Curly Friend- Essence

Today's Curly Friend is 3 year old Essence.  Enjoy! :)




Tell us some facts about you/your child....

 I have 2 boys and 1 daughter which is Essence! She is 3 years old. Essence loves Dora and Blues Clues. Her fav food hands down is chicken nuggets. Essence is part black, part white and part mexican with thick wavy hair.


Do you/does your child like your/their hair? What (if anything) would you change if you could?

I like Essence's hair but I wish that it was more easier to comb. And hope that she ends up liking to get her hair done up. She likes to play with her hair so I leave it down often. But even when  her hair is done she still plays with it pulling out all the pony tails or whatever is in her hair.


Do you now or have you ever used chemicals on your hair? If so, what made you decide to do so and did you regret it?

No we havent used any


What is your hair routine?

Essence gets her hair washed every Sat night and then I leave it down the next day. She wont sleep in a bonnet or scarf at all. Wont do it and cant be bribed. I put a style in her hair when I have the time but as you said it gets very hard to find time to do much with your girls hair when you 1. have other kids and a home to take care of and 2. work for a living! Essence gets a style once a week. On a "good week"


What products do you use?

Hmmm well the better question would be what dont we use! Everything from Pink lotion to Talia Waajid. and yes I know thats Pink is not quality but hey! I cant wait for things to come in the mail so i buy what works when its needed. I see no diference in her hair if we use expensive stuff or cheap so Im not worried much about that.


What is your hair type? (if you know it)

Its hard to tell with Essence. Some days her hair is real curly like Cs hair is and then other days it is just wavy like mine. It depends on the day??

What is the best and worst hair advice you have gotten?

I dont think Ive ever gotten advice. People never bring her hair up??


What advice do you have to offer?

I say dont beat your self up for not being able to do hair or not having time to do what you would like. Im a mother of 3 and I work full time. I have next to no time to spend with my kids at night and I dont want to put all of that time into hair even though I "want" to do it. I use to get so mad at myself for not finding more time for Essence's hair and felt bad that I didn't have the skills to do what I would like. All that matters is that you try!


Can we see some of your styles?

As of right now I dont know how to do any fancy braiding ie, cornrows. All I can do is pony tail styles. I do lots of pony tail and box braid styles and I like to let Essence wear her hair down lots of times. She has a hard time sitting still even with tv. Dora is on for a half an hour but it takes me about 1 1/2 hours to do hair. Between 2 boys and a dog plus 2 hamsters in the house to distract us that takes a toll. But here are a few pics I have got together for everyone.

The first pic is Essence with her hair down. This is the way we both like her hair the best. I think that when Essence gets older that her hair will be less curly and more wavy. She is already getting looser curls so right now its kind of just curly here and straight there.

The 2nd is Essence with her daddy. Excuse the mad face he was making! He didnt know I was about to snap a pic. LOL! I wanted to show this pic to show how much her hair has grown. At that time her hair was mostly all curly but it was just too thin to do anything with since she was so little.

Essence when she first got her ears pierced! I wanted to put her hair up so that it would be out of the way of her ears so I did this 2 bun style. I was proud of myself for this since it was the first time I got her part totally straight. That is a really hard thing for me and Essence hates to sit still long enough for me to get it right.

And this last picture is Essence on her 3rd birthday this past summer. I told her she was gonna have to start sitting still like a big girl so I could get her hair done in the mornings before she goes to pre school. This is the most accessories I was ever able to put in her hair. I was able to put a ball into each pony tail. This is a great example of what I said before. If you look close you can see the ends of her hair have nothing in them. She had barettes in her hair but had them pulled out before I even got her outside to take this pic!! I had them in my pocket by the time she sat down. Thats how much she plays with her hair.About an hour later she had un-twisted the front twists. If you have any tips how to keep her from messing her hair up I would love to hear what you have to say!! Thank you so much for putting Essence on your blog. She is going to love seeing herself on the computer screen with your pretty blog back ground. And once again thank you for tips on getting Essence's hair done fast when I have to get done in a hurry for work!!

