dermatitis, Acne Keloidalis Nuchae, are other conditions related to braiding/styling to tight..


Click here to read more about those conditions...


Protective Styling

Being on the subject of tight braiding also highlights protective styles, which are also done for longevity and convenience such as tight braiding according to many stylists. I must say that i do not agree with tight braiding no matter the results, longevity or any given answer, its outright damaging all around. So styles that you plan on leaving in for a while, make sure that you aren't using excessive force in order to tighten up the style in hopes it will stay longer, because what your really doing is destroying the hair and its follicles and in due time whether its sooner that later or later than sooner YOU WILL SEE the effects of what has been done. The goal here with thin hair is to NOT do protective styling. This is recommended because even though during protective styling the hair isn't being manipulated often, the hair isn't able to "rest" as it requires. Consider the hair being at work if you will, and if the hair never gets a break it will tire out and die just like us humans with no rest, we start to shut down. Thin hair and protective styles don't mix well as it is since thin hair tends to have to be managed often. It is quite easy to tell/feel right away if the braiding is too tight, not rocket science at all.  


With these tips i hope to help someone make better choices for their little ones/self when considering options for styling and caring for thin hair. These tips can benefit everyone no matter the hair type, but this time around thin hair in particular was my focus as many of us have little thin haired cuties to tame daily :)


I will provide more as i go... Happy SAFE Styling :)


God Bless.


Diva R's Mommy-Kim

Are You or Someone You Know Affected by Nut and Tree Allergies...

As many of you know our Diva R is severely allergic to...

*Peanuts

*Peanut Butter

*All Nut's

*Mixed Tree's

These are popular in the hair world also, which is why i created this post.  If you or a loved one have established allergic reactions or allergies to nuts of any nature or trees of any nature it is important that you HEAVILY screen the products/cosmetics that you/they come in contact with.  We just found out via testing a few months ago that Diva R was allergic to Tree's on top of our found by trial and error fact that she is allergic to all kinds of nuts.  

This was puzzling and very vaguely put at that, the immunologist concluded that this was going to be a two-part panel test and because of Diva being nearly 4 at the time shes way to young for the full panel so they must bunch up some of the specific categories of allergens into one skin prick per category versus doing for example the full 13 skin pricks in the mixed tree category, the did one.  By this having to be done per protocol we will not be able to find out for a few years what she is specifically allergic to in the nut and tree categories, unless we find out by direct exposure.

This is a very hard thing to deal with because not only do alot of products contain tree elements as well as nut elements but our environment is TREE LOADED... All of the parks have trees by the dozens and we just cant escape them.  At certain parks she has started sneezing right off bat when she steps out of the car and/or break out in a rash. So we had to narrow down the parks we visit, to ones that are more open and partially tree-less or tree-free.  Even with this being done tree pollens circulate pollen consistently in the air in all directions ranging from as far as 30-100 feet meaning that even if you cut down all of the trees in your yard your neighbors trees will still taunt your allergies.  

So by us noticing that some of the products we have on hand had quite a bit of tree and nut elements in i immediately though ON NO i have to get rid of these!!! Then i decided to stop the usage of them completely for a short period and then i used one product at a time and isolated it solely for a week and would do the same for the rest and i was able to determine what products and then what ingredients she reacted too. We experimented with each one of them individually so that we could determine what was upsetting Diva R's allergies so bad.  

Before i detail, in case anyone is wondering what a Mixed Tree allergy consist of, here's a tid-bit i found on emedtv.com...

(Listed below are different types of trees that are tested in the allergy panels that we as children and adults receive, this is the adult panel of course because it consists of ALL of the Trees.)

Tree Mix I—allergies to Alder, Ash, Birches, Cedars, Cottonwoods, Cypresses, Elms, Firs, Hemlock, Hickories, Junipers, Maples, Mulberries, Western Oaks, Eastern Oaks, Pines, Redwood, and Spruces.

Tree Mix II— allergies to Acacia, Aspen, Bay, Elder, Eucalyptus, Fig, Flowering Apple, Flowering Cherry, Lilac, Magnolia, Mesquite, Oleander, Olive, Pepper, Privet, Sycamore, Tulip, and Willow.

What Is Tree Pollen Allergy?

