Fancy Cornbraids on a BLOWOUT! Protective Styles for Kids

Hey, curly mamas! Take a look at my newest hairstyle video that I did with Syriah.

It's kinda fancy, but simple at the same time. I don't blow dry her hair often. In fact, this is only the second time I've given her a blowout. But I did it for the sake of keeping this style in for a week as well as doing other styles afterwards. It did last me a week, thank goodness. I was proud. Also, it's way easier to cornbraid on semi-straight hair.

I didn't put too many words or descriptions in this video because it didn't really need it. Everything I did was self explanatory. If you guys have an questions, ask away! Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading and watching! 

                                              ~Curls of Innocence~

TFS Baby Hair Care: How To STRETCH Baby Curls With WHIPPED SHEA BUTTER

Hey, curly mamas! Today in this video, I am showing you how I stretch my baby's curls with whipped shea butter.

It's pretty simple to do this with Kyanah's hair, and very effective. I don't stretch her hair often, though. No point in doing so. Her hair stays in wash and gos most of the time. But occasionally, I do a style. I'm just glad that it's now long enough for a ponytail!

Subscribe to the channel for more baby hair tips! There is a playlist strictly for baby hair care here.

~Curls of Innocence~

Hair Growth Oil For Sale...?

If you haven't seen this in my videos and on Instagram, my Curls of Innocence growth oil will be available for sale on the website soon! It was supposed to be sooner, but I've been going through a lot of financial issues that put them on hold. But they will be available this summer still. A lot of people have been asking when I am going to create more products, like my old whipped shea butter. I'm working on it! I have five kids; it's going to take a minute for me to get it together, but I promise I will.

Stay tuned to the website and the channel for updates. :)

~ Curls of Innocence~

Bleached Hair Damage + SHEA MOISTURE Haul!

Hiya, guys! I made a quick video showing what happened to my hair after bleaching it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5l-0syfKwA

So, as you can see, my 3B pattern got more loose after using the dye, but I really don't mind it.  I knew what could possibly happen before it did.
But I wanted you guys to see what effects bleaching agents have on my hair.
My hair is also mega dry, and it breaks much easier now! The bleached areas are more fragile and weak, and I can't put too much stress on them. The LOC method, or even the LCO method (even using shea butter on top) does little to hold moisture in my hair now, which is no bueno lol! I have to add a little bit of protein to the moisture every once in a while, although because I am protein sensitive, it's often hard to govern how much of a balance is needed to keep my color from being damaged even more. I am still working to figure that out, but being natural is a journey... a long, exciting one! ;)

Ideas I may implement: I may start adding keratin products to my hair to protect the color... and also these Shea Moisture products that I bought the other day.

I went to Walgreens on a 50% off day. I didn't even know that was the case until I went in, and I bought these three Shea Moisture products. They are wonderful so far. I will have a video done about this soon, and also reviews. Oh, and I finally found that black lipstick that I'd been looking for for ages! Woo hoo! ;) #geekpower

More updates and blog posts coming soon.
In the meantime, check out the latest videos from my channel.
Peace out! https://www.youtube.com/user/curlsofinnocence/videos

~Epic Realist~

Once Upon a Curly Clan...

Heya, curly mamas! I just wanted to upload some pics of my kid's recent hairstyles. 

Riah

 

Jam 

Mari

Lani (6 months)

These styles were done with a leave in and a gel (except the baby) and lasted a whole week. When I take Mari's hair out after a week, the moisture is phenomenal when I protect her hair in styles like this. Then she can rock a twist out/braid out for the next week before I wash. I absolutely cannot wash every kid's hair every week, so I've pushed their hair washing days to biweekly instead of weekly (except the baby who's hair gets washed during baths).  It's just too much freakin work! lol

I've started selling my whipped shea butter again as well, so it's been super busy around here. I'm still homeschooling and cooking and all that other SAHM jazz. So hair is sometimes at the bottom of the list. But moisture is still a top priority for everyone, regardless!