Thank you for allowing us to feature your beautiful daughter Essence! I miss the days of C being so little! :(
You had great advice to offer, and I promise you will get better at styling hair!  It just takes time and lots of patience :)   I hope you will allow us to feature Essence again when you do learn.
I never had a problem with C sitting still to get her hair done or with her playing with it.  Although now she sometimes likes to take things out of her hair and undo braids to see if she can do her own hair back the way it was! :)   What I did with C was I would make a really big deal out of each of her hair styles.  Even the simplest styles I did, I would take pictures of it and show her.  I always told her how cute her hair looked, and she loved all the compliments- especially once she started preschool! 
Also, get Essence involved in hair time.  I don't think I've ever bought C hair accessories without her with me to help pick them out.  If she likes the look of something, she will probably want it in her hair.  My 3 year old niece, who had never gotten anything more than a ponytail put in her hair, LOVED it when I took her to the beauty supply store and let her pick something out.  She got to hold and play with her new accessories while I was styling her hair, and then she got to help me by handing them to me.  After I was done, I took her picture and lots of pictures of her hair, which she loved!  One more thing I would recommend is getting her a mirror she can hold in her hand to see what is being done with her hair.  I've found that to help with 3 girls so far.

Thank you once again!  Remember, this gives you 3 more entries in C's birthday giveaway!

If you have any more tips for Essence's mommy or you would like to be featured here, please email me at curlyhairisbeautiful@gmail.com for instructions.

Great Blog

I came across a blog called Hair With Purpose a while ago, and I just love it! 
Jennifer from Hair With Purpose is a wife, mother of 2 biracial children and lover of natural hair.  She does lots of great styles for her daughter.  If you haven't seen her blog yet, you should definitely check it out!  :)
www.hairwithpurpose.blogspot.com

Mr. C

I've been meaning to do something to include my son in this blog too, so I finally talked him into it tonight! :)

I can't get pictures of Mr. C without taking at least one silly pic first!  :)  He refused to let me take any pics unless I would also show this, so here it is! Haha!

But isn't he a handsome little man?!!

And here's one of him with our foster kitten.  Isn't he cute?!  We had been feeding a stray cat since summer, and then one morning just before Thanksgiving - when it was getting cold and starting to snow, I saw the cat in our basement window enclosure with a newborn kitten!  I'm not a cat person and I'm not a fan of having a cat in my house AT ALL, but I do love all animals and couldn't let this little guy stay outside to freeze or be eaten by another animal.  Once we get him and his mother fixed, we will be giving them away.

Anyway....

Mr. C likes to grow his hair out because he loves to twist this one little curl in the front of his head.  It's something he's done since he was a baby- he has always loved his hair!  However, if you read my post about relaxers, you know that I used one on Mr. C when he was younger.  Ever since, his curl pattern never went back to normal.  I have heard that once you cut a boys hair it doesn't grow back the same, but since I only have one boy I'm not sure if that is true or not.  I blame it on the relaxer even though I think his hair should have grown back in the way it was.  Either way, I don't like the way his hair looks when it grows out so I keep it short.

Up until a couple years ago, I always took Mr. C to the barber to get his hair cut.  I decided that I wanted to try and cut it myself, so I bought my own set of clippers.  I'm not sure if I do all that great of a job at hair cutting, but I think it looks nice.

Oh, by the way, did you notice up near the top where it looks thinner than the rest of his hair?  Him and Ms.C both have thin hair near the hair line, especially in that particular spot for some reason.  They always have.  It doesn't look that way because I cut too much off  ;)

I wanted to smooth Mr.C's hair down before I took these pictures, but he made it clear that wasn't going to happen and if I didn't take the pics before he changed his mind, I might not get another chance.

Everyday, I smooth Mr.C's hair down with a boars bristle hair brush.  It's actually called The Wave Enforcer.  Another reason I don't like to let Mr. C's hair grow is because he refuses to let me take care of it or to take care of it himself, other than brushing and washing it.  We don't usually put any product in his hair except the occasional oil.  He doesn't like anything else because it smells 'girly', and he doesn't like the way it makes his hair feel.

