Little Girl's Curled Box Braids

I already shared how I remove box braids, but I thought I'd take a moment to show one of the ways Hope wore her 130+ braids recently.  I love the versatility of having Hope's hair in box braids, as I can quickly put her hair in pigtails or a high ponytail or she can throw in a headband.  But one of my favorite things to do with her braids is actually to braid them (these are probably my beginner's versions of cornrows, actually...maybe someday I'll be able to cornrow Hope's loose hair).  I did this twice during the last couple of weeks Hope was wearing the box braids.  After conditioning her hair in the bath, I would braid the braids while they were still wet.  That was a cute look all on its own, and I left the hair like that for several days.  But the style really looked cute after removing those cornrowed braids because it left the braids curly.

I really loved the look of Hope's curly braids, and she really did too!  This is another style that she receives a lot of compliments on.  I was amused by the lady who asked me if I had a special curling iron to curl all those braids.  In my mind I was thinking, "Do I look that crazy?"  I didn't actually say that, though.  I just gave her a quick response that explained how the braids were curled (without the use of a curling iron).

Blessings,
Nikki

Removing Mini Box Braids

It was way back in the 3rd week of January when I set my daughter Hope's hair in a style that we both love...mini box braids.  Now, that was before this blog began, but I did write about it in my Not a Hair Blog feature at my original personal blog, Notes From a Blessed Life.  You can read the posts "Beaded Box Braids" (here) and "Box Braid Update" (here) if you'd like to see the original style and the revised version.

I kid you not when I say that the original style went in during the 3rd week of January!  I knew the braids were good at the time that I finished them, and I hoped for 6 weeks (which is what we had gotten out of our braids the previous time I had put them in).  I am very pleased that we got more than the 6 weeks, in fact between 9 and 10 weeks!  Now, if you understand the amount of time that goes into putting in this many braids, than you understand how happy this Mama was to have that time investment bring us a return of almost 10 weeks!  It was nice to know that my daughter's hair was in a protective style (once the rubber bands and beads were removed, that is) for such a long time, and one that allows us so much freedom and versatility and also saves us from having to spend a lot of time on her hair between stylings.

Hope originally wore the box braids with beads for her birthday:

And then I removed the beads and restyled the front with more box braids (totaling about 130 braids):

This week, I began the process of removing Hope's braids.  She is now wearing a cute, simple, short-lasting style and we will put in something (?) for Easter next week.  Taking out this many braids that are this small is not an easy task, nor is it a fast one!  There is just no hurrying the process of braid removal.

I started by washing and conditioning Hope's hair while her braids were still in (I used a shampoo bar from Darcy's Botanicals and conditioner from Oyin Handmade).  Once the conditioner was mostly rinsed I added some coconut oil all over that I had heated during Hope's bath.  Since it was already late afternoon and I had no intention of doing all of these braids at once, I just started in the front with what I knew I could get finished on Day One.  I won't lie... I spread this process out over 4 days because I didn't have the time to get it all done at once (or even over two sessions) so Hope wore some interesting temporary styles (which no one seemed to notice... they all looked cute) just so she could go out each day while I was in the midst of the braid removal.

So, how do I do it?  You might think... no problem, just unbraid it, right?  Well, as I mentioned, Hope was wearing these braids for over two months.  Even though her hair was still really well moisturized, those ends were set and they needed to soften up a little to make it easier (and more comfortable for Hope) for me to start removing them.  Day One was a little easier since the hair was still wet from her bath.  On the rest of the days, I simply sprayed each section with Oyin Handmade's Juices and Berries spray.  Before I even touched the braids with my pin tail comb, I saturated the ends with a product called The Great Detangler by Taliah Waajid.  Then I used the end of the pin tail comb to remove the braids one stitch at a time.  Yes... One. Stitch. At. A. Time.  As I said earlier, there is just no hurrying the process of braid removal!  After the braids in each section were removed, I added another Oyin product called Whipped Pudding (and also some of their Hair Dew on the last two days) and did some finger detangling.  We had a lot of shed hair, which is to be expected when you are removing a protective style that has been in for this long. (You can read more about shed hair versus hair breakage in this post from Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care.)

Because it is easier to show you how I do braid removal than to explain it, I'm including some video footage taken in the last section of braids.  It was my first time taking videos of hair care, so I was a little nervous.  My husband took the videos with my iPhone, and I'm not sure they turned out that great, but not too bad for our first effort.

And the new style?  Well, with Easter fast approaching I knew we just needed something simple that would be easy (and fast) to remove next week when it's time to reset Hope's style.  She asked for pigtails with twists, so I started in the front with two pigtails that each contain about 7 two stranded twists finished off with cute little flower barrettes.  In the back I did two low pigtails and styled each one into a large two stranded twist.  I secured those twists with a cotton pony-o and decorated with additional barrettes.  Finally, the middle section in the back...our last section for braid removal.  Just for fun we opted to leave that as a cute puff.  It sort of looks like Hope is wearing three different styles, but somehow it all works!

Blessings,
Nikki

a welcome (and an introduction): part two

Welcome back to Our Blessed Life: With Curls!

Just to keep things cute, I'll start with a few photos of my girl Hope...

And just so you don't think I'm just showing off my cute kid (well, maybe a little!), these photos have a purpose so stay with me here.