Trees are the earliest pollen producers, releasing their pollen as early as January in the southern states and as late as May or June in the northern states.

Trees can aggravate your allergy symptoms, even if they are not on your property, since trees release large amounts of pollen that can be distributed miles away from the original source.

What Causes Tree Pollen Allergy?

Of the 50,000 different kinds of trees, less than 100 have been shown to cause allergies. Most allergies are specific to one type of tree or to the male cultivar of certain trees, such as:

• Catalpa
• Elm
• Hickory
• Olive
• Pecan
• Sycamore
• Walnut.   

The female version of these species are totally pollen-free:

• Ash
• Box elder
• Cottonwood
• Date palm
• Maple (red)
• Maple (silver)
• Phoenix palm
• Poplar
• Willow.   

Some people, however, do show cross-reactivity among trees in the alder, beech, birch, and oak family, as well as the juniper and cedar families. ALSO, some people could be allergic to just the oils of the tree, just the pollen of the tree and/or the tree in its entirety. 

In case your curious about tree/nut allergies...

Trees we have to be aware of when considering Diva R's allergies locally are...


*American Elm
*Red Birch
*Red Oak 
*White Ash
*Sugar Maple
*E. Cottonwood
*Black Walnut
*E. Sycamore

What is a nut/tree nut allergy?

An allergic reaction happens when someone's immune system mistakenly believes that something harmless, such as a tree nut or peanut, is actually harmful. The immune system responds by creating specific antibodies to proteins in that food. These antibodies — called immunoglobulin E (IgE) — are designed to fight off the "invading" proteins.
IgE antibodies trigger the release of certain chemicals into the body. One of these is histamine (pronounced: hiss-tuh-meen). The release of histamine can affect a person's respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and cardiovascular system, causing allergy symptoms like wheezing, stomachache, vomiting, itchy hives, and swelling.

Most reactions last less than a day and affect any of these four body systems:

1. Skin. Skin reactions are the most common type of food allergy reactions. They can take the form of itchy, red, bumpy rashes (hives), eczema, or redness and swelling around the mouth or face.
2. Gastrointestinal system. Symptoms can take the form of belly cramps, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
3. Respiratory system. Symptoms can range from a runny or stuffy nose, itchy, watery eyes, and sneezing to the triggering of asthma with coughing and wheezing.
4. Cardiovascular system. A person may feel lightheaded or faint.

In really bad cases, tree nut and peanut allergies can cause a condition called anaphylaxis (pronounced: ah-nuh-fuh-lak-sus). Anaphylaxissomeone's airways swell and blood pressure drop. As a result, the person may have trouble breathing and could lose consciousness.
Peanut reactions can be very severe, even if a person isn't exposed to much peanut protein. Experts think this might be because the immune system recognizes peanut proteins more easily than other food proteins.

(Listed below is a list of the nuts that are incorporated into nut allergy testing, i borrowed this from foodallergies.about.com)

Nuts: almond, coconut, filbert, peanut, pecan, sesame, sunflower seed, walnut

Foods always or almost always containing tree nuts include:

• Nutella
• Marzipan
• Pesto (unless specially prepared without pine nuts)
• Baklava
• Pralines
• Nut liqueurs (Frangelico, Amaretto, and Nocello)
• Nougat
• Turrón
• Gianduja

Foods that commonly contain tree nuts include:

• Macaroons
• Granola bars
• Trail mix
• Cereal
• Fudge
• Caponata
• Ice cream
• Divinity
• Candy bars
• Baked goods

So all of this is very important to keep in mind when having a child or family member who is allergic to or that you suspect may be allergic to nuts or trees.  I had no idea bout many of these elements being in products because a decent amount of them are "masked" by their foreign names. For every ingredient listed on a bottle there IS a more specific name for it or its bi-lingual name.  SO here is what i found out on my quest for nut/tree less products.

Products to stay away from if you have this allergy are ones that have...

