Creative Cornrows for Short Toddler Hair!

Here's a hairdo for those days you want all the hair up! This one worked well for us even though Q's hair is still quite short (too short to put into one ponytail). 

A style like this is also nice for adding some extra moisture (add some coconut oil or shea butter as you style it and the hair has a nice long time to soak it up) or protein to the hair.

Braids also can protect little wispy hairs or curls from getting as matted and tangled, and that is good for hair health as well as easy of styling! :)

Now for the hairstyle! ...

First, I sectioned her hair into 4 quadrants and made temporary ponytails in each.

Then I started braiding (cornrowing) towards the center of her head.

(getting ready to do the third braid!)

Here they are all braided and put into a center ponytail (nice soft one to be gentle on the hair)

As you can see I left the little braces elastics in her hair the first day (took them out the second day) they are harder on hair than the soft fluffy hair ties, but Q's hair isn't curly enough to stay braided without something in the ends. I have to admit though, it was much cuter with the ends free! I was hoping to try for a third day as well (and for that I wanted to take the ends of the braids completely out and spritz with water to see if I could activate the curl!) but it got too frizzy and looked like it needed to come out. We'll just have to do it again someday!

(for all of you straight-haired people out there... Did you know that curly hair is capable of holding braids and twists and even BEADS in hair with NO use of any kind of hair band?!?!?! As the hair dries the curl shrinks up and the texture and shape of the curls all become tight enough to hold the style! Isn't that amazing!? As a straight haired teen always wanting beads in my hair I wondered how other people were able to achieve a look I never seemed to be able to! I'm still in awe ...

There are probably lots of different methods for beading and ending braids that "curly girls" use - but that NOT using SOMETHING was even possible just blew my mind! I love it!!)

and there you have it:

Big Cornrows (or you could do French Braids) - into a ponytail!

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Coconut Oil and Shea Butter

This post is another that has been a long time in coming :) But it's finally here! 

I wanted to talk a bit about the oils we've been trying in Q's hair. First, I had wanted to either make my own "products" or stay away from them completely - well I'm starting to think that was some pretty naive thinking! lol!

First I had heard that I could just wet her hair with water and gently comb in out with a wide tooth comb every morning. (This works well, we still do this most mornings) I thought that sounded good - easy enough - and non-intrusive.

BUT I felt like there was more I could be doing to help the hair stay moisturized - and defrizzed. After naps and after being in the carseat (for any amount of time) Q's curls just love to get matted and frizzy, looking like we never detangled them at all!

So I got satin pillowcases and covered the back of her carseat with a piece of satin. 

(The satin was old, so maybe not as slippery as it could have been - I'm thinking I'd like to try some other fabric)

... the satin DID help! But not enough.

Next I have read about adding coconut oil to the hair for moisture...I've done this! But on Q's light hair anyway, it is VERY easy to get too much - which then just makes her hair oily and greasy looking. Not moisturized and healthy! 

Then I heard about African Shea Butter (which is also a key ingredient in many good products for curly hair) so I decided to try some! www.thelegendsofafrica.com 

I love the stuff! I still have to be careful not to use too much at a time, but I find that it's more forgiving than the coconut oil, and less "greasy" - maybe it absorbs into the hair better? I'm not really sure! But I found in also worked quite well in keeping her curls from tangling in the carseat. 

(Coconut oil worked too, as far as keeping tangles at bay, but Shea Butter was better!)

(her hair is still wet in this picture - I add the oils to wet hair)

Just natural (un-attacked by the carseat as of yet!) and dry...

So now our "daily routine" is to spray with water and detangle, then add Shea Butter! 

(organic, unrefined)

And I've stumbled on another "routine" that we're just starting and I think is working well ... every so often (twice now - lol) I cover her curls with coconut oil and olive oil and let it sit. Then I wash out the majority, but not all ... then the next day I braid her hair and keep it up, letting the oils get a chance to really soak in. Wash again that night and get all the excess oils out ... this leaves Q's hair SUPER soft and looking fabulous!!

Easy Toddler Twist Hairdo

This one was so quick and easy I just had to post it! 

(Sorry no step by step pics, but I think you can manage without!)

We bought some Shea Butter last night and so today was mostly about playing with that and seeing how it affects Q's hair - but we still needed a style, too! I figure Q likes being able to see and not have her hair in her face all day :) So this is what we did! I just parted it in four sections and rolled them each towards the back of her head. Two going to the left and two going to the right. Then I clipped them! TaDa!

Stay tuned for a post about my adventures in using the Shea Butter and Coconut Oil in Q's hair!!