Announcing Our 8th Annual Hair Show... Introducing Keyative Styles: Keyanna and Toni

 Welcome to our 8th Annual Hair Show featuring Toni and Keyanna from Keyative Styles!!!!! This is an honor for us to feature the famous Toni and Key! We had the opportunity to interview them so see what they had to say and show some love!

Q1

Please introduce yourself and your lovely Diva... Does your Diva have any special hobbies, interests or participate in any activities that she is partial to? Anything she doesn't care for much?

My name is Toni and I have am the proud momma to a 6 year old little girl named Keyanna. Keyanna is mixed with Italian, African American, and Native American. She is very outgoing, she loves to make people laugh and loves to be the center of attention. Ever since she was a baby she has loved music and dancing. She plays the keyboard, some guitar, and is hoping Santa will bring her a drum set this year! Her dream is to be on Disney’s Shake It Up one day. Keyanna is also enrolled in a local gymnastics program and loves it, and she plans on joining the basketball team soon. 

Q2

Do you have a specific hair regime which you follow for your daughter? Do you have one for yourself? Please detail.

 

We try to stick to a hair routine but it changes a lot, because our schedules are so busy. Currently, on unstyled hair, I try to Co-wash her hair every other night, and shampoo/deep condition once a week. Every morning I spray and detangle Keyanna’s hair with a moisturizer/conditioner mix, and again at night on days we don’t wash. If her hair is in braids or twists I simply spray with our conditioner mix 2x a day and do a co-wash every 3-4 days. She also sleeps with a satin bonnet to protect her hair at night. 

 

Q3

What are some of your favorite products, hair tools, accessories and other pertinent hair items? 

 

OK, so first let me start off by saying I am a total “product Junkie”. Lol. With that being said, some of our all time favorite products are Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer, Bee Mine Curly Butter, Bruce’s Babes Hair & Body Butter, Bruce’s Babes Shake ‘N Shampoo, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and DevaCurl No-poo, and Pooka Pure and Simple Nectar Hair Oil. Our Favorite accessories? Key is a major girly-girl, she loves bows, beads, barrettes, and her Sidewinders.

As far as tools go we really just use a basic Conair brush, and a rat tail comb. 

Q4

Looking back to the beginning of your daughters hair journey what could you say that you've learned that got you to the point that you’re at now with what you do/use and how you do/use it to properly care for your daughters hair?

 

In the beginning of our hair journey I used products on my daughters hair that did more damage than good, Incorporating natural products into our hair routine has helped a lot.. Her hair is much healthier and so much easier to work with. 

Q5
Are there any products in your product hall of shame? Any that you do not recommend?

 

A few summers ago I had heard good things about Cantu Shea Butter, so we decided to try it... Total fail on Keyanna’s hair. It dried her hair out horribly. I put that one in the cabinet of shame. Everyones hair is different, what worked for others didn’t work for us, but that doesn’t mean it wont work for you. Just experiment with trying new products until you find “the one”. 

Q6
Is there any styling method or technique that you have yet to master? Anything new brewing for the future?

I can not for the life of me do a flat rope twist, or 3 strand twists. But I do have a few idea’s brewing for future styles you’ll have to wait to see those.

Q7

Have you came across any road blocks along Key's hair journey? Please detail...

 

I guess really the only road block we have hit is dealing with my perfectionism. I would start on a style and if the parts weren’t exactly right, or if it wasn’t turning out how I pictured it I would just take it all down. Now I don’t worry about any of that.. Even if things don’t look right while I’m braiding, by the time I finish the style I am always happy with it.

 

Q8

What is your definition of natural hair? Where do you base it from?

I define natural hair as the hair that grows out of your head. Hair that hasn’t been chemically altered in any way. 

Q9

What are your favorite styles to create?  What are some of Keys favorites? How long do you usually spend doing hair each time?

My favorite styles to do on Key are unique ones, styles that you really don’t see anybody else rockin’. I love to get creative and use her hair as an outlet for that. Lol. Key’s favorites are cornrowed hearts, braided Mohawks, and pretty much anything with beads.. She loves to swing ‘em!

We usually don’t spend more than 45 minutes doing hair, MOST of our styles we keep it pretty simple. But for the more creative styles we sometimes spend 2 hours or more. The longest style we have done was mini braids and we did it over a 2-3 day period.

 

 

Q10
How does Key feel about her hair? What are some things that YOU feel are important for her to know as she builds her own thoughts and feelings about her hair?

Q11

Please describe hair time with your daughter... Does she like to help? What do you allow her to do? What are some of her favorite activities to do while sitting?

Keyanna loves to help during hair time. She usually will put the beads on the beader for me, hand me barrettes, or put the curlformers on the rod for me if we are using those. I also put a movie or her favorite show on to keep her busy, she plays her Leapster Explorer, or we just talk. 

Q12 

Any suggestions for making hair time an easier or smoother experience for others with children?

 

Make it fun for them, get them involved, and take breaks when they ask. If their bored and stuck sitting for hours at a time it might start to seem more like a punishment to them, and they will definitely start putting up a fight when its hair time.

