DON'T ASK ME WHAT MY CHILD IS MIXED WITH

Geez I hate that! So healthy hair may only belong to mixed chicks and blended cuties (puns intended)? NO it belongs to BROWN BABIES TOO!

& the Cornrow Saga continues

These cornrows lasted a day longer than our usual styles. A whopping 2 whole days!!! I'm still too paranoid to put anything on her head while she sleeps. All I do for protection of her hair, is place her head on top of a satin wrap and needless to say, that is not enough.

Day 1:
I should have taken a picture of the back as well but you can get the basic idea. She had 6 cornrows going up into each ponytail (3 cornrows to each).

Day 2:

The front looked a little worn but the back was a MESS! It was probably a mess from her lying down. Anyway, I immediately removed the six cornrows and replaced them with these two gigantic ones instead. If she were still it would have been better executed. Still adorable though :-)

Tasia's Goods

ouSo, it's no secret that my cousin is a large reason for my starting this blog, aside from Baby B of course. Her passion for hair and skin sparked my interest and eventually birthed a product junky within me. A friend of mine refers to her house as "Tasia's Palace of Goodness." I never leave empty handed. I always leave toting a bag of heaven from Lush, divine hair and skin products, or some organic oil/butter. She is now creating her very own line of products. (ABOUT TIME!)

She created a moisturizer especially for Baby B called Blaire's Butter of course. (It's only right.) It is a very light moisturizer that probably works best on 3c/4a tresses. I mainly used it to moisturize before a protective style. I used this butter in both of my cornrow posts that precede this post. It also works well for twist outs and for down & outs I use it combined with a teeny tiny tad of Shea Moisture.

The camera really doesn't do a good job of capturing the color. :'( It's a darker tan, almost a brownish. I blame the flash. A new cam is definitely on my xmas list. You can see how light it is.

I removed Blaire's tiny tot twists from the previous night, added a tad of Tasia's Blaire Butter and Voila! Curly cuteness! Her hair is SUPER soft too!

On to the skin:

I am absolutely ADDICTED to her coffee scrub! I won't lie; initially, I was a little skeptical as I was rubbing it on my body in the shower. I said to myself "What has this girl gotten me into?" But HONEY when I washed it off... SWEET BABY JESUS! My skin felt like Baby B's! I call it greatness!

MY Hair Story

I am often asked if there is a single influencing factor regarding my interest in Blaire's haircare. I know, it is slightly unusual for a mother to be deeply interested in their 10 month old's hair and skin. I complain on a daily basis about the internet's lacking INFANT hair and skin blogs. The truth is, infant hair and skin often requires little to no attention. I guess that's a long-winded way to say that my childhood is my inspiration. I had a full head of THICK, tightly coiled curls. My stretch length was not to be reckoned with! (Keep in mind, we are talking about the early 90's) Yes, I'm talking pre-blogs! There was not much information out there pertaining to natural hair care for little brown girls. Frustrated and misinformed, my mom turned to the creamy-crack, as my family members would say, for support.

At about 9 years old, I had my first relaxer. I was so excited. I still remember JAMMING to the Just-For-Me tape that accompanied the actual kit. I remember swinging my hair like a BOSS. (Sorry Willow but you did not invent hair whipping!) I was in love with my straight long hair, down my back. I became queen of the playground; the girls loved to play in my hair and the boys loved to play WITH me.

Fast forward to no more than 4 years later, the middle school playground. There I stood, teased because my damaged, over-processed hair could barely fit into a ponytail. OH-NO what went wrong? My mother went from being an avid-hair doer to virtually ignoring my tresses. Prior to my relaxer, I had a new style everyday. I was once known for my cornrows and ponytails, accessorized with ponytail holders and etc... to match my outfits. The relaxer relaxed my mother TOO much. She became too comfortable with relaxer and my hair received less and less attention. I was doing my own hair on a daily basis. I went from clunking alcohol based gels and mousse into my hair and even going outside with it wet, without a sole moisturizer, to coloring and relaxing my OWN hair at 12-13 years old. At 13, I had already been Jet Black, Auburn and even Honey Blonde in some sections :-O

I know what you're thinking moms, because as a mom I think the same thing as I am typing out this story. How could she have allowed, well enabled, such madness? She was a single, working mom. I vowed to never let my child manage her own hair. (Prior to becoming pregnant, I knew I'd have a girl. There are boys born into my family!) I often accompanied my cousins to their hair appointments, wishing my mom cared enough to let a professional save my tresses. Saying she didn't care is a bit harsh, I guess the truth is that she couldn't afford it.

