African Princesses Update

Remember my post for Elisa who was traveling to Uganda and Ethiopia and ws asking for donations of hair accessories for the precious little girls of Africa? Well, I wanted to share some photo’s from her blog of some of the children with their hair goodies!

It is such an awesome feeling to know that I helped put smile on these kids faces from the other side of the world. Thanks to everyone who donated hair accessories for these princesses. To see more photos and read about her mission you can visit Elisa's blog Joy, Hope, and Everything in Between.

Hair Nightmares

As parents we want our children to be happy and healthy, we want what is best for our kids, but sometimes situations arise and we are at a loss as to what to do. We all make mistakes, no one is perfect. We all need guidance and resources at some point. I strive to provide guidance when it comes to hair care through information, stories, tips, and how to’s. A mother recently came to me for some advice on her daughters’ relaxed hair, I asked for permission to share her story on the blog, in hopes of reaching out to others who have problems with their children and their hair.

My willful daughter, Patrice, is 9 years old. She is one feisty, fiery red-head! We have hair nightmares!  She is so stubborn! She also has ADHD and Anxiety so she is super impulsive (cuts her own hair when she is bored) and worries nonstop about how she looks (even though she does silly stuff like cut her own hair!) When she was a toddler she would let me comb her hair out and braid it or twist it.

Then she got older and started screaming and wiggling so much that I couldn't hold her still enough to do anything. Her hair was so course that I couldn't even get a comb through it. She was miserable. She hated her hair and begged to have straight hair. I read so many books to her about natural hair, tried to help her say "I love my Hair." We got picture books full of styles she could choose from, but she still just couldn't stand to look at herself. Our stylist is white with mixed kids and she trained under a black stylist. When they decided Patrice was old enough, they relaxed her hair. She hasn't been natural ever since. She was 6 years old, when she got her first relaxer.

Now she is in a stage of freaking out any time I try to do anything to her hair. She won't let me help brush it, she won't let me put any product in it. She's been seeing a lot of breakage as a result. We are just starting to get to a point where she's letting me put some "slimy stuff" (as she calls it) in her hair again because I keep telling her that if she doesn't she won't have any hair left! She has an answer for that too--she says, "I'll just cut it all off then and start growing my 'fro back!"

Just last month I told our stylist that Patrice was talking about going back to natural. I need to look into options on how to make the transition go smoothly. I ordered all of the products you posted on your blog for after-swimming care and if she doesn't let me put them in this summer, she might not have any relaxed hair left--it will all just break off and we can start over. That's not how she wants to look, but it is what will happen if she doesn't let me help her take care of her hair. Our bee mine luscious moisturizer just came in the mail yesterday. We also got her a satin pillow case since she refuses to sleep in a cap. She loves the pillow now and there was a difference in her hair right away--fewer knots! She says she is sure she wants to go back to natural, so I'll be looking for more info.

 

I want to sincerely thank Jen for sharing her daughters hair story with us all. Is there anyone out there with a similar story? Can you provide any information, links, or tips for making the transition from relaxed to natural? Any advice to ensure that Patrice will stick to her decision to go back to natural and start to love and embrace her curls? Any tips for making hair time more enjoyable? Please add your comments below!

 

Do you have any “hair nightmares” you would like advice, information or tips on? Would you like to share your story in hopes of reaching out and inspiring others? Please email me at untrainedhairmom at gmail dot com

 

 

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Dragonfly Soaps Review & Giveaway *closed*

The giveaway portion of this review is closed as of July 10th, 2011, but please continue to read our review of Dragonfly Soaps.

I love natural skin care products and eco-friendly companies! Dragonfly Soaps is a company dedicated to making their handcrafted all-natural soaps in the “greenest” possible manner. Dragonfly Soaps is a member of Green America and the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild. No toxic chemicals are created or disposed of by this company! They’re cute labels and printed materials are made from recycled paper. They either recycle or donate their leftover slivers and end cuts from their bars of soap, nothing gets thrown away! I loved this company before I even tried their soaps!

It was hard to choose the scents I wanted for my review, because they all sounded awesome! I ended up picking the Oatmeal Almond, for the exfoliating properties of the oatmeal, and because I had never used an oatmeal soap bar before, so I really wanted to try it. I also chose Patchouli Lavender, I love both scents, so I thought this one has to be amazing, and it is! They both smell wonderful! The Oatmeal Almond also has a hint of nutmeg added for scent. Each bar is handmade from saponified oils of olive, coconut, palm and shea butter and also different essential oils depending on the scent. These are gentle, very moisturizing, all-natural soap bars, I even used them to wash my face and they are perfectly fine to use for my children. I love these soaps, they leave the skin feeling soft and smelling amazing!

They actually have a variety of scents in these different catagories: Unscented, Earthy & Mysterious Soap, Workhorse Soap, Almost Edibles Soap, and Lavender & Flowers Soap.