He has a very coarse texture, which makes short cuts look nice and I figure if I'm cutting it off anyway, I'm not going to bother him with hair products.

When I cut Mr.C's hair, I just like to make sure it's neat and even.  I've been wanting to try and cut a design because he's been wanting it forever!  I'm just not brave enough to try it yet!  I'm too afraid to mess up, because if I do it will have to grow out to be fixed.  It's much less scary to mess up on a style for Ms. C, because it can always be fixed and is way more temporary!  :)
Maybe that will be something we can have the barber do and if we like it, maybe I can sort of follow the design by tracing it.  I want to get a designing tool, but I'm having the hardest time finding one!

If you know where I can find a design tool (or want to tell me what you think of my cutting)  please let me know!  :)
As I said, I don't do a whole lot with Mr. C's hair other than cut it, but I hope to involve him more in the future so be sure to look for him!

C's Birthday Giveaway!

Wow!  I can't believe C is going to be 8 years old this month! :*(  It just doesn't seem possible.
In honor of her birthday, C would like to give you all the chance to win this prize package.  C has hand picked all of the items herself from 2 different ethnic BSS and is very excited to see how everyone likes the goodies!  :)

The prize consists of everything pictured above, which includes...

1.  One pack white seashell beads (with small elastics included)

2.  One pack jumbo size purple/white mix beads

3.  2 packs medium size pink/clear mix beads (They remind me a little of a pine cone pattern)

4.  One pack pastel color bow barrettes

5.  One pack of shinny barrettes... I'm not sure what color to call them!  C also got herself a pack of these, she thought they were pretty :) She calls them gold- they're like an orangey-gold mix...?

6.  One headband with big red rhinestone type flowers

7.  One pack of rainbow colored hair extension (it snaps into the hair)

8.  One pack jumbo size pink beads with rhinestone flowers all around

9.  White bow beads (small beading tool included)

10.  One pack pink and white heart ballies- perfect for Valentines Day, C also got some!

11.  One pack pink mix ballies- these are a little smaller than standard size ballies

12.  One pack multi pastel colored teddy bear/gummy bear ballies- C got herself a pack too

13.  One pin tail comb

14.  One long beading tool

I had to show you an up close pic of this headband!  I can't wait for C to wear hers- we both LOVE it!  She also got another super cute headband, but there was only one so it couldn't be part of the giveaway :(  But maybe next time. 

Wow, we really need to stay out of the BSS- we just discovered that C has almost $45 worth of unopened accessories! o_0    Which scares me because we have one (possibly 2) more giveaways coming soon!

Anyway, here's what you need to do to enter....

• You MUST be a follower of CHIB- Just click the 'Follow' button.
• You can have one (1) entry daily.  Telling me that you are a follower does NOT count as your first daily entry, so you get 2 automatic entries right now. (Which means you can tell me you follow for one entry, then comment 'Daily entry' for another entry!)

For more chances to win (not required)

• "Like" CHIB on facebook for TWO (2) additional entries. I will be verifying this.
• Friend us on facebook for ONE (1) additional entry.  You must message me on facebook after you leave your entry here to verify.
• Follow us on Twitter @inlovewithcurls for ONE (1) additional entry.  I get notifications of this so you don't need to verify.
• Be featured on our blog as a Curly Friend for THREE (3) entries! The feature can be yourself and/or your child, a friend or anyone.  You may do ONE feature.  *Please note, it may take a couple days to see your feature posted, depending on how many we get.  :)
• Add our button to your blog for TWO (2) additional entries.

*All of these are ONE TOTAL entry- NOT daily!

Just for something fun, we will also have a special prize for the first person who guesses C's exact birthday :)  The winner may choose from one of the following...