*Peanuts

*Tree Nuts


*Tea Tree Oil

*Coconuts ( Some may or may not be affected by coconut)

*Sodium Methyl Cocoyl Taurate ( derived from coconut oil)

*Cetearyl Alcohol (fatty acids from coconut oil)

*Murumuru Butter ( if there is a present allergy to coconut oil one may be sensitive to this)

*Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts

*Sesame seed

*Poppy seed

*Brazilian Babassu

*Peas

*Bean Trees

*Sunflower seed

 

Potentially

*Shea Butter

*Olive Oil

      *Both of these are potential concerns because they come from trees and are derived from trees.*

I'm sure there are hundreds more ingredients to avoid if you have the certain allergies but these are the main ones that are often in products cosmetics and beauty items as well as the ones we've encountered first hand..

YOU MUST READ AND KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS because this type of allergy is severe, serious and life threatening at any given time, so you sure don't want to be using hair products that have these oils or elements in them.

Here's an FYI, if you are unsuccessful with finding tree or nut free products contact an organic product maker through any natural hair care blogs, websites  or search engines and ask if they will make a special formulation of their products eliminating the nut or tree elements. It may cost a little more or you may have to search around for a while BUT they are out there!. We use Bee Mine and Darcys Botanical's mainly. Or you could simply begin making your own products from scratch so that you know what is in the product, how much is in it and most importantly that you, your child or anyone for that matter could possibly have a severe reaction that could have potentially been avoided.There are many out there that will do that and some will not charge you extra even. 

If a company does have to charge you extra ITS WORTH every penny and probably because it takes more work to alter their recipes. Once a reaction to a nut takes place there is no home remedy to reverse it and an Epinephrine Pen is your only hope o-t-w to the ER. AFTER Benedryl is given and no reduction in reaction takes place quickly.


There is a very good chance that if you have these allergies and your products contain these ingredients, that you may be suffering from using them. Its even harder to determine if your children who may have these allergies are suffering from these products. 

There is nothing wrong with using these ingredients in products for those who don't have these allergies. 


Just please be weary :)


Hope someone can benefit from this post :)


God Bless

Diva R's Mommy- Kim

Hair Washing Tips For Biracially Curlee Hair & Diva R's Regime from Day 1-Present :)

The following are tried and proven tips as well as advice that i am giving on behalf of experiences, as well as from professionals i have met along the way. *What works for some may not EXACTLY work for another, but tweeking ones styles and making your own from them or a combination of different ones ensures that you will be able to find what works for you* It may take time but there is a product for everyone now adays. Literally.

Diva R's hair washing regime in the beginning consisted of Johnson and Johnsons baby shampoo no conditioner. Her hair was super fine and straight as a board.  It didn't require any moisturizer or any special type of care for about 2 1/2 years and then i noticed her hair begin to slightly change color and texture.  It went from being jet black and straight to being jet black and puffy with wavy curls stickin up everywhere to changing to deep cocoa brown with a tint of red ( She gets the red hint from her MaMa ^_^) and then  began to grow into ringlet curls with a definite S pattern and was filling out more downwards than up :P.

After she was 2 1/2 i began to use different products on her hair and noticed that as her hair changed it required MORE than what it did previously. So i stopped washing her hair with the Johnsons products as i found they began to dry her hair out. (Johnson and Johnsons products are not good for Biracial Hair) I moved on to Kids organic wash because it was the closest to natural i could find at the time and we liked it.

I would just fill up her bath with bubbles an wash her hair with the Kids Organics Shampoo and just spray a leave in conditioner in after i washed out her shamp. The leave ins that we used to use were by Kids Organics, Hi-Image, Olive Oil Sprays and such like that, they also were detanglers. I NEVER detangle her hair if it is not wet i have learned that is a good rule to live by. These products weren't too bad as detanglers but they didn't keep her hair moisturized at all.

I began investigating good hair moisturizers on the store shelves. I figured any product that had natural ingredients in them would be ok to use. So i started with the Dark and Lovely for Kids, Carson and Soft sheen, Kids Organics, and so on. Her hair began to grow like crazy at this period (growth spurt) and then just stopped growing for some time... Or at least growing very slowly.

Her hair is still her natural deep cocoa brown w/ red tint and hasn't changed so i think it will stay this color and her curls are S shape and medium in size. Diva's curl pattern throughout her hair stays the same but in some random spots she will have curls that i have to finger twirl the opposite way for them to be uniform with the others. Diva R has thinner hair on the top front and sides of her head, and her mids/ends are much fuller than scalp areas it is naturally fluffy and wavy/curly.

