Chocolate Hair / Vanilla Care

Piggyback Braids (or Faux Cornrows) WITHOUT Elastics #NaturalHair #Video

2013-06-15T09:26:00.001-07:00

We've done piggyback back braids before, but with rubber bands in our Faux French Braids post. But as inevitably happens when using elastics combined with hair products, elastics end up breaking long before the hairstyle is ready to be removed. Using this technique (as outlined in our video tutorial below), you can achieve the look of piggyback braids without using elastics at all! In addition, piggyback braids are a great way to achieve the look of cornrows in some styles without actually having to know how to cornrow. Even better, piggyback braids are a great option for little boys, too!
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3 Easy Homemade Aloe Vera Gel Skincare Recipes

2013-06-12T07:25:00.002-07:00

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since posting how to harvest aloe vera gel straight from the plant, in addition to our homemade hair recipes along with the rest of our additional aloe series. I was meaning to do a recipes post for skincare last year, but I really wanted to take the time to test them out and make sure I only included our absolute favourites. These three recipes have not only proven effective for us, they are simple to make using easily found items that you likely already have on-hand!
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Kindergarten Graduation Treat Boxes #Crafts #Cricut

2013-06-11T07:15:00.001-07:00

I know the vast majority of the country is already out of school for the summer, but not us. Boo still has another three weeks of school! Nope, not complaining one bit. Because those are three fewer weeks that I have to listen to, "Mama, I'm so bored!" It also means that it's given us a wee bit more time to throw together these cute little Kindergarten graduation treat boxes. I've outlined how we did them below, but we could really use suggestions on what to put inside of them!
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Guests with Style: Carrie Fay's Cornrowed Puff Up-Do #NaturalHair #Hairstyle

2013-06-08T08:19:00.002-07:00

(Guest hairstyle post by Carrie Fay of Carrie Fay Photography)

I usually start hair day with one style in mind and we end the day with a completely different style. (I often wonder if I'm the only "hair mom" with this issue.) Our make-it-up-as-you-go mentality can be stressful, but it's honestly a lot of fun in the middle of hair day when the style takes a different turn than you were expecting.
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Getting My First Fix....Stitch Fix, That Is!

2013-06-06T08:02:00.001-07:00

First of all, let me start off by saying that this is NOT a sponsored post. I signed up for Stitch Fix all on my own and received nothing from the company (or anyone else) for sharing my experience. After having written about my experience running 600 miles so far this year (and how I've saved up $1200 to buy new clothes), it was about time that I actually put that money to good use. Seriously, when even your underwear is baggy, it's time to go shopping!
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Cornrows with Bantu Knot Headband #NaturalHair #Hairstyle

2013-06-01T09:19:00.001-07:00

This is such a fun protective hairstyle! You will need to know how to cornrow reasonably well, feel confident in your parting skills, and create Bantu knots out of two-strand twists to achieve this look, so it definitely falls in our "advanced" category. However, it's still going strong a week later, and we're planning on keeping it in for a few more weeks before restyling for Boo's kindergarten graduation. I have no doubt it last.
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Getting Fit, NOT "Losing Weight" or Using the Word "Fat"

2013-05-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

(Back when the treadmill was used exclusively for cutting yarn for yarn extensions!)

This year has been full of changes; changes that I'm looking forward to making the best of. With these adjustments have come much self-reflection and re-evaluation of personal goals. Nothing is as great a motivator as a little girl looking up to you as an example of what she wants to be. But when you look at yourself and see several things you hope you never see in her, it's time to do some personal housekeeping, so to speak.
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Half Afro Up-Do (or Afro Hairstyle for the Active Girl) #Hairstyle #NaturalHair

2013-05-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

If you would have told me when I styled my daughter's hair two weeks ago that this would be the hairstyle for which she would receive the most compliments I would have laughed. Seriously, it's so easy, I really didn't think was anything special. Yet everywhere we went she was showered with sweetness over how adorable her hairstyle was. Those that know her had to double takes because they were certain that I cut her hair. Nope, just a simple way to get the look of a haircut without having to make the commitment. And if you have an active kid who's always rolling around on the floor, this is a great hairstyle for protecting the hair around the head, while still enjoying the beauty of the free curls on top (and without all the lint, fuzz, and/or animal hairs)!
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Removing Glitter from a Protective Hairstyle #NaturalHair

