Kid's Length Checks and Routines (Oct. 2012)

I did this after the hair show, but I have been way too busy lately to make a post about it. As I like to do, the pictures speak for themselves. I am way proud that I have nursed Syriah's hair to full health since last year, and Jamian's is following right behind. He's okay, anyway, because he's a boy. But Syriah's hair is awesome right now.

 No breakage, no split ends, no falling out, no knots, and no dandruff for miles. Oh, and it sure is growing! =)

Syriah's Current Hair Care Routine:
~Hair Type: 3A-3B
~Pre-poo: Coconut oil saturation all through head for about an hour before washing
~Wash once every week with Shea Moisture Curl and Shine shampoo (because she likes to keep her precious little head on the floor, practicing gymnastics -___-)...
~Detangle afterwards with water and coconut oil, part into sections with shower comb, twist/braid the sections with my whipped shea butter (which has EVOO, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, lavender oil, and sometimes jojoba oil in it)...
~Daily Care: If we are in the house, I dampen her hair and apply the whipped shea mixture and/or coconut oil and re-twist/re-braid. Sometimes, if her hair isn't dry and frizzy, I'll just leave it alone the whole day. Less manipulation is always best.
~Outdoor Care: If we are going out, I use one of the many curl creams that I have now because of the hair show and style, trying to stick to protective styling most of the time. This can be a challenge sometimes because I have figured out how she can wear her hair out and her curls can look fresh all day, but I know her ends need to stay protected. Bad Mommy.
~Nightly Care: I dampen her hair at night (if I remember and I'm not too tired) and apply coconut oil and whipped shea butter to seal the ends. Then I put a simple stocking cap on her head. It doesn't come off in her sleep... for the most part. Her hair feels like butter the next morning, and not a tangle in sight.
~Deep Conditioning: This step is rare because her hair is so used to moisture that she hardly ever needs a deep condition. But occasionally, I do it anyway. I just use whatever deep conditioner I have lying around, which at the moment is a Tresemme Moisture Rich conditioner. It's not the best in the world, especially because it is kind of laced with chemicals like most conditioners, but it gives her hair more moisture and volume.
Doesn't do jack to my hair, considering that may hair is already way too thick on it's own. I don't need any more volume. O_O
Frankly, she doesn't need any more volume, either. She's got her daddy's silkiness and curl pattern and she got her thickness from me, even though her hair still isn't as thick as mine. Go figure.
So that's my daughter's routine for now. Sometimes, it seems like a lot, but because I am a SAHM, I can afford to spend extra time on her hair, whereas other mothers cannot. For Jamian, it's pretty much the same routine, except I don't put a stocking cap on his head because he'd probably just rip it off. I also don't have to section his hair. All he has are his little curls on the top of his head and that little rat tail, so it's pretty easy to maintain. He still hates getting his hair combed or brushed no matter what, but oh well. It's a part of life.
I am very strict about what goes onto my children's hair and skin, so I have been trying to use all natural products all throughout the border. I still use coconut oil and my whipped shea butter on Symari's delicate skin. All five of us use the same soap, a black soap from Ghana called Dudu Osun. It's so mild; it can be used on a newborn!
Of course, it's always more pricey to make adjustments to go the healthy way, but it is way more beneficial in the long run.
Well, I gotsta' go now and do a little cleaning. Can't let the house be a pigsty because I am only paying attention to everyone's hair LOL! I shall return... soon. =)
Until next time,
Peace out, curly mamas! Stay curly!

~Epic Realist~

Shea Butter and What Nots

New Facebook Timeline cover! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918

Sigh... so my daughter has not made her grand entrance yet. I'm almost 40 weeks now for the first time ever. It's completely new to me because I've never gone past 38 weeks. It's been absolutely miserable because I want to have a VBAC and not another C-section, and I don't want to be artificially induced, either. Oh well. Just have to keep waiting. >_<
Anyway, I thought I might as well share a few hair things. The newest shea butter that I created about three weeks ago was a bigger success than the last ones I've whipped up, and I'm assuming that's because I used more oils. Also, this time, I used my hand to whip the stuff and didn't even bother with the blender, so I avoided another mess. It was much easier this time, because I was trying to figure out how to make the butter stay softer after it sits for a while. I mean, it's always going to harden up, but it always hardens to where it isn't easy to get out of the jar. This time, I think I actually figured out how to make it stay softer. =)

I loved the consistency of it after it was done. Super silky. As you can see in the pic above, I  added EVOO, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil (new ingredient), and my classic lavender oil for smell. Because I used coconut oil, the butter smells like both coconut and lavender, which is even more awesome. I was very proud of my mixture this time around.
We've been using it on our skin and hair and it's super awesome! Syriah's hair stays moisturized, not greasy, as long as I don't overload it.
Tip of the Day: Don't focus so much on curls! A lot of mothers are worried about finding their daughter's curl patterns and keeping it curly by all means necessary, even if it means sacrificing moisture. But moisture is the key to retaining length, that plus protective styling, little to no combing, all natural products, and covering the hair at night. Stop worrying so much about keeping your child's hair out and wild just to show off the curl pattern. What's best for a little girl is to keep her ends sealed with oil and protected so that the ends won't get shabby and broken. I had to learn that myself because last year, Syriah's hair health was horrible compared to now... massive split and broken ends, dry ends, dry scalp. Good thing she's not tenderheaded and never cries when I comb her hair, no matter how nappy it may have gotten. Once you find her curl pattern, study it and work with it, but it's not good to keep her hair out and free all the time just to show the curl pattern. You're only going to cause yourself more trouble in the long run. When it's time to de-tangle her hair, you'll have her running for the hills. LOL!
So, there's my little update. I'm just waiting for this baby to come so she can have the best all natural start as far as everything. She's going to be 'naturally spoiled'! We've got this stuff, natural shampoos, natural toothpastes, cloth diapers, cloth wipes, and also a wipes warmer that I've always wanted for my other two children. Hopefully she'll arrive before our anniversary in two days... or at least on it. Wouldn't that be a nice anniversary present? <3
Updates will come when I have something new to share. Stay motivated, curly mamas!