Now, when I look at my daughter when her hair is in this free state (free hair, loose, Afro, whatever you want to call it) I am struck by how beautiful and healthy her curls are.  What surprises me, though, is how often other parents experience negative comments from others when their children wear their hair free.  (Read here and here if you want to hear more about some parents' experiences.)  We have rarely experienced this, in fact quite the opposite!  Hope very often receives positive attention for her hair, and seems to get quite a nice reaction from people when her hair is free.  That's not to say we haven't received negative comments, but that doesn't seem to be the most common response for us.

Because of her schedule, which includes preschool and weekly swimming lessons in a chlorinated pool, we don't style her hair in this way too often.  We favor more protective styles much of the time, but I am mindful of planning for times for Hope to wear her hair free.  I plan for those times because I want Hope to celebrate and love her hair.  This mindset for me is really at the heart of why caring for Hope's hair well is so important to me.  It's not for compliments from others, it's not so that other people will notice or think her hair looks nice, it's also not because I'm expected to do it (as a white mom of a black child, I'm aware that people would notice if I wasn't doing a good job caring for her hair, but even that awareness is not why I care about  Hope's hair care).  The reason caring for Hope's hair well matters to me is because I want to positively contribute to her feelings about her hair and herself.  Ask any black woman you know if her hair matters or affects her self image (or if it doesn't now, ask her if it mattered to her growing up), and chances are she'll tell you that hair matters.  Is Hope's hair our entire life?  Absolutely not.  But I do realize that I'm helping shape her positive self image by the ways I speak about her hair.  And I know I'm doing right by my daughter not by how her hair looks, but by how she feels about it.  She loves it!

Recently, though, Hope and I were talking to a young friend of hers, a classmate who is also 4 years old.  She asked me if Hope wears an Afro (Hope's hair was styled at the time in mini box braids), so I answered that yes, she does.  I asked the girl if she would like to see a picture, and showed her one of the photos in this post.  I made a positive comment to the young girl about Hope's Afro, and I mentioned how much Hope likes her Afro and her curly hair.  This little girl, at 4 years old, said "I don't like my Afro.  I don't want curly hair."  She went on to say that she wanted to have straight hair so that her hair would be "strong and beautiful."  I found her comments so sad, and I was reminded yet again that our little girls need to be celebrated and built up.

And I guess that moment is the moment this blog was born.  Not because I believe any photos, tutorials, or writings I may share here will change every little girl's opinion of her hair, not because I believe myself to be an expert in hair care, but really as a gift to my daughter.  See, I know how she feels about her hair now, and I also know that the world is constantly at work to tell our curly, kinky-haired daughters that straight is "strong and beautiful."  In creating this blog space, I will be building a hair history of sorts for Hope, a place she and I can visit together to appreciate her beautiful hair.  And hopefully in the process, I can help to protect Hope's positive self-image and her feelings about her hair.

You are welcome to join us as we take this journey!

Blessings,

Nikki

a welcome (and an introduction): part one

Welcome to Our Blessed Life... With Curls!  I am so excited about this new blog home for all things related to the care of the special curls in our family.

But, first, let me introduce myself.  I'm Nikki, and as you can see, I do not have curls:

Nope.  No curls.  My hair is straight and currently cut in a pretty short style. 

So, how is this Our Blessed Life... With Curls?

Well, it all started with my family's blog home, which I called Notes From a Blessed Life.  When I describe my life as blessed, I don't mean it's all coming up roses or anything!  But I do count it all, whatever 'it' may be, as a blessing.  And no matter the trials, this is a blessed life.

Recently, I added another wrinkle to my little blog life.  That was a blog devoted to all the recipes I used with my family and I called it My Blessed Life... In the Kitchen.  Are you sensing a theme?  

That brings us here to Our Blessed Life... With Curls.  As we've already established, I do not have curls of my own.  But I do have a very special person in my life who does have curls.  Fabulous curls in fact, and she is my daughter.

Pretty cute, isn't she?  (I mean, if I do say so myself!)

So, yes, since it's pretty obvious, we are not necessarily your typical mother/daughter.  {Or are we?  But that's another topic for another day.  And I'm sure it's a topic I'll come back to.}

I am blessed to be Hope's mom through the beauty of adoption.  Hope was born in Ethiopia, and was brought home to our family in November of 2009 when she was 10 months old and had just a little bit of hair.

Today, Hope is an active, outgoing, sweet, and funny 4-year old girl who has, well, a lot more hair.  We make hair care a priority, but we do not make it the center of our lives.  The time we spend putting in a particular style is an investment because it may allow us several weeks, or even a couple of months, when simple maintenance is all that is required.  I don't think much of what I do with Hope's hair is particularly fancy, and if you are looking for a blog that will teach you how to design and put in intricate cornrows in cute and fancy patterns, you should probably keep looking.

But, if you are looking for a blog that celebrates the beauty of natural hair, then this is the place for you!  My plans for this space are to make it a space for me to document the hairstyles my daughter is wearing, with instructions and product recommendations where appropriate.  I may also talk at times about the particular issues that come up for us as a conspicuous family, especially those issues related to my daughter's hair.  I'm sure I will come up with a lot more uses for this blog over time as well.

In part two, I'll talk about why I'm starting this blog devoted to hair care now, and say a little more about why taking good care of Hope's hair is so important to me.  In the meantime, I've written a number of posts about Hope's hair at my family's blog, and you can link to any one of them by clicking here.

Blessings,
Nikki