Fast-forward to the present. Here I am, in my twenties, transitioning, getting rid of the damage and raising a natural, curly tiny tot. The taunting continued through high school. My hair was still damaged. While away at college, I learned a lot about hair. I met young black women from varying hair journeys. I was able to grow my hair back. Still relaxed, I discovered weaves, hot oil treatments, deep conditioning, co-washing and a plethora of other things. I still am not content with my hair. As a result, I am going natural for the THIRD time. Blaire is MY inspiration. I cannot preach what I have not practiced right? Wish me luck

Cornrows pt. 2

This time I opted for slightly smaller braids. Still pressed for time, I was forced to do something quick and easy. With her tension span being so short, I am only able to bribe her with a certain amount of snacks and youtube baby animation videos. We shall reach perfection one day. :-) At least she is not able to wear a hat.

Cornrows

Fairly simple & fast style with medium/large cornrows

Box Braids

'Tis the season to wear hats, and infant hats don't cater to babies with heads full of thick curls. As a solution, to combat our hat problem, I decided to give Blaire some box braids. Well not box braids technically, because I really don't have time to part boxes. Check out Blaire's journey to her uhh umm puzzle braids below lol.

2 Cornrows + 2 Puffs= 2 Cute

As usual, I needed something quick and simple, to beat the tension span of a busy 9 month old. Today, my timer was how long it would take for Blaire to dump the contents of her hair box onto the floor and couch. (p.s. our collection is expanding & I am in desperate need of a more sophisticated container lol)

I moisturized with a tad bit of Shea Moisture's Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancer, and Safi Hairsicle Cream.

WHOA look at what she did to my floor!!!!

So Blaire is sitting pretty while I clean up her mess!

X style

 

This style was inspired by Nikki over at Beads, Braids and Beyond (Her blog is the first tiny tot haircare blog I began to follow. I started following her even before I had Blaire. She of course influenced my wanting a baby girl.)

It didn't come out perfectly because as you can imagine it is very difficult to do an active 9 month old's hair while she is awake but hey, still cute!

I used Safi Hairsicle Cream to Moisturize (which by the way I've been hooked on lately). The bow in the front may be substituted for another puff. I will probably change it to a puff tomorrow, to switch it up. I am so loving this style!

3 innovative puffs

 So, Blaire's hair is getting too long for her everyday fro and headband. It isn't long enough for cute down & out styles. She is still in her stroller, and it sadly flattens her fro, giving her bed head!!!

I woke up to this & began to moisturize & part while she slept

By the time she woke up, it looked like this

3 poofs seemed so boring so I tried to implement a <3

BAM!

Everyone Loves Puffs!!!!

Baby Eczema

So Blaire's eczema has flared up again, practically overnight. We have not seen this eczema stuff since she was first born. The best thing you can do for any case of Eczema is to keep it moisturized. I used a combination of Vitamin E oil and Shea Moisture's Eczema Therapy (below respectively) to nip it in the bud immediately. Within one week's time, she was eczema free. I am speculating that the weather change, which caused Blaire to go from dresses and free legs, to jeans, spandex and tights (suffocating legs) brought the eczema back. I will post a follow up picture in a week. Wish us luck. :-)

Baby Fro!!!!

No products. All combed out.

Headbands, Bows & Thangs

Last night was a wash (Shampoo) night. I rinsed her hair with Curly Q's Cleansing Cream, and moisturized with Giovanni Organic Leave-In as usual. Aside from running a few errands, we aren't really going anywhere today. It's too warm for a hat in NYC today so, a headband it is! This is the easiest and most simple look for a baby girl. It has been a mom favorite since... forever. I moisturized with Safi Hairsicle Cream & voila!

Happy Hump Day!

The Minihawk

I'm not feeling well so I needed something quick and easy to do. The minihawk is a style that takes less than 10 minutes. Last night I was really sick and did not put her hair into the tiny tot twists so I woke up to her dry, thick hair.

 This is why I love Shea Moisture; After I applied the Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Hair Milk, her curls were moisturized and revived:









 




 I used natural Aloe Gel to slick down the sides. There are no alcohols or harsh ingredients and thus, it did not harden her hair. I also used two Goodie Ouchless Rubberbands. (I am anti rubberbands too BUT these do NOT pull the hair. They slide off easily, I promise.) I used one on each side to gather her hair as I would do for a tiny ponytail and voila. I finished before she finished her cookie! BUT I should've done her hair before I dressed her. Woe is me. Wish me luck.

Stretch it Out!

The back of her hair is pretty long. I wish it all was this long.

Thursday Nights- Happy Hair Washing!

 Here she is in the tub with Curly Q's Cleansing Cream in her hair. I had already bathed her, hence the soapy color of the water. She was playing with her rubber frogs, ducks and a plastic cup. (Don't ask)

& Here is she afterward, all dry, dressed and ready for bed. I applied the Giovanni organic Leave-In, and when she finally fell asleep I as usual, put her hair into the tiny tot twists.