1.  6oz. tub of Taliah Waajid Lock-It-Up styling gel
2.  One extra long beader tool with surprise pack of hair beads :)
3.  One Curl Tamer brush - I'll let you know color choices if you choose this prize.
4.  One big flower clip (choice of any color)
So that's it!   There will be ONE winner.  The contest begins today, and the winner will be announced on Friday, February 3rd by 7pm.  7
Start entering and good luck!  :)

Big 2 Strand Twist

This is very simple, and yes, it has been done to death! :)
This morning we only had a few minutes to spend on hair, so this 2 strand twist/rope braid style worked out perfectly.

As I said, this is one of the most simple things you can do!  You simply gather your hair into a ponytail and divide the hair into 2 sections.  Twist each section in one direction (clockwise), then twist the 2 sections together in the other direction (counter clockwise).  That's it! I added a mini Ouchless ponytail at the end to make sure the twist didn't come unraveled.  You might not have to add anything, depending on your hair type.

I've been using lots of extra unrefined African shea butter.  This morning C's hair was a little weighed down, but it worked in our favor for this style.  It made it easier to smooth out her hair for the ponytail and keep all the hair in the twist smooth.  And just look at that shine!

Be sure to check back later on tonight and get in on C's birthday giveaway!  I don't know what will be included yet (C is picking the items out after school) but she goes completely nuts at the BSS so I'm sure it's gonna be pretty good!  :)

Braid Out With Big Flower Clip

I took C's hair down tonight after 7 whole days of being in the same braided style!  Her hair was starting to get really messy and frizzy, but that's still a record for us  :)



Wearing one of her favorite shirts- gotta love Justin Bieber!  :)



C's hair looked just luscious and was very soft.  It still had just a little bit of Unrefined African Shea Butter, since I added so much.  Usually by the time we take her hair down whatever products we put in have been long soaked up by her extra dry hair. 

I wanted to get an up close photo of this bow because I just think it's so cute!  Of all C's flower bows, this one is probably my favorite.  By the way, this one is a rose in case you can't tell.

And finally, a back view.  Just look at that LENGTH!  The longest part of C's hair ends just at her waist line- which has been our goal since the day C was born!  :)  Her hair has been waist length when wet for a while now, but not when it was dry.  C has always had sort of a 'mushroom' effect going on- where it's shorter in front and gets longer in the back.  It actually looked layered when I used to straighten it, but when her hair started to grow I trimmed it little by little to try and even it all out.  We still have a ways to go to get all of her hair the same length, but I think we can make it happen!  :)  I think I finally found a product C's hair likes, and we will be buying more when we go giveaway shopping tomorrow!

Oops!

It was brought to my attention that my button was not set up right.  I actually knew that, I just forgot to go back and fix it! : /
Anyway, sorry if this has caused you any trouble but it's fixed now! I also switched back to my old button (I couldn't get the size of everything in my last button right without redoing the whole thing and I didn't feel like messing with it). 
Anyway....
Me and C will be going shopping after school tomorrow to get items for her birthday GIVEAWAY!!!  I will be posting the pictures tomorrow or Wednesday.  So make sure you check back and enter to win!  :)

Curly Friend- T&L

We haven't done a Curly Friend interview in a long time, but today I'm happy to introduce Miss J and her lovely daughters, "T" and "L".  Thanks so much for being a part of our blog!  :)



Tell us some facts about you/your child

My name is J and I'm a proud mother of 2 beautiful girls! T who is 9 and L who is 8. I also have a son who is 3 weeks old (:  T and L favorite food is spaghetti, T favorite show is iCarly and L LOVES My little pony! My girls fight over who gets hair done first. Both girls play soccer.


Do you/does your child like your/their hair? What (if anything) would you change if you could?

I didn't always like my hair. But now I have some what made peace with it and I feel okay about it. I like my hair but if I could change it I would change the fact that it is so dry. The same goes with my girls hair. T and L both like theyre hair when it is done but not when it is left free.


Do you now or have you ever used chemicals on your hair? If so, what made you decide to do so and did you regret it?

I did use a relaxer when I was in highschool. I regreted it because it made my hair even more dry. And I only did it so that my hair would be "Flowing" but the relaxer didnt do that for me. It made my hair look and feel like a cheap wig. Lol! All my friends were doing it :p  Never used any chemicals on my girls hair but I will let them make that choice when they get older.