Giveaway Time!

One winner will receive 3 Dragonfly Soap Bars of their choice!

This giveaway is open worldwide! It will end at 11:59pm (CST) on July, 10th. Winner will be chosen via random number generator and announced on the blog (and emailed if an email address is provided). Please see our full Giveaway and Disclosure Policies.

How to Enter: Complete the mandatory entry and any or all optional entries, leaving separate comments below for each entry completed. The mandatory entry must be done for any additional entries to count.

Mandatory Entry:

-Visit the Dragonfly Soaps website and leave a comment below telling me which 3 Dragonfly Soap scents you would like to try

Additional/Optional Entries:

-Like Dragonfly Soaps (1 entry)

-Like me (1 entry)

-Follow my blog via GFC (see the follow button on the right side bar) (2 entries)

-Follow me on twitter (1 entry)

-Vote for this blog (1 entry per day)

-Share this giveaway via social networking sites/forums/linkies (1 entry per method shared, can be done each day, please leave links, on facebook be sure and tag me so I can see it, and for twitter tweet: #Win 3 soap bars of choice from Dragonfly Soaps – WW Ends 7/10 #Giveaway @untraindhairmom)

-Follow my blog on Networked Blogs (right side bar) (1 Entry)

-Blog about this giveaway (3 entries, leave the link)

-Grab my button and tell me where I can find it (5 entries)

*FTC Disclosure: This product was provided free of charge for the purpose of this review, I was not compensated in any other way for this post, the opinions expressed are my own. See full disclosure.

Saturdays “Shappin” Hairstyle: Kia-Lan Inspired Buns and Braids

This is a great summer style, because the nature of the buns protect the hair, especially the ends, from the sun and water if there is swimming involved. D’s hair had been washed, detangle and moisturized with Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer prior to styling. To create this look, I started by parting down the middle then parting out the sections in the front I wanted to cornrow. I made 2 ponytails, putting each in 2 braids.

I then twisted the braids into buns and secured them with cloth bands and added scrunchies over each bun. Lastly, I did the 2 cornrows in front along her hair line…now my cornrows aren’t perfect, lol, I am still working on those.

She wore it like this for a day, then I added the front braids to her buns and she wore it that way for several days.

 

 

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CUSH Day 2 Winner

Today, folks, the random number generator chose # 4...and number 4 on the spreadsheet is...


Amanda K.

Congrats! Please email me at untrainedhairmom at gmail dot com

Thanks everyone for your participation...be on the lookout for more great giveaways on Untrained Hair Mom! And thank you to Toni and CUSH cosmetics!

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Girls Day Out

D and I recently took a trip to a local salon for trims. We have been using this stylist for 3 years and she is great, I never have to worry about her hacking off too much of D’s hair. She trims D’s hair while it’s dry, so I had her hair all banded in 8 ponytails, before our appointment.

The purpose of banding before a trim is to stretch the hair out to its true length, to avoid cutting the hair too short. This can be done with a flat iron, but banding does not cause the heat damage that a flat iron can.

While we were there our stylist introduced us to a nail polish called “Crackle”. Now, I had not heard of this, maybe I am just out of the loop, lol, but I thought it was really cool. For those of you who haven’t seen or heard of it, Crackle comes in a variety of colors and is applied over another color, and creates a “crackle” effect allowing the first color to show through. Of course, Miss D, had to get her nails painted with this stuff! She chose a pink base with silver crackle for her toes and a purple base with silver crackle tips for her fingers:

The tips on the fingers didn’t “crackle” much, probably because it was such a small amount on her already small fingers. Here is a closer look at the pink/silver crackle:

We both enjoyed our girls day out! :)

 

 

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CUSH Day 1 Winner!

A huge thanks to all who took part in Day 1 of the CUSH Giveaway! And without further ado here is our first winner of the Ultimate Curls CUSH sample pack:

Nikki C.

Congrats! Be sure to email me your shipping info so CUSH can get your prize sent right out to you! untrainedhairmom at gmail dot com

There is still time to enter for Day 2, this contest will end at midnight CST!

Click here for complete details on how to enter!

 

 

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I am participating in "A Blogtastic Extravaganza 2.0"

Starting August 17th at 12:00AM EST and running until August 21st at 11:59PM EST 100 elite blogs will be hosting awesome giveaway packages. These blogs will be linking together to offer you prizes totalling at least $5,000. I'm so excited to tell you all that I'm participating in A Blogtastic Extravaganza 2.0! Each blog will have a theme to their giveaway, my theme is "A Hairtastic Giveaway"!

If you are a company or boutique who has natural hair care products or adorable hair accessories and would like to sponsor my blog during this totally awesome event then please email me at untrainedhairmom at gmail dot com. You will receive you own feature on this blog as a Sponsor.

