Cherish My Daughter

We're on our way to a function with everyone but Hmg who has ballet practice. I LOVE the buns she creates for ballet. I've decided to track Mg3 and Mocha Baby's progress too even though we probably won't go a month. It's interesting to see how their styles evolve also. I'll be back with some shots of Mg3! Here she is!

You asked for it --here it is! Check it out on YouTube .

I've been looking for an alternative to beads and a way to secure the ends of my African Threaded styles so my girls can wear their hair down the way they like. I think the SIDEWINDERS found on hairholders.com may be my solution. Here's what I've done .

It's only been a couple of days but I've learned so much already. Let's look at the girls: 1. My fuzzy wuzzy is... ...well...fuzzy wuzzy of course! LOL! She's wearing red in today's picture. 2. MG2 initially had hers loose... I had to braid it up and put a ponytail holder around the ends. I plan to remove the ponytail holder and braid her threaded plaits all the way down to the ends just like I did for MG3 in the video. Here are my thoughts: 1. Remember how I cropped the string flush with their hair? My concern was to make the string as invisible as possible because I intended to leave the hair hanging. I think this would have worked better if I had added beads or barrettes to the end. The single knot was not strong enough to stay tied because of the friction caused by the movement of MG2's loose plaits. When she woke up after the first night of sleeping on the style, I noticed that several of the plaits had string beginning to unravel. This could have ...

I can NOT believe how much the African Threading process stretched out MG2's really damp, highly shrunken hair. In fact, it's still damp in the above picture, but the tension of the thread is keeping her hair stretched out. I wasn't even looking for this, but I'll take it! I'm told by GirlsLoveYourCurls that Africans use this method to stretch out their hair without heat. I'm sold! I'll post pictures a couple of weeks from now when I take this style down so you can see how stretched her hair is loose. Follow me step by step as I show you what I did with this combo style: Step 1: Detangle and moisturize. I used plain water to dampen the hair to help me coax out the snarls first with my fingers followed by my Tangle Teezer brush. I locked in the moisture using my shea butter mix . Step 2: Part the hair from ear to ear and clip away the top half. Step 3: Make your first vertical part to begin cornrowing down. Cornrow down the length of the row you'...

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My first thought was to do a Cornrow Twist Hawk, but I know that this daughter likes to see her hair. She always complains when I position the bulk of her hair in the back so I shifted the cascade of hair to the side. She's also always asking to wear her hair down, but her hair is very fine. Sometimes I worry that her braided styles look sparse. To give her the illusion of having her hair down I designed a second cascade in the front. Now we're both happy. She gets to feel like her hair is "down" while I tuck it safely up. The cascaded twists also makes her hair look much fuller. This daughter also likes to wear her hair down as much as possible. She's mature enough to be satisfied with twisting her head to see the cascade to the back as long as I give her a nice side bang to enjoy. Head Mocha Girl is game to try new things, so I go all out by giving her a Swooped Cornrow Twist Hawk. She gets bored easily with her hair so I made the twists small enough fo...

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I will be adding to this list: Understanding the growth cycle of nappy hair Cornrow part designs by Mimi Braids

When I was a little girl, I loved to cover my head with a towel, and dance around the house flinging it back, and forth as though I had the longest hair in the world. I wanted hair like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. Whether on TV, movies, books, or magazines, I was drawn to long hair that hangs. I thought this was only a little mocha girl thing, but I've observed this behavior in little girls of various ethnicities. Everyone seems to love long flowing hair. It is beautiful. I'm not against dressing up and playing pretend. It's fun to have a different experience sometimes. We can play with wigs, and weave extensions in our hair on occasion to enjoy something new. Personally, I've never used extensions, weaves, and wigs on my daughters. While I don't condemn mothers who occasionally use braid extensions, I've even stopped using them in my own hair to send my daughters a message. My main concern is that we don't want our girls to cling to these thi...

One of my favorite styles to do on the girls is a Half Cornrow-Twist. Follow me step by step: Tools of the Trade Rat tail comb for parting. Paddle brush for detangling. Spritz bottle filled with plain water. Clips to hold the hair you're not working with. Shea butter mix Recipe : 1 part 100% raw unrefined shea butter, 1/2 part coconut oil, 1/4 part grapeseed oil, 3 drops vitamin E oil Directions: Melt shea butter and coconut oil in a pot over low heat. It will become clear with no lumps. Remove from heat and add other oils. Mix well with a spoon and pour into containers. Allow to harden overnight in the refrigerator. Once it is solid you may store it at room temperature. Step One Use your rat tail comb to section out a small section in the front for the braided side bang. Cornrow until you get to the part of the braid that no longer touches the scalp but hangs in a single braid. Instead of continuing a three strand braid, merge two of the strands and finish the corn row with...

Mocha Girl Three has fuzzy naps. Her hair is silky soft and fine. It stretches long when saturated with water. As it dries, the individual strands clump into curly little coils. If I apply gel to Mocha Girl Three's wet hair, small ringlets and waves are set all over her head. If I allow Mocha Girl Three's hair to dry naturally, applying only a thin layer of shea butter, it frizzes up within several hours no matter how I style it. At one time, I frustrated myself by constantly trying to smooth her hair with a brush. I styled her hair almost daily, but had to stop when I noticed it was breaking excessively. Fuzzy naps can be delicate. I began matching her outfits with caps when we left the house. I did my best to force Mocha Girl Three's hair to adapt to the methods I used with her older sisters, but failed miserably. Her strands are fine, and many of the styles that work well for her sisters, made her hair look sparse . Mocha Girl Three's small braids were thi...