New Hairstyle Update and...Follower Glitch? O_o

Hey, everyone. Does anyone else have a blog that you direct other people too and for some reason, they cannot follow you? The follow button that's supposed to be at the top of he blog page is missing? I've actually seen that on other people's blogs, and I'm trying to figure out why that happens. I've been missing out on followers because they end up telling me that they cannot find the follow button at the top of the blog page. This is not good news because I have a lot of page views on this blog already but the people who really want to follow me cannot.
I thought it was a browser problem, so sometimes I tell people to try another browser, but apparently, that doesn't work, either. I use Google Chrome and whenever I'm not signed in, I see my follow bar at the top just fine. I'm not understanding why others can't see it, no matter what browser they're using. I MUST figure this out! O___O Who knows how many followers I've been missing out on? Either that or I will have to find another method of placing a follow button on my blog.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, please let me know and if you have a solution. Will be greatly appreciated!

Now for some hair talk lol! Last week, I did finger curls in Sy's hair. I used to do these a lot when she was a  little baby, because it was quick, cute, and easy. Her hair was super thin back then. Since then, she's gained some thickness. Not too thick, and not too thin, either. The old finger curls I did back then never lasted more than a day because I wasn't using the right products, and I didn't exactly cover her hair, either. I didn't have anything to cover her tiny head. For these, I washed her hair with the Shea Moisture Coconut shampoo and detangled immediately afterwards with a wide toothed comb and EVOO.
Then I parted her hair and applied my shea butter concoction (unrefined shea butter, EVOO, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, lavender oil) to each 'twist' and gently curled with my finger. I did it as close to Sy's scalp as possible because finger curls tend to unravel easily with her hair type, and I found that as I finished them, they still began to come out in the middle. Rawr. Oh well. I tried again a little tighter and left it alone.
I was surprised that they lasted three days, with a quick touch up in between because her hair cap had actually come off her head at night and the curls were a matted mess in the morning. We happened to have to go somewhere that day, too, so messy hair was not going to fly at all. So I fixed it up quickly. The fourth day, her hair was through. The finger curls were way too matted from her playing around and being nothing more than an active three year old, so I had to take them out completely.
I was happy that for the first time, finger curls had lasted longer than a day. Shea butter has awesome hold. I'd rather use that than gel any day, even though certain hairstyles just call for gel. But I barely use gel at all in my daughter's hair. No need for it, and we don't even go anywhere important to where she has to look that 'spiffy'. These days, our 'out' days consist of my prenatal visits, an updated doctor's visit for one of the kids, the grocery store, or a trip to Granny's house to hang out. I'm experimenting on different styles right now, new protective styles, because when this baby comes, I won't have much time to put lots of emphasis on Syriah's hair until her baby sister is a bit older and has somewhat of a schedule going. I'm aware of this, and don't want to be an overly burdened mommy, as hair is of the least importance when there's a new baby around. lol
So, I'm practicing more twisting/braiding styles that last for some time right now, so when I go into labor, I don't have to worry about omg, I haven't fixed her hair in three days and it's gonna look worse when I get out of the hospital and have to tackle it...I won't have time for that in a few weeks! I will have more pics up soon, of another 'box twist' style I did on her that she's still rocking now. Until then, peace out, curly mamas! <3
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More Shea Butter... and New Oils!

My home made supply of shea butter is finally running really low. It actually lasted over a month and a half; that's with me using it on our hair and skin! Great price for the amount I got at this website. http://bulkapothecary.com/
So it's time to get some more. I ordered another pound yesterday, along with jojoba oil and grape seed oil. This time, I'm going to try a new concoction and see how it works. I'm getting more and more excited to be going deeper and deeper into what really belongs in our bodies. It's so intriguing! All this time, people have been putting so much chemicals into their hair and not even realizing what the chemicals are doing. But it's time out for my family and I suffering the same fate. I'm changing hair products, soaps, lotions, etc. I've even purchased PerioBrite and PerioWash, an all natural, fluoride-free toothpaste and an alcohol and chemical-free mouthwash to match. Hubby and I love it already.
Making the transition is expensive and can be tedious, but that's where the research comes in. I'm glad that I have time to read up on what's good and what's bad, what's the best deal for my money and all that. I've realized that going natural as far as hair isn't all that expensive if you know how to use what you get sparingly. Getting that shea butter and those oils only cost me thirty-three bucks... for another month and a half/two months! That's much more worth it than buying some cheap moisturizer at Walmart like I used to do, just because it's the cheapest thing up there. Those things had so many chemicals in them that I was getting more and more pissed off every time I realized that we were almost out of hair cream and I had to settle for the cheap stuff. But now, things are different and we're able to get the better, all natural stuff.
In approximately two days, I will get an ultrasound and finally know what gender our new baby is. I'm hoping for another girl, but if it's a boy, then so be it. I already have the best of both worlds. This child will be so lucky because now that I know a whole lot more about natural products, that's all that's going to be on their body. This child won't have chemicals of any kind touch their little heads, and certain things I used to do with Syriah's hair won't happen to this child. I know a lot more about natural hair care now and the do's and don't's. So, yeah, I'm very excited, about the ultrasound and also seeing UPS arriving with my new package of hair goodies. =)

Here's two random pics of my latest Shea Moisture twist out. Love it! Gotta run now. Peace out, curly mamas! <3 Add meh on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918