CURRENTLY
Diva R's washing regime is as follows

Now i am Using the Bee Mine washing system on Diva Rs hair it consists of the Bee Mine Botanical Shampoo and The Bee Mine Avacado Conditioner/Bee Lovely Conditioner. We Love this over all products we have tried thus far It really provides her hair with wonderful results. The shampoo goes a long way with just a little amount each use. Since her hair requires alot of extra moisturizers and detangling i find that the natural products are best on her hair type. The conditioners really do make her hair cloud soft! and fluffy with great manageability and a heavenly scent. After i condition her hair i leave it in for 10 minutes and wash it out. I then squeeze dry her hair slightly and put in our moisturizer of choice be it the Juicy Spritz or Luscious Balanced Moisturizer or both and air dry her hair the rest of the way. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here are some washing tips that may help you build your own washing regime that works for you.

1. If you would like to take down your child's hair a good idea would be to do it while your child is in the bath and consistently run water through it with the aid of your choice shampoo and you will see how easy it is to get braids/twists out and rubber bands off the ends so gently they slid off gently. (Quicker than cutting them out and more preserving on the hair than pulling or untwisting them out)

2. NEVER unwrap rubber bands out of or off of the hair that will break, rip out, pull and dry and damage your hair beyond belief I suggest that you make sure the hair is wet before taking them out to lessen your chances of stressing the hair while removing them.

3. Make sure your wash water is warm and fresh, a great compliment to warm and fresh water is a filter over your shower head helping to remove some/most of the impurities in the water before they hit your hair.

4. Try steaming up the bathroom while your washing your hair so that when your done washing and conditioning as desired you can have the steaminess of the bathroom opening your pores and follicles and in return allowing deeper penetration of your moisturizer if you apply it following.

5. Apply the moisturizer and/or deep conditioner right after you dry the hair partly in what ever fashion works for you, after you/your child gets out of the bath/shower and for optimum sinking in of the treatment just applied try leaving a warm towel wrapped around the hair and let it condition deeply and then remove the towel as desired.

6. You could also try a plastic cap, saran wrap, a cloth, a shirt or what ever you'd like to wrap your hair with to give it that seal of moisture after the wash if a towel isn't preferred.

7. Make sure you get to know your product ingredients! I cant stress this enough! Google hair product ingredients  or harmful hair product ingredients and switch up the words you use and you'd be surprised the information that is out there on these harmful hair strippers that we didn't even know existed and they are right in our bathrooms! Click on one of these links to learn more about these harmful everyday chemicals that are hindering beautiful hair!
http://www.healthycommunications.com/harmfulingredients1.html ,
http://www.healthfoodemporium.com/index_dangerous-ingredients.php

8. WASH your hair/child's hair frequently, if its once a week that works best for you than DO IT! I wash Divas hair 2-3 times a week on average. I don't recommend not washing the hair for months, we all know that is funky... It needs to be washed or at least co washed regularly.

Check out these links for more Biracial Hair Care Tips :)
http://www.naturallycurly.com/topics/view/biracial-kids This one has alot of reviews on products specified by hair type, and if you don't know your hair type this is the BEST site for learning what type your hair is!, I learned that Diva R is type 2a fine and type 3b

http://www.mixtkids.com/?p=4

http://adoption.about.com/od/africanamericanhaircare/ss/blackhaircare.htm * This one has ALOT of information :)

Hope this helps someone :)
God Bless.

Diva R's Mommy-Kim
loveyourgirlsbiracialcurls

Random Hair Care Tips for Naturally Curlee/Kinky Hair Types

These are from our personal experience as well as with hair I have done on other people and, through getting my hair done. 