What is your hair routine?

This question actually has me thinkin! Lol! We dont exactly have a routine because we dont do the same exact things every day. But one thing we always do is sleep with a scarf. I do my girls hair when ever it get messy and needs re done.


What products do you use?

I use bee mine growth serum because Im trying to see some extra length in both mine and my girls hair. For moisture and styling time we use anything from carols daughter or whatever we can find at the ethnic store. Im not as picky as some people I would try about anything.


What is your hair type? (if you know it)

Both me and the girls have 4b-4c but L has the looser curl pattern.


What is the best and worst hair advice you have gotten?

The best- use sulfate free shampoo!
The worst- you have to braid corn braids as tight as possible. And I found that out the HARD WAY! That is a big NO NO!!! I made small bald spots in both my girls hair and they hated getting theyre hair braided. That is another reason for the bee mine growth serum.

What advice do you have to offer?

Hair can look pretty with out doing it as tight as possible. Beads will stay in with out wrapping the rubber bands in as tight as possible! You do not have to pull hair tight for it to look neat.

Can we see some of your styles?
Yes in deed! Please keep in mind that I just started fixing my girls hair 2 years ago or so. Up until then it has been real short and I was always having theyre hair done by somebody else. I am still working on corn braids. Not quite brave enough to show off yet. Lol! For now Im doing styles to hide the bald spots ):

This is T with her pig tails and twists. I made the big pink flower clip at the top!

L in a poof. This was taken before I stopped pulling the hair as tight as possible. Do you notice how thin it looks up front? Shame on me! But Im gettin better about it and maybe will show some more styles later.

 I made this collage! T is in every pic but the bottom right is L.  T is in her princess Tianna bun and flower head band that I made myself! L is in a poof with a crown for her birthday.

L rocking her twist out in a high pony

L- left T- right heading off to school in theyre braid out ponys! I love the braid out look! Its what we pretty much stick to for the simple fact that Im trying to get my girls to like theyre hair more. They both like when they have lots of beads. I like to use accessories but try to stay away from them.

The mamma!- Me- J! I used curlformers to get a little curl. I have been growing my hair!

And last but not least! L and mommy! L's hair is in big flat twists in front with twisted ponys in the back. It was looking a little rough because it was up almost 2 whole weeks. I get a bit lazt at times! And as for myself I had just gotten some extensions put in!

So thats it! Thanks soo much for including us! We think C is adorable and love seeing all her styles! I would love to be part of your blog again!

Thanks again for being part of our blog T, L and mommy J!  I love your pictures, especially the one of both girls together in the red outfits! How adorable! :)

You have beautiful daughters and you seem to be doing a good job taking care of all that hair.

 I hope to see more styles from you in the future!

*If you would like to be featured, please contact me at curlyhairisbeautiful@gmail.com  for instructions. 

Unrefined African Shea Butter

Although we use a LOT of hair products, I don't do many reviews.   The reason for it is because not many things impress me when it comes to moisturizing C's hair and I don't want to look like one of those people who 'hates' everything!  Also, I don't mean to degrade or deface any person and/or company when I do a review on a product I don't like.  What works for one may not work for another! :)

Description...
I came across a tub of Unrefined African Shea Butter at a local beauty supply store when we were shopping for some new barrettes and decided to try it.  It comes in solid form and is an off white/yellowish color.  Some forms of this may have a smell, but this particular Shea Butter was unscented.

How to use it...
Since this is in solid form, it has to be melted in order to use it.  When a solid natural oil is melted, it becomes liquid but will go back to solid form again when it cools.  This works out perfectly for us, because I don't have to worry about it spilling in our work station once we put things away.  It only takes about 30 seconds in the microwave to become soft/liquidy.

Price...
$5.99 for an 8oz. tub.