 

 

So that's my quick update for now. Got babies to feed and housework to do, even though it's Saturday. Blah. Hope you enjoy the hair pics! If you check out my YouTube, I am doing a series on my DIY avocado and banana deep conditioner. ;) 

Peace out! 

~Epic Realist~

Vanity Isn't Everything + ANNOUNCEMENT!

Heya, curlies! Just wanted to show you some updated styles that I've done on my daughters.
Riah Chic's hair is doing well lately, still moist and growing. This hairstyle was done using my trusty Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and my own whipped shea butter. I'm getting so much better at corn braiding... been practicing random twists and curves and parts.I am curious to see how long Riah's hair it'll get before it stays at a certain length. She's always happy about her hair touching her butt. lol

I have to be careful not to let her get too vain about it, though. Kids will do that in a heartbeat and not know any better. When she was a bit younger, like last year when she had just turned four, she'd be in the store, sometimes yelling out, "My hair is so long!" "My hair is so pretty!" How embarrassing. So through homeschooling, I am giving her more to brag to people about besides her hair length. Ain't having no spoiled, overly vain kids lol! I am showing her that vanity isn't everything, and that it's not nice to show off (unless in a beauty pageant) or brag.

Little Mari's hair has been growing exponentially as well! She is 21 months old now and loves getting her hair done, unless she has some tangles, of course. But she barely cries when she does have them because I get them out gently. My girls have the exact same hair texture. My son did have the same texture, but through cutting it, it's gotten thicker, so now he has more of my mixed hair texture than my husbands', which means his hair isn't very fine anymore. I did this style on damp hair and used the products from above, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and my own whipped shea butter, like the style above.

Oh, and I have an announcement to make! I've already told Facebook, might as well do it here as well. ;) See pic below:

Yes, we are preggo with baby number FOUR! Don't ask what gender; don't know yet. Had some long, drawn out insurance issues, so I have yet to have an ultrasound. I'm currently 27 weeks preggo, and I'm hoping that it's a boy. So excited to finally find out soon! I'll know sometime in March for sure.

If it's another girl, then I'll have some serious hair battles to face... between my hair, Riah Chic's hair, Mari's hair, and the new baby's hair. And let's not forget Jam's little rat tail and hubby's home haircuts. Time for Riah to start doing her own hair LMAO! #joking #SheAintready #butneitheramI O_O

Peace out till later, folks!

~Epic Realist~

P.S.: If you like games, humor, and conspiracy theories, check out my oldest personal blog. Be enlightened! ;) http://epicrealist.blogspot.com/

Baby Bantu Knots!

Heya, guys! This is just a quick post showing Mari's little bantu knots that I did in her hair. I only did a few, but it looks cute and suits her well! She's 19 months old.
I have to cover her hair at night with a stocking cap or else it'll be messed up easily... her hair is soooo silky.
Products used: Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and whipped shea butter

 My little greedy butt... she's always eating but doesn't gain a pound!

Peace out till later, guys. I've got some online jobs/gigs to complete. ;) #SAHMhustle

~Epic Realist~

Oil Rinsing?

Hiya, guys! I wanted to talk about something I have yet to try on my natural hair... oil rinsing. I have seen others do it, though. I started thinking about it after seeing Fusion of Cultures on YouTube doing it in her latest wash day video. Then I remembered that I had never tried this!
The process of oil rinsing is usually done after the hair has been shampooed and conditioned. The purpose is to give the hair shine and more manageability. If you use cool/cold water to seal the oil in when rinsing it, the cuticles will close and the oil's properties will remain in your hair even after you've washed out the oil. 
 Apparently, it's a popular method for a lot of naturals. I use lots of oils in my hair anyway... I pre-poo with oils, I add oils to my scalp right after washing, and I add oils to my hair throughout the week, especially if I hadn't found the time to deep condition that week. But the reason I thought about trying an oil rinse is so that maybe I won't have to re-apply oils on my scalp after coming out of the shower; I can just go right to using a leave in with shea butter on top. I want to see if my hair will have a shine to it as well after sealing in the oils with cool water. 
So perhaps, on my next wash day, I'll bring my oil spray bottle in the shower with me and rinse the oils out after washing and conditioning. Can't hurt to try! I just have to make sure not to slip and bust my behind on a slippery, oily tub floor. LOL!
Have you guys tried this method? How long do you leave the oils soaking in your hair? Have you noticed any benefits? Tell me! Comment below or on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Curls-of-Innocence/256662627753918?ref=hl

