My own hair is not as curly nor as thick as theirs so styling their hair has been a learning experience for me. I can easily wash, condition and air dry my hair and it looks just fine but not so with my girls. They must have their hair in braids, plaits or twists or it will get very tangled and be impossible to manage. Not to mention that each of them has a different texture to their hair so it requires different treatment. I once received a comment on this blog asking why I don't style my girls hair. That actually hurt my feelings because I spend TONS of time each week on the girls hair and I really try to make it look nice. We spend almost all day Saturday on hair.
What I do each and every Saturday is wash each girls hair. My 9 year old washes her own hair. If I wash their hair more often it will become very dry and break easily. I wash and deep condition then apply some sort of hair oil Usually I use a product called Hair Pudding which my good friend Tanisha makes. Here is a link to her site. She and her family some great products! Sometimes I use Alberto VO5 (the oil in the small tube). I am also planning to buy some products that I found which I think will work well for my 9 year old and myself and possible my 4 year old. It is from a company called Mixed Chicks. It is kind of pricey but if it works then it will be well worth it!
Once I wash, condition and oil their hair I usually do 9 year old and 4 year old first. Their hair is has the loosest curls so I usually give them each two braids or plaits. Sometimes I get more fancy with 4 year old and give her several plaits on each side so she can pull them back into a pony tail. This usually lasts for about 2 or 3 days. Then I re-do them. Rarely I make 4 year old puffs. She loves her puffs but they don't last and her hair gets more tangled when I do it this way. She's got her puffs on the photo in the sidebar. They are loose puffs because her curls are so loose.
I do 2 year old after that. Her hair is so short it's fairly easy to do at this point. I like to keep her in two braids but if she's restless I just make her two puffs which can be easily re-done daily.
7 year old has the thickest and coarsest hair so it takes much longer. Her hair is very delicate and falls out or breaks off easily. I have to be very gentle with her combing and section it off into small portions to get it nice and tangle free. I then put it into many small two-strand twists all over which she can pull back into pony tails or I put it into 4 or 6 braids on each side which she can also pull back. This usually lasts 4 to 6 days then I re-do it. Her hair takes about 2 to three hours from start to finish. The re-do only takes about 45 minutes because it's already nice and smooth from being in braids or twists already. Most days I just un-do any braids or twists that look "fluffy" and re-do those and leave the rest alone.
I have been reading up a lot about multi-racial hair care and I am going to be buying a spray bottle so I can give them an all over spraying with an oil (olive oil) and water mixture every day to retain more moisture in their hair.
Does anyone else have children with very curly or multi-racial hair? I'd love to hear about your hair routine!
6 comments:
Hello Michelle
My daughter is special needs and HATES her head or hair touched as does my son They have sensory issues from infancy in an orphanage.
Any how my girls hair gets matted and that is just enough and yet she is just refused of help an a dailiy basis. I was in the shower last week praying in all but tears and then I saw it!
I told her the plan and she willingly walked into it. I told her I had been praying and saw this...
I gave her some kids Tylenol and then 20 minutes later set up in front of the TV with her straddling my knees. She was a little below me. With a towel around her shoulders I soaked her head with infussium leave in and then clipped a few section at a time. I just worked out a little and told her that when she is tired to tell me. Then I would move over to another section.
NO TEARS OR SQUIRMING!
She was happy, felt so much better about herself. She even combed it two times a day all week.
Her hands can not hold a comb well so it only gets the top layers often.
Now hearing your tail I think holly molly! That was easy for me when you have it times four.
I hope that they are more patient. It must be so trying to finish one and yet have a few more to do.
After I finish Dove I feel like a nap or a walk to relax.
I think their hair is just beautiful and who ever left the comment about you not doing their hair must do not have girls that they have to do their hair, I too struggle with keeping my hair and my two girls hair done and they are not biracial, it is easy for my boys my hubby just takes them to get a haircut every other Friday. So I think you are doing a wonderful job especially since you have your hair to keep up along with four girls with a head full of hair too, you are a wonderful mother and please keep up the great job. My God bless.
Donetta, that is such a good idea! I can imagine how hard that must be. I have a hard enough time with my two year old not wanting to sit still. My older girls are patient thankfully and yes I know that feeling about needing to take a break after doing a head of hair :0)
DeNiece, thanks so much for your sweet comment! Do you do your girls hair yourself? I saw a photo you had up once of your girls are they are so pretty, their hair looks so nice. You have such a beautiful family.
I have biracial daughters so I can relate to hair issues!!!! One daughter has very thick, thick coarse hair. It took a stylist 3 hours recently to wash, trim and straighten her hair with a hair dryer and then a flat iron.
I now wash her hair with Pantene women of color and then spray it with Silken Child detangler. I comb it out and take a hair dryer w/a pic through it section by section to straighten it. I also use some Morrocan oil after I'm done. Her hair is so much easier and softer to handle then it ever was by doing all this.
I no longer use the oil and water mixture since I straighten it with the hair dryer and water erases that straightness. The dryer doesn't make it straight straight but it's enough that it combs so nicely!!! Before this I spent hours and hours getting her hair combed out and styled. It was beautiful curls but the tangling it did wasn't so beautiful and she wants to keep her long hair!
The Morrocan oil is very expensive but it lasts a long time. It doesn't leave residue in the hair and it doesn't stain your clothing. When you put it on the hair, it is instantly absorbed! Even though I used a styling cape, with many of the other products I used, I still managed to stain alot of clothing, especialy with the water & oil mixture.
I really hated that doing their hair was so difficult for me. We adopted them at the age of 5 & 6 and they had enough issues without having a mom who couldn't handle their hair. I'm so glad I took them to the hair stylist one time and she really helped. I had taken a class and done much research early on but what I do now sure is working so much better and isn't near as stressful for me anymore.
You have beautiful daughters!!!
Blessings!!!
Hi from Australia
I can't believe you spend 1 entire day on hair - I have a new appreciation for my own relatively fuss free hair!
Have just made the oatmeal breakfast clafoutis from your other blog - it smells great as it bakes so thanks for the recipe.
The issue with textured hair is that it takes time to maintain.
I have two daughters with very different hair types. What works for one does not work for the other.
For one child, water and oil works miracles but for the other water wreaks havoc.
People can be so malicious in their comments because it's all said online. Just continue to delete those comments. Know that you are a wonderful mom who is doing her very best.
Thank you for your comment. I do enjoy baking bread.
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