Box Braids with (my first ever!) Cornrows

Yes,  you read that title correctly... Hope's latest style features her mother's very first cornrows!  I've tried to do them before and never quite gotten the hang of it.  Recently I french braided/cornrowed Hope's mini box braids, though, and that got me thinking of giving it another try on her loose hair.  So, I did, and at last we found success...although I'm sure with lots of room for future improvement.

Here are all the style details...

I want to start by saying that, as any of you who've done a large number of box braids knows, doing this many braids takes patience and T-I-M-E!  With a four year old, and with an unusually busy week last week, though, I didn't even think of attempting to complete the style in one (or even two) sessions.  We began by washing and conditioning in sections, and just doing a little bit of 'pre-detangling' in the tub.  I loosely twisted each section as I completed it, and left those twists in for the final rinse.  I then added coconut oil which I had warmed up so it was in liquid form.

After leaving the bath, I detangled each section of hair (working in four sections) and then banded each section for stretching.  That was all I intended to accomplish on the first day.

I wasn't able to begin working on braiding Hope's hair until two days after banding, and when we began that process Hope's hair had dried completely and was nicely stretched.

My plan was to remove bands in just one section at a time and then put in the box braids in that section.  That's exactly what I did over the following several days as time allowed.  Hope wore a number of 'transitional' looks during that time, and we're just okay with that!  I was aiming for very small braids as they last a nice long time for us (the bottom row contained six actually, and the pictures show just how long her hair is, too).

This is the length of hair I am working with for each braid!

I am aware of starting each braid tight, while not pulling excessively on Hope's scalp, 

and also keeping the braid tight throughout.

To finish off each braid, I simply twist the ends.

Here (above) is one of those 'transitional' looks I mentioned.  When we were about halfway finished, I removed all the colored pony o's I had used for banding and instead put in two large braids.  

When I (at last) reached the front section of Hope's hair, that is the moment I decided to try out putting in cornrows.

Hey!  It worked!

So, I added eight cornrows going away from Hope's face, and each cornrow ended in another long braid.  In addition to the eight cornrows in the front, Hope has about 75 box braids in the back.  I expect those to last a couple of months.  I also expect to either have to redo the cornrows, or put in box braids in the front instead at some point.  We'll figure that out when the time comes.

Hope is really enjoying these braids.  On a couple of days, she has worn them with these cute little pink & purple clips, but those are totally optional.  Other days, she has wanted to just wear them 'plain.'  

Products used:

In the bath...

~Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo

~Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Conditioner

~Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil

For detangling...

~Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler

For braiding...

~Oyin Handmade Juices & Berries (I needed a little of this to soften each dried section before parting)

~Oyin Handmade Sugar Berries Pomade

~Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie (just a little bit on those ends)

Blessings,

Nikki

Faux Hawk

I love reading natural hair care blogs, and I'm also always on the lookout for something cool or helpful over on Pinterest.  I collect the resources and photos that interest me on my "Natural Hair Care" board.  Stop over!

Recently, I was inspired by a post I found at Beads, Braids and Beyond to try a really cool, and I do mean cool, hairstyle with Hope... the faux hawk.  When I showed the photo to Hope of this style, her response was, "WOW!"  She was in!  The only condition I had, as mom, was that this style would go in after Easter.

So, sure enough, Monday morning we put in the faux hawk, and Hope has been happily wearing it all week.  The faux hawk was a very easy style for us to accomplish, especially since Hope was already wearing her Afro puff.  I followed the instructions at the BBB post, which were seriously simple!  I did not put in exact parts, just gathered Hope's hair into three sections and banded them at the base with a cotton pony O.  The ponytails went right down the middle of Hope's hair.  Because she has very long hair, I folded her hair over to the side and used bobby pins to secure her hair.  That's it.  Really.

Easy enough maintenance, too!  Each night I have put in 4-5 two stranded rope twists (keeping in the original 3 ponytails), and then in the morning I removed those and repinned the faux hawk.  (Each morning I did ask Hope, "Do you want to wear the twists today, or do you want me to put in your faux hawk again?" to which she would emphatically answer, "My faux hawk!")

Here's Day One:

She said this was her 'cool' face

 And morning maintenance:

Twisted from overnight

Letting down the twists shows just how
seriously long Hope's hair is.

Half pinned

Finished in about five minutes!

 I really didn't use much product in maintaining this style.  A little spray of Oyin Handmade's Juices and Berries was just about all we needed.  This is definitely a style we will come back to, and the best part was just how much Hope loved it!

Blessings,
Nikki

An Afro Puff

We started out with different intentions for Hope's hairstyle for Easter, but life presented us with a different idea today.  Earlier in the week, the hair care routine started in the bath with washing, conditioning, and coconut oil application.  I worked with Hope's hair in the sections that were from her last style, did a little finger detangling in each section, and then twisted each section when complete.

After her bath, I used my detangling comb to detangle Hope's hair, again, one section at a time.  (I did further divide Hope's hair, making her one large puff into two sections, so that her hair was parted down the middle, with three sections of hair on each side of the part.)  I started in the front, and made a rope twist in each section as I finished it.  What I ended up with was essentially piggyback twists with each twist connecting into the section of hair below and forming the next twist.  I did not band the base of each twist, but I did add 5 bands at the ends of the two piggyback twists.

You can see the twists in this oh-so-cute picture
of Hope with her big brother...
It was his 12th birthday that day!

Normally I band Hope's hair for stretching, but I was so pressed for time that day that I really did not have time to put in all the pony-o's it requires to properly band her very long hair.  So, I was thinking I could stretch with twists instead and it would be faster.  Well, it was faster, but it did not turn out to be the right method for us.  I will definitely return to banding the next time.  Hope has a lot of new hair growth around her hairline (in the front and the back) and these shorter hairs just did not get pulled into her twists neatly enough, so that by the end of the next day, she was looking pretty (shall we say) fuzzy.  More importantly, as I removed each twist today, I saw that the sections had not stayed as well detangled as they do when banded.    We had originally planned to put in regular two stranded box twists, but I did not wish to have a fight on our hands, nor did I want Hope to be uncomfortable, so it was a good time to change our plans.

What I settled on, which made Hope very happy, was a simple (well, simple is a relative term here) high pony, or more accurately in our case an Afro Puff.  With all of the length and thickness of Hope's curly hair, this really is not as simple as the word 'simple' implies.  I began by spraying each section with Oyin Handmade's Juices and Berries and applying coconut oil.  I only (lightly) finger detangled.  I followed the same steps in each section, and then began the process of gathering all that hair into the puff.  I started in the front by applying Oyin Handmade Sugar Berries Pomade (quite generously) to the hairline.  I smoothed it in with the palms of my hands and then very gently brushed Hope's hair back from her face.  I did the same thing in the back, underneath Hope's hair, this time smoothing upward.  Then I just formed the puff, trying to make it as high as I could.  I secured it with a cloth pony-o (no metal), which I managed to get around twice...with patience for sure!

After putting in the puff, I put on a satin sleep scarf to smooth down the edges, and set to work adding curl defining products.  I used Shea Moisture Organic Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Curling Souffle.  I raked each product through her curls in small sections to be sure it was evenly distributed.

After removing the sleep scarf

To maintain Hope's style, I will put in a few loose braids or twists at night.  I will reapply one of the curl defining products in the mornings as needed.

I think it is a very cute style for Hope.  It was quick for me to put in (which was a plus today) and she loved it, which is most important in my book.  Best part of style time for me today was when Hope said, "This is good hair!"

Blessings,
Nikki