Love, Peace, and Hair Grease!
Has anyone ever seen Good Hair by Chris Rock? If not please do because it is definitely changes your mind on hair and I know with the twins having curly hair I will never let them straighten their hair not until they are at least 18!!! So in our house we have A LOT OF HAIR (besides one bald head). But bath night over here is a marathon and takes foreverrrrrrrr to bathe four kids and then do hair for all of them (even Yasi has a little bit of hair). I have had every hair color and style you can think of: pink hair, blond hair, bob cut, pixie cut, black hair, red hair, curly, wavy, straight, and now purple!
I think one of the biggest duties to ME is taking care of your children’s hair especially if it is different then your hair texture. My Zo has thin long wavy hair and it turns the most beautiful color in the summer and it tangles super easy. Charleigh and Quinn were born at 36 weeks with more hair then Zoey and Yasi which is so crazy to me. Their hair was obviously the most I had to learn about. It started off sort of wavy, it has always been really soft, but in the beginning it was almost straight with a wave/curl at the end. Now they have super tight BEAUTIFUL curls. So one of the best resources for me to learn about curls was Pinterest, that is where I have gotten a lot of style ideas and just product ideas in general. In the beginning I knew nothing about how to do their hair or what would work best and things I was using on Zo wasn’t working for them. So by NO MEANS am I an expert!!!! But I have had lots of trial and error practice and what works for my kids and their hair style/texture might not work for yours. Same with Yasi he might need a whole different kind of set of products. So I am gonna tell you the products that I use and the steps I take to do all the kids hair. And the list goes in the order from shower all the way to styling and what I use and how I use it! And then it is broken up into how I might use the product for the twins versus Zo or how I might use the product for only the twins.
One of the first things to always look for on the label is that the product is made with water and sulfate free. Curls NEED HYDRATION!!!!! It is like the number one thing you can do for your curls.
Quinn/Charleigh: So the Garnier Fructis curl nourish shampoo in the yellow bottle is the one I use. But to be honest this isn’t my like go to favorite shampoo. I simply tried it and liked it but my main reason is I really don’t shampoo the girls hair. For curls it is really not necessary, I maybe shampoo their hair once a month maybe twice. Curls don’t need to be “cleaned” they need the oil and hydration so I will do it once a month just to get some dirt off but really compared to my hair I need it or my hair is greasy.
Zoey: She needs shampoo and every time she has a shower I use it on her! But again you do not need to wash hair every day!!! I probably wash her hair every 3 to 4 days.
LOVEEEE the smell of this conditioner! I also really like it because its heavy but not too greasy! Again sulfate free, and it is important that not all “mixed” hair products or “African American” hair products actual have ingredients that are good for curly hair because they are trying to sell to the masses. (One brand that disappointed me was Mixed Chicks I assumed that it was for my girls hair and some of the first ingredients had sulfate in them.) The twins, Zo and Yasi all use this! The only thing different I do for the twins is put this all over their hair, Zoey I just do the ends.
Ok this was just a random find at Trader Joe’s and I love it! I feel like it brings my hair back to life. For this I do all over the twins hair, the top all the way to the ends. Especially when we were doing swim lessons it was super hydrating. Leave it in their hair as I am washing them up for maybe 3 to 5 minutes and then wash it off. I do not have a link for it but definitely check your local Trader Joes!
Zoey: I use this on her hair when it is super tangled, and when she is doing swim lessons. I only use it on the ends of her hair.
This is a recent discovery from Tubby Todd and one it smells like a lemon marshmallow bar but it has worked MIRACLES on Zoey’s hair. Zoey’s hair gets super tangled but sometimes it is harder than the twins because you need a small comb to get through everything. With this detangler I really feel like I can spray and the brush or comb goes instantly through. So detangler is the very first thing I put on when I sit down to do any of the girls hair (even Yasi). The next best one that I use is good old Suave detangler, it smells good and actually feels like it moistens the hair without having to spray a whole bunch and works great on Zoey’s hair. (One I use to use is Just For Me and I used it all the time then 2 different time I believe they changed the ingredients because it almost smelled like hairspray and I felt like it was drying out Zoey’s hair out so I had to switch).
Quinn/Charleigh: After the detangler I then comb out the twins hair with a wide tooth comb, I use this from Conair any wide tooth comb will do. It is the best for curls but to me it doesn’t get out all the little knots because duh it is wide. I only use this on the twins hair. For the next product the Wet Brush I will tell you how I fix my problem with getting the little knots.