Keep a look out for our Sponsor Announcements!

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“Box” Braids Takedown

As promised here is my post on D's box braids takedown. I had mentioned that near the end of the 2 1/2 weeks of her protective style, D had gone to her grandmas for a couple days and did lots of swimming, apparently with that swimming did some massive unraveling:

This literally happened in just two days! It looked kind off cool, but there was some major tangles! I washed her hair with the remaining braids still in, using Created by Nature Hair n Body Wash, conditioned with Bee Mine Avocado Cream Conditioner, leaving much of it in, I added some CUSH Uncoiled detangler and began finger combing/detangling. Surprisingly (to me), the tangles slid out with ease. It didn’t take long at all to detangle and get the rest of the braids out and I did most of it using my fingers, with a wide tooth comb or a rat tail comb occasionally.

Shiny, soft, moisturized, detangled hair after 2 1/2 weeks of little braids:

 

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Twizted Tee’s Winner

I want to welcome all my new followers who have joined us, and also give a big thanks to Twizted Tee’s for making this giveaway happen,  and thanks to everyone who entered! I couldn't get a screen shot so I just copied and pasted! The winner of the Twizted Tee of their choice is comment #

True Random Number Generator Min:1 Max:144 Result:48:

48. SuccessfulBeauty said...

I left a comment on Naturalpreneur Central group on FB
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_185575654788577&ap=1

June 10, 2011 6:30 PM

 
Congratulations! Please email your shipping and t-shirt choice! (size, design, and color) untrainedhairmom at gmail dot com within the next 3 days!

Everyone else…don’t be disappointed just yet…you know how we like to do at Untrained Hair Mom…so click here to see what we’ve got for you to win now! :)

CUSH Cosmetics Hair Care Line Review

I was recently fortunate enough to be provided with a free sample pack of  natural hair care products from CUSH Cosmetics to try and review for the blog. This company is out of Frisco, TX (close to home), and their products are all-natural, so I was extremely excited when the owner contacted me about this opportunity! The owner, by the way, was very helpful, answering any and all questions I had, staying in constant contact with me throughout the entire process…wonderful customer service! Thank you, Toni!

Read more »

Today’s Throwback: Baby Boy

This was the day Baby Boy was born

Proud sister :)

 

 

 

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Summer Hair Care

I bought the OP swimming cap from Wal-Mart for $1.00, great buy! However, we couldn’t get it to stay on her head! Has anyone else used this cap? Do you have trouble keeping swim caps on your kids? D has a good size head, lol, and lots of hair so I’m wondering if that contributes to the swim cap sliding off and not staying in place well.

Read more »

Follow us!

Hello adored fans and followers, I just wanted to let you all now we are now officially on Twitter, you can follow us here! and Give us a shout out, so all your friends can follow us to :)

Follow @untraindhairmom


We are officially on Networked Blogs as well, follow us and invite your friends too!

Follow this blog

If you follow us, I will give you extra entries for our
Twisted Tee's giveaway (1 entry each), an extra entry for a tweet @untraindhairmom and an extra for each friend that you send to follow us (on Twitter and Networked Blogs, please comment with the friends name)! :) Be sure to leave comments for entries under our giveaway post once you do them! Thanks for all the much appreciated support from all of you!

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Center Stage: Baby Big Hair

This weeks star is Baby Big Hair! Welcome and thanks for joining us!

I'm a blessed mommy of our 3 yr old daughter we lovingly call "Baby Big Hair".  From day one BBH had a TON of hair.  It's been a journey but as of late our hair routine consist of washing her hair once every 2-3 weeks.  I start with a deep conditioner the night before (or a pre-poo) which is a mixture of conditioner, olive oil and baking soda.  I work this mixture through her hair detangling in about 6 large sections.  I then braid each section in a large plats.  The next morning, I wash her hair with Kinky-Curly's Come Clean Shampoo (extremely gentle) with her hair in the same plats. This (along with the slippage created by the pre-poo) keeps her hair from tangling and allows me to get the shampoo close to her scalp.  Every other washing I do an Apple Cider Vinegar rinse (1 part to 3 parts slightly cold water).   I then apply a generous amount of Kinky Curly's Knot Today Leave-In or Beautiful Curls Leave-In Conditioner for Curly to Kinky Hair.  With her hair saturated with water and leave in conditioner, I work thru each section with 1st - my fingers, 2nd - a wide tooth comb, 3rd - a medium to fine tooth comb or a Dedman brush (stripped down from 5 to 3 rows). From there I apply either the Kinky Curly Curling Custard to achieve her "curly fro", or I apply Beautiful Curls Curling Activating Cream to style her hair with twists, knots etc.  As a working mom, I tend to do small twists all over to save time thru the week and do something fun with them like twist outs or refresh her hair on the weekends with a new week long style.
My main tips to share are: 1) cover hair with a satin or polyester (some types are ok) cap at night; 2) Always keep a spray bottle with water and leave-in conditioner mixture handy to spritz the hair if it looks dry and 3) Deep condition or "pre-poo before each wash. If hair is long, wash in large plats, and 4) Starting with your fingers, detangle from the ends working your way to the scalp.
Also, it's important to know its okay to wear the "hair out"  in all its "Big Hair" glory every now and then.  Just be mindful of to protect it at night and moisturize everyday. As we like to say on our blog.. Go'Head Baby, Be'Curly!!