Peace out till later, curlies! 
P.S.: I have been slacking on my videos lately... lots going on in life right now. I will get back on it soon! ;)

 

My babies and their new baby cousin, Aria! <3 

My current hair product stash!

 Me with a fresh twist-out (using Carol's Daughter Healthy Hair Butter)

                                                     ~Epic Realist~

RANDOM Hair Chat! (Fall 2013)

Heya, curlies! I have some random hair stuff to talk about. Brace yourselves for randomness! ;)

1. I have a new video up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPuetgbe5AA Well, I have another one that I posted yesterday, but this one is a quick vlog about my beauty supply run. My kids are in it! Woo hoo! I have 16 videos up now and 30 subscribers. Working on getting more, more, MORE! <3

2. My hair has suffered some breakage at the top of my head within the last two months, and I'm not sure how it has. I haven't worn any tight styles at all; I've been wearing braids, twists, braid outs, and twist outs. I think maybe the breakage might have come from those mini braids that I had... maybe having only gel in my hair for two weeks holding those braids together is what broke the top of my hair off, because that's the only place that I can see breakage. I don't know; it's so weird. >_<

3. I have a million and one different textures of hair! I say that because I don't know for sure how many I actually have. Here are about 2 or 3 examples of my hair fresh out of the shower. The back of my hair is really tight, like the kitchen area. I just find it interesting...

4. Little Riah's hair is still flourishing. She got taller this summer, so her hair isn't exactly to her waist anymore, but it's still healthy and growing. Recently, she had bantu knots with flat twists as a style combo and it looked amazing on her.

 

When the style got frizzy after about 5 days, I made a new style out of it. 

 

5. Mari's hair is rapidly growing and healthy. I've been doing little baby hairstyles on her, styles that I didn't know how to do when Riah was a baby. She's 15 months old now, and is such a great sport about getting her hair done. She actually sits still... as long as she has something to play with. There's a video on YouTube (which they won't let me embed here, ugh) where I did her hair and she barely moved.

 

 
 

6. My hair doesn't like a lot of protein! I think that I've been figured this out months ago when I did the hair strand porosity test, but I never took it seriously as far as like, deep conditioning. Surely my hair can withstand a weekly deep condition with mayo, right? Not! I have tried it three times already, and each time, my hair was extremely crunchy and dry, lacking serious moisture after air drying it. I hate the feeling that my hair has after using mayo in it. It feels okay right after washing it out, when my hair is still wet, but when it dries, no matter what I put in it afterwards, my hair feels like a bird's nest with Brillo on top. >_>
I'm seriously going to stick with deep conditioners that don't have protein in them, like my Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque. Might even use that for my next natural hair lightening treatment (see previous posts). Other than that, my hair is growing and feeling great. Official length check will come again next month. Stay tuned for that!

 

7. Jam still has his little rat tail! It's growing, and it's becoming less of a priority to keep it moisturized nowadays because I'm working on me and the girls' hair more, but I do spritz water on it every few days and some leave in moisturizer or my whipped shea butter mix, or both depending on dryness level. I wash it at least once a week, even though he keeps his fat head on the floor constantly. I am still doing his at home haircuts... Mama knows best! ;)
#savingmoney

So, that's my long, long random hair update! Hope you guys enjoyed. Check me out on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  Peace out! 

http://www.youtube.com/curlsofinnocence

~Epic Realist~