So my hairstylist is the one who told me you just can’t get any wet brush you need to actually buy a Wet Brush! This is something I even use on my hair. The one I linked is for the mini and the big one. I own both because I like to travel with the mini one to use for me and the kids.
Quinn/Charleigh: After I have combed through their hair (which is rarely easy unless it has been in braids for a few days) I use a Wet Brush to go through the ends first and then all through out their hair, this helps get through all the little knots the wide tooth comb misses. The reason I don’t start with this is because it would just get stuck soon as I put it in and would hurt like hell.
Zoey: I use the Wet brush on all of her hair, I always start at the ends first and then work my way up. Zo’s hair is thinner compared to the twins, so like mine the wet brush can slide through a little bit more easier compared to the twins thick curls.
(Even throughout the combing process I still am spraying detangler to help the comb or brush slide through, it is easier to slide through when the hair is wet so I keep it hydrated with detangler the whole time I am combing hair)
Quinn/Charleigh: The first product after all the combing is using the Garnier Fructis sleek and shine anti-frizz serum and I actually mix it with OGX coconut milk, I usually do about 3 pumps of both of these into my hands rub it together and do it from the ends to the roots. For the twins hair their is no such thing as too much!!! So you might be like holy shit how much stuff does she put in their hair, A LOT but you know what it works!
Zoey: For her hair after combing through it I only use the the Sleek and Shine serum or the OGX oil never both, and I do 2 pumps at the most. Then the same thing rub it in my hands and do ends to roots. If I did any more for her then it would make her hair so greasy.
Quinn/Charleigh: Compared to the Just For Me detangler I use to use this Hair Milk has stayed the same and I still love it. For this I probably use a penny size amount maybe even a little more and I mix it with step number 9 coming up!
Zoey: For her I use probably a dime size amount maybe even less. Again she is the opposite of her sisters that if I do too much it will just make her hair look and feel greasy. And this concludes the products I put in Zoey’s hair!
This is probably one of my favorite products use wise and smell! I can’t remember if this was a product I read about on Pinterest and tried or it was just something I randomly tried. It is Camille Rose Curl Love Hair Milk it smells soooooo good! So I mix this with the Just for Me hair milk, probably a quarter size amount rub them together in my hands and rub all over their hair. (Again this is just for the twins hair).
The very last product I do is coconut oil in like raw form, like this one from Palmer’s. This I use a quarter amount probably more. You have to like scoop it out and then rub it into your hands and it will melt in your hands. Coconut oil like this it like seals in everything you put on to the hair already, after all the hydration this is holding it all in. And it just gives their curls such a beautiful shine!
These combs from Conair are what I use to part their hair do style it. I have NO TRICKS for parting hair, have I gotten better compared to when I use to do Zoey’s hair has a toddler yessss but have I found a better or easier way to do it NO. But having a comb like this I believe really really helps.
And these are the hair ties I use! So Walmart use to have bands that worked amazing then they changed how they made them and broke all the time. For awhile I seriously could not find a hair rubber band that wouldn’t break!! Zo would come home with her hair half out because the bands broke. I use to have to double wrap hair with hair bands with the hopes only one would break. And I really cannot use regular hair ties because getting them out is a pain in the butt. Then I finally found these and they work great!!!
These are something I have talked about before!!! They are absolutely amazing and break hair ties which saves you from using scissors or like I do pull them and end up snapping my fingers! They are Lolly Pony Picks and they are worth every penny.
So styling is something that I LOVE to do with the girls hair and one of the greatest ways to find ideas for me is Pinterest. I have always known how to do a simply braid but I self taught myself how to do french braids and cornrows, and that again was trial and error. I use to be able to do it on myself and now I can do it better on the girls then I can myself! That was all from watching videos and just reading and looking at the pictures for examples. Definitely always looking to improve and to be able to do more things one day. To me again just my opinion as a parent I had an obligation to either learn to do and take care of the girls hair myself or be willing to spend the money to do their hair. And the more intricate things I would be into looking into paying someone to do eventually. For the girls I can probably do their hair on a Sunday and it will last until Thursday maybe Friday with a little bit of touch-ups. And touch-ups just include using the lolly picks, some detangler spray, brush, hair bands, and sometimes coconut oil for the twins. Braids always last the longest! and are also always easy to comb through the next bath. But I LOVE having their natural curls out (Zo hates her hair out at all). My goal in general is to one know their hair is beautiful and for them to love it but do that my treating their hair with love, respect, and pride so when they get older they do the same thing! Leave your favorite hairstyles or products that you have found work best!
By the time you have read all this that is how long it takes me to do everyone’s hair! :)