Q13
By asking your Diva Key what she likes most about her hair what does she say? What is her reasoning?

“I like that it’s long, and you can do lots of pretty things with it. I like to always show my friends at school when you braid it for me.” -Key

 

 

Q14
Are you a self taught artist or were there means of which helped guide you in learning how to care for and style your daughters hair?

I started doing Keyanna’s hair in January 2009, and for the first year I learned everything through trial and error. Then I started coming across hair blogs, and am still learning and finding inspiration through them everyday, as well as through some awesome braiders on my face book page!

Q15
Please share some things about yourself that aren’t mentioned above, likes/dislikes, hobbies, interests, fun facts, what sparked your interest in natural hair… ETC

Well, I just recently built up enough confidence to start braiding other peoples hair (other than key’s) lol. I am considering going to school for hair design and making a career of this.

 

 

 
Q16
Rep your blog and social networks! Where can people see more of your amazing artwork?

 

You can check out our styles, along with instructions and fav products on the blog @ http://KeyativeStyles.Blogspot.com

Keep up with us on our 

Facebook page:  Http://Facebook.com/KeyativeStyles 

Youtube Channel: http://youtube.com/xxprettyma

Twitter: @KeyativeStyles

 

**

Thank you Toni for participating in our Hair Show and for showcasing the lovely Key and her glowing attributes! From the beginning of times Ive been inspired by your creativity and have been you-tubing for as long as i can remember and it has been such a blessing to get to know you and be a part of your community as you are mine.  Key is a super star Diva and is always wearing the most gorgeous styles that bling with love and great care.  I am a HUGE fan and am always looking forward to new styles from you and I never cease to be amazed by each one :) Not to mention your blog and social networks! <3 IT! One God Bless and keep doing your thing! One thing i have learned from you is that any style can be created on finer hair types like my daughters and that styling is limitless as well as achievable in any degree!

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

Halloween Hair Style! Skeleton Frenzy Plus Diva R and Little Bro Z's Costumes

Happy belated Halloween from us <3 We have been beyond busy getting ready to move YAY So this is something that can be thought about for next years Halloween Hair Style, I call this one Skeleton Frenzy.  I had got the idea of using the Skeletons after seeing a Halloween style over at Princess Piggies. 

 

The skeletons i used i bought from Walmart in the Halloween goodie bag section and they came in sets of 4 for 1.00. I bought two bags which gave me 8 skeleton straws which i had planned on sliding the skeletons off and using just the two piece skeleton bodies.

First i had split her hair in two even sections by making a straight part from ear to ear. I was spritzing our distilled water throughout as i went and since her hair was detangled prior too, this was smooth sailing. I applied thoroughly our Mixed Chicks leave In Conditioner, finger combing it in. After i did that i split the two even sections into 4 parts on the top section and three parts on the bottom section creating 7 triangular parts which i radiated outwards towards the crown of her head. I then applied some Bee Mine Curly Butter to each section as i parted out three even parts of each section.

I piggy tailed the top box part and slid the upper body of the skeleton on using a beader and then piggy backed a second rubber band under neath the body creating a unity with the first and second parted box. At that point the upper body is secured in place and has the ability to move around a bit to create the dancing like element. THEN i slid the bottom half of the skeleton body onto the hair hanging from the first and second box and piggy back rubber banded a third rubber band on to secure the bottom half in place and wah-lah i repeated this for each section.  I spritzed a few mists of some Bee Mine Juicy Spritz and then decided that i was going to do something different with the remaining 7 sections of free hair. 

 I began at the front of her head and i started by grabbing the left grouping of free hair and rolled it just like i would doing flat rolling twists and as i reached the second section i twisted it in and moved on to the 3rd and 4th until i was at the middle of the back of her head. I repeated this to the front right side of her head "rolling" backwards until i reached the middle back section of her hair where i then pony tailed the rolled groupings together.

This idea turned into a resulting halo or crown finishing touch to her skeleton frenzy which we have yet to have experimented with ! Yay for accidental amazing style additions... (BTW the skeletons arms and legs move as well)

This style took about 2 hours from beginning to end as i was striving for uniform parts.

This style was a huge success at school and the kids as well as parents and teachers were awestruck <3 Her teachers told me i should open a shop.  This was in celebration of her Halloween party and i wanted to do something over the top yet fun and cute and her friends really adored her hair the boys even liked it <3 <3

My only concern for this style was that i used some new rubber bands along side some of our usual ones and i wasn't sure how they would hold up against being in place and being used along side organic products... I will be reviewing the clear proclaim bands soon and will detail how they held up and what we think about them...

Now onto Halloween night!