 1. Use distilled water on your hair at all times instead of tap water!! Now i bet your wondering how do i do that if I'm in the shower or washing my child's hair in the tub... The answer is this, there are filters that you can buy at the local hardware stores that you can attach to your overhead sprayer OR you could buy a sprayer with built in changeable filters (This would pay for its self in no time) because the water that comes through all of our pipes and through our faucets contain imbalances in minerals usually resulting in more than one type over another causing deposits and this can add to the consistent dryness of the hair making it brittle, dry and breaking off..  *Food for thought*

2. Use silk hair caps AND silk pillow cases together ALWAYS or interchangeably!

3. NEVER EVER comb brush or detangle dry hair NEVER even if it is just washed but fully dry.

4. Thoroughly THOROUGHLY educate yourself on all the harsh hair stripping chemicals possibly in potential hair products.

5.Thoroughly read EACH and EVERY bottle or hair package through each and every ingredient/component and DO NOT buy the product if it has these harsh or unnatural chemicals in them.

6.Keep in mind also that if you/ your child has finer textured hair such as type 1- type 3b you want to use LIGHT products, no waxes, pomades, oils, thick creams, grease or anything similar for this WILL weigh the hair down tremendously 

7. It is also not recommended to use relaxers, heat or chemicals on hair period.  With the finer textured hair if you choose to use oil as an after styling sealer use the LIGHT OIL SHEEN it must be SHEEN that indicates it’s a light mist and spray it extra lightly because a little goes a long way.  It is best to find an oil sheen that is NON-aerosol also, because aerosol sprays have butane of some degree in them along with alcohol and other harsh chemicals.  

8. With coarser kinkier hair you can use heavier products if necessary for maintaining form, style and moisture.  But one must remember even with coarse hair light products are very beneficial but they have to be “saturated” with deeper techniques. EX: To gain optimum moisture that lasts a good tip would be Shamp and Wash with products as organic as you can get and right in or out of the shower apply your detangler comb/brush through with fingers or a wide toothed/bristled comb/brush. Then section the hair in 6-8 sections depending on amount of hair and apply your deep conditioner or two if that works best for you and massage into the scalp with your finger PADS never nails and work outward into your hair shafts and ends (I use squeezing motions and I go down the shafts of the hair through the ends so the moisturizer LOCKS itself in). Then you can choose to put a light mist of oil sheen to seal in the moisture.

9. NOW, this is where preference comes in also.  The best penetrable method of gaining optimum moisture without using heat or chemicals or relaxers is by wrapping your now moisturized and sealed hair with a wet/damp towel and secure a non breathable wrap over the towel such as saran wrap, some plastic material hair covers, hair dying caps, shower caps (if big enough) or anything that you have on hand that  would act as a non penetrable barrier to keep the moisture from the towel soaking into your hair and follicles and not evaporating into the air.  This method is also great for hot oil treatments or other conditioning treatments.  If you don’t oppose heat than you could do this process entirely but when you get to the applying of the non breathable barrier you would use a hair dryer no closer than 5 inches to the warm towel instead of that. (This would be more work and tiring but since your hair is protected under the warm towel the heat is penetrating the towel and not frying your hair.

10. If you can, avoid waxes, pomades and anything of that thick sticky waxy nature DO because those products are known to pull hair right out of the head, cause irreversible product build up, damage the hairs natural state, draw in airborne debris, destroy curl patterns, create unnecessary tension on the hair follicle and make the most beautiful healthy hair the complete opposite.

11. Use all natural store bought hair oils such as coconut oil, jojoba oil, safflower oil, olive oil, almond oil, carrot oil, castor oil, grapseed oil, sunflower oil and there are many more also. But as with this you must go through a trial and error because none of these natural oils are completely alike and they all can act differently on different hair types. This is also an inexpensive way to grow the hair and gain optimum healthy hair with consistent use.

12. Be careful with your sectioning clips and combs used. Even though the clips may only come in contact briefly with your hair get ones that help protect your hair from damage like rubber ones, plastic ones without hinges, material ones that have soft grips, or just use soft ponytails if desired.  Duck bill clips are very popular and these also are very known for destroying hair since a lot of these have teeth, hinges or are metal.  Pony tails and items alike are more time consuming but less strenuous on the hair.

13. DO NOT buy into hair hype and fashion trends without doing research first NEVER take advice blindly because what works for one doesn’t always work for the other its great to experiment with new products and accessories and it should be a cautious trial experiences so the natural curlees stay luscious and full of life with little needed maintenance :)

More to come in the future 

Diva R’s Mommy- Kim

loveyourgirlsbiracialcurls@yahoo.com