Of course the only ingredient is 100% Unrefined African Shea Butter.  I think this would probably last us 3-4 weeks, which is not too bad.  So far I have only used this for one style, which I did on C 4 days ago.  I'm very happy to say that C's hair has held up nice enough that she could wear it to school and out in public for 4 days without completely drying out!  Most styles only last 2-3 days with C so this is great! 

I did use quite a bit of this while styling C's hair.  I had banded her hair the night before to stretch out the curls and keep tangles to a minimum.  After I sprayed C's hair with our water & Africa's Best Herbal Oil mixture, I parted her hair off into 4 sections and applied a generous amount of the UASB to each section.  I also added more during braiding by rubbing it into each strand of each braid, and when I finished each braid I added yet another helping down the entire length of the braid.  I actually moisturize this way a lot, unless I'm in a hurry.
When I was finished with C's hair, it was very shinny and moisturized looking.  Her hair seemed a little weighed down with all the UASB we used, but I like that because it means C's hair hasn't soaked it all up yet and it will take a little time for it to be all soaked up.

OK, usually after the first day of a style C's hair still looks somewhat moisturized but has a little bit of hair sticking up in random places.  By day 2 she can still get away with going to school in the came style, but I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do with her hair next.  By day 3 (if I didn't take the style down on day 2), C's hair is very frizzy and since it's dried out, it looks very messy and absolutely has to come down!
With the UASB, I haven't seen much frizzing.  I have been re-moisturizing every morning and night (as I always do) and C's hair still looks like it could last another day or 2!  So I will definitely be buying more of this and might keep a stockpile!

The bad part...
So far my only complaint would be that we have already gone through almost half a tub of this.  This is actually fine with me because it's easy to get more since we can find it at the BSS and if it works it's worth it!  But the reason I call it a complaint it we just can't seem to go to the BSS without walking out with a bunch of new hair prettys! C has over $40 of unopened accessories and we have a whole dresser full of them!  BUT... we do have some things we accidentally got multiples of, so they just might be part of our next giveaway!!!  :)
...By the way, we will be having a giveaway when we get 100 followers AND one for C's birthday this month! :)
You might want to check it out!

Cornrows With Ponies And Beads

There really isn't too much to this style.  I wanted to do something that would hopefully last the rest of the week so that I don't have to do anything with C's hair until we wash it on Sunday.
I wanted this style to be random, so I didn't work section by section.  I did 1 or 2 cornrows in one area and then I went to another area and just kept moving around until I was finished.



Right Side

I decided to add ponytails to this style because C wanted to wear her new glittery barrettes and beads, but I have no luck getting beads to stay with snaps or barrettes so I did a little combination style.



Back/Top View

 The braid in the middle looks a little crooked because it was actually only cornrowed halfway back.  I wanted a partially free hanging braid just to be cute :)




Back/Bottom View

 I didn't add the barrettes until C left for school because they like to get caught in her sleeping cap. (I took these pictures before she went to bed.)



Left Side



I don't know why the m isn't where it belongs, it was before I posted the pics...

I  didn't use a specific pattern with the beads.  I just grabbed them and put them in C's hair to add a little more random-ness.  It also saved lots of time! 


C's hair was banded overnight to try and stretch her hair, and also to keep it from tangling.  In my opinion, a style takes enough time to do so I try and keep it as tangle free as possible.


For this style, I wet C's hair with our spray bottle of water mixed with a few drops of Africa's Best Herbal Oil.  I didn't use anything for hold because I wanted to see how the moisturizer we used would do all on it's own.
I used Unrefined African Shea Butter (I'll try and do the review later tonight or tomorrow)
I always use a lot of moisturizer because C's hair is sooo dry, but I really used a ton of this! 
As usual, I used a rat tail comb for parting. 
I'm pretty slow at hairstyling, especially when it comes to braiding.  I have to take extra time because I don't want to pull or snap any hair and C's hair gets knotted during braiding.  This style took me about 1 1/2 hours to do, plus a few short breaks.



I know I haven't been posting anything in a while, but I finally got a good enough camera to take pictures I can show so hopefully you'll be seeing more from us!  :)