This year we wanted the kids to dress up in something that would match but be different and we believe in letting them choose their costumes as well so we had to meet somewhere in the middle and agree on something as a whole.  Diva R wanted to be Candyland princess but no where locally sold it in her size so she tried on a few princess costumes and she just didn't care for them much. Then i got the idea that Little Bro Z try on a Batman costume and he LOVED it as soon as he seen himself in the mirror he didn't want to take it off! So i went back down the isles and to my surprise there were a few Batgirl costumes in Diva R's size!
So we asked her if she would like to try on Batgirl and she was excited so off to the dressing room we went and she came out and immediately wanted it! No questions asked she wanted to be Batgirl so 35 Dollars (thanks to our given discount) later we had two complete costumes and they were so super cute!

Here is Diva R ready to Trick or Treat!!!

Here are both kiddies and Daddy about to have fun at the local Mall's event! I must say these were great and the kids retired them after Halloween into now being Dress up Costumes <3 I don't even want to get into how much candy they got (EEEK) I'M so not a candy eater so Daddy better polish it off because we have enough for 15 families LOL

 Hope everyone had a blessed and safe Halloween!

Diva R's Mommy-Kim

Spider Web Crazy Hair Day Style with Halloween Flare

I don't know about you BUT Ive had the spirit of Halloween since September because when those leaves start to fall we know whats coming next and we start decorating and doing all types of Halloween related activities, crafts and baking! So Spirit week came up so quick and the second day within spirit week consisted of Crazy Hair /Mismatched Day so with this in mind i wanted to do something Halloween related but also something unique because ever since last year when I did Diva R's Crazy Hair Day Style with Valentine Flair people have seriously been expecting something to compete with that and were asking me weekly what i was going to do for the next Crazy Hair Day... I have not had much time to be beyond creative BUT after days and days of searching i came across Princess Piggies Spider Web Hair Style and i couldn't believe i wasn't already following this blog!

So immediately i was like WOW this is super cool and i must try this! Originally I had a palm tree design that i was going to do until i came across this and when i realized that Diva R's hair is way too fine to pull off the palm tree that i wanted too with hanging monkeys i had to give the spider web style a trial run first because Princess Piggies daughters hair is way longer than my Diva's hair and i figured this could pose an issue or different results with the spider web style. The day before i gave it a trial run and to my surprise it worked!!! With really no differences! From what i can tell in PP pictures her daughter doesn't have curly hair so i thought this was going to be a challenge because Diva R has shorter and way curlier hair....

So here is what i used and how i did it....

I gathered my 

*Tangle Teezer 

*Rat tail comb

*Small white pony o's 

*Clear rubber bands 

*6 small clippies

*Spider rings in purple, green, black and orange 

 AND

*Distilled water spritz, Bee Mine Curly Butter and Bee Mine Juicy Spritz

So i began by shampooing and conditioning her hair, rinsing and leaving it wet. Then i made sure her hair was completely tangle free and i created a pony tail in the center of her head that i made sure was snug but not super tight.  I used the Tangle Teezer to smooth her hair back into the pony tail so i had little to no frizzies or curlees sticking out. As i did this i was applying some Curly Butter to help smooth out the process and hold the hairs in place.  Then i separated the pony tail into 6 even sections and rubber banded each individually about an inch and a half out from the base of the pony and followed each up with a pony o. I spritzed some distilled on as i went because her hair was trying to dry up. Then each of the 6 sections that i parted out i split in two and then i had 12 sections and i rubber banded and pony tailed them each going outwards like a connected veil. I repeated this one more time around her head as that is all her hair length would allow for and i rubber banded and pony tailed them just as i did the rest.

At this time i realized that i had about 2-2 1/2 inches of hair left from each of the sections which i was going to attempt to twist bun them like Princess Piggies did but Diva R's hair wasn't cooperating so i had to roll the hair in a single roll and twists it as much as i could and clip it down so that the web will stay in its stretched place and not fold inwards like it would have if the clips weren't there to hold the edges of the web in place.

If you'll notice her hair looks frizzy by the edges and that's those stubborn baby hairs trying to peek out, there as nothing i could do to clean this up they just had to be tucked in the best i could and dealt with. Below is a close up :)

I didn't take pics prior to putting spiders in because i felt that it was hard to get good pics to describe what it was without the full effect and i still feel like these pictures didn't do the style its justice as if you were to see it in person. BUT if you know how to do a veil than you can do this with no problem. I also believe that the longer the hair the easier this is to achieve. I chose to use the spider rings because i figured they would be easiest to put in and i wanted a web full of spiders and nothing in the stores would halfway work as good as these did.

 The next test was going to be taking her to school for her wacky crazy hair and mismatched day and see if the style will stay in place! I made sure everything was secured and not moving because i know that she would be playing dress up in school as this is her FAV pastime with her classmates. I told her not to put anything on over her head and not to let people touch her hair.

So when we get to school people are oogling and ooh and ahhh-ing

To my surprise the style stayed in placed exactly how i had it! YAY!

I guess i always over do it but that's better than doing nothing at all. Diva R's self esteem speaks for my level of care. and for weeks she was asking "Mom when are you going to put the spider web and spiders in my hair?" So when it came time she was super excited and was living in the mirror LOL

 From beginning to end this style took about 2 hours with breaks and fooling with the baby hairs :)

Diva R's Mommy-Kim