Check out these awesome hair photos of Baby Big Hair:

 

A big thanks to Baby Big Hair and her mom for sharing! If you would like to be a star on our stage see the Center Stage tab above for all the details!

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Momma’s Style: Pink & Black

In the past I have had some crazy hair! I’m talking pink, purple, blue, etc. I was rockin’ the crazy colors before they became so mainstream. Now, everywhere you look you see pink streaks or blue clip in extensions. And I will still occasionally wear a clip-in colored extension, but in the past I was hardcore with it, I bleached my hair and used semi-permanent die. I would wear a color until it faded and either redo the same color or try something different!

This one was one of my favorites, I rocked the pink and black for a long time!

      I wore the poof frequently or I flipped up the different layers of my hair.

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Virtual Playdate!

We were invited to this virtual playdate by KandyLandKurls, thanks Kandy!

10 facts about D and Baby Boy

1. D loves to swim, you can bet we will be at the pool lots this summer!

2.  Baby Boy loves to eat, lol!

3. D's favorite color is purple.

4. We are pretty sure Baby Boy loves red!

5. D loves to pick and plant flowers!

6. Baby Boy is getting is first tooth!

7. D likes to ride her bike!

8. Baby Boy scoots all over the floor!

9. D wants a white horse, really, really bad!

10. Baby Boy falls asleep in is jumperoo! lol

To join the playdate, post 10 facts about your little one/ones in the comment section below. If you have a blog post 10 things about your child/children. Next thank and link back to the person who invited you to the playdate and invite a few other blogs to participate in the online playdate!


We would like to invite, to our virtual play date the following:


Baby Big Hair
One Smiley Monkey
Goldilocks n Me
Mainly Braids
Hair-Raising Adventures
Mama On a Green Mission
Brown Girls Hair
Baby Bella Hair
Intermittent Babbling

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Saturday’s “Shappin” Hairstyle: Jumbo Braids & Beads

This style is a fun, easy, colorful do! I parted her hair down the middle, then parted each side into 3 sections, and ponytailed them with different color no-metal bands. I braided 2 braids in each pony and added some coordinating colored beads and white stars. I used the jumbo barrel multi-colored translucent beads and jumbo white star beads from Curly Princess Hair Boutique. D loved the style and the beads. I believe I used Bee Mine Curly Butter for this one. :)

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Protective Styles: “Box” Braids

Protective styles are important for healthy hair; they reduce breakage, damage and shield the hair from the sun and weather. Some examples of protective styles would be box braids, twists, cornrows, buns, etc., with no rubber bands or beads. Most everyone in the hair care blogosphere is probably aware of the month long protective style challenge hosted by Beads, Braids & Beyond that recently took place and I wanted to share our protective style(s) with everyone. We chose to do small box/triangle/diamond braids, they are easy and versatile. I worked on them off and on for 2 days, starting on clean, detangled, well moisturized hair. I used Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer all over, Bee Mine Curly Butter on each section before braiding, and Kinky-Curly Curling Custard on the ends as I finger curled them:

The braids lasted over 2 weeks, that is the longest amount of time a style has ever lasted for us!!! I changed up the look of her braids several ways during these two weeks. First, we simply added a headband (from Ni’s Ebony Curls Spot):

She participated in her school’s track meet, so I put her braids in 2 french braids to keep it out of her face:

Then we had a french braid out, adding another cute headband for some flare (this headband was purchased locally):

After the first week, they were still looking great.  I washed her hair using a liquid castile hair wash from the Created by Nature line, her hair was still soaking wet in this photo:

Two cornrows in the front and a sock bun for her dance recital:

Here is another way we gave the style a different look, using only the cloth Goody ponytail holders, I put the top half up in two ponytails:

I had to attempt a variation of my favorite styles, the faux hawk:

They had been in for 2 weeks at this point, a little unraveling of the ends and fuzzy at the top, but not too bad:

She sported them in a ponytail for a couple more days while she was at her grandmas (with lots of swimming and not much care) and then they were taken down (I’ll make a post on the takedown process). Throughout these 2 1/2 weeks, I washed her hair twice, and moisturized daily with Bee Mine Luscious, really focusing on the ends.

 

Ok, I would really like your feedback, which style from this post was your favorite? Also, how often do you do protective styles on your/your child's hair?

 

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