2013-05-21T17:49:00.001-07:00

Glitter has often been referred to as "the herpes of crafts," an analogy with which I whole-heartedly agree. Especially when it gets into a protective hairstyle that we had planned on wearing for several weeks (or longer). In the photo above, you can see that a week after I set my daughter's super cute threaded mini Bantu knots, she came home from school with glitter everywhere: On the knots, on the scalp, on her face, her clothes, everything. And as sweet as apologetic as her teacher was about all the glitter, sometimes it's difficult for people to understand that we can't just go home and wash her hair. Having taken a few hours to remove this hairstyle when it finally came out, that's just more more hours than we have on a regular school night (and that's not including washing, detangling, and restyling). As an alternative, I manually removed the glitter from the hair and scalp, without washing, while still preserving the hairstyle for another few weeks.
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Removing Threaded Bantu Knots and Bantu Knot-Out #Video #NaturalHair

2013-05-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

After almost three weeks of wearing her awesome mini threaded Bantu knots, we finally had to take them out. Not because they weren't looking fabulous (they were!), but because we had our Mother's Day fauxhawks that we wanted to get photographed in time for our "Mama and Me" feature. So we said goodbye to the threaded knots, but not without documenting how we removed them.
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Letters to the Dead: Goodbye Rainbow

2013-05-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Funny, when Boo first pitched me the idea of this whole "Dead Letters" thing earlier this year, I never expected it to take off as much as it has. Yet, here we are in May and it looks like even Boo's kindergarten class has joined in! Each child had a chance to write a goodbye letter to Rainbow, the class's butterfly, who tragically passed after a very short life.
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Share the Hair "Mama and Me" Mother's Day Edition 2013 #MothersDay #NaturalHair

2013-05-11T11:14:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our third annual Mother's Day "Share the Hair" edition! Featured below are more than 20 moms and their children sharing similar hairstyles and/or accessories. Our "Mama and Me" feature is intended to celebrate our family relationships, especially as we bond over hair. Many thanks to all of the families who participated this year, and may the mothers, caregivers, and moms-in-waiting have a fabulous Mother's Day!
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Mother's Day Teacup Treats and Reflecting on School Moms

2013-05-10T06:52:00.001-07:00

One of the biggest fears I had when Boo started kindergarten this year actually had nothing to do with her. It had to do with me, and the fact that I'm an introvert. The whole idea of having to chat with other moms, whom I didn't know, didn't sit well with me. I'm not a fan of small talk. I prefer silence over making something up just to have something to say. Very often that is perceived by others as my being aloof and/or snobby. So with the beginning of the school, each day of drop-off and pick-up I faced the possibility that my "not-being-chatty" was likely going to offend someone.
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Summer Natural Hair and Skin Care for Children

2013-05-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

I know there are still some areas that are seeing snow, but we hit temperatures in the 90s this last week and are moving well into our extended summer months here in Southern California. We've also been getting a lot of questions on our Facebook page regarding haircare for swimming, what to do about sand, and which sunscreens are best, so now is as good a time as any to round up our summer-related skincare and haircare posts that answer these questions, and more!
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Boo's Views: On "Princess Truly and the Hungry Bunny Problem" #BookReview #Video

2013-05-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to share with our readers another great book that promotes a positive self-image when it comes to natural hair. Although we love all of the books on our natural hair reading list, some are rather old and include artwork that is a bit outdated. However, Princess Truly and the Hungry Bunny Problem is a breath of fresh air as it's both modern in its theme as well as beautifuly illustrated. Boo loved it so much that she volunteered to do a video review just for you!
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Threaded Mini Bantu Knots: Completed Hairstyle Pics & Instructions

2013-04-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

We finished these threaded mini Bantu knots the day after our video how-to post and we're just thrilled with them! They were really easy to do, and the parting was super simple, having used the the organic parts that don't require precise boxes. Below we show how we split this style up into two days, and all of the final style photos.
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Threaded Mini Bantu Knots How-To Video #NaturalHair

2013-04-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

We're in the middle of doing this awesome protective hairstyle for Boo, which we're hoping will last a few weeks, especially since the weather has turned very warm these last couple of days. These mini Bantu knots are just adorable and are so easy to do! Our video outlines the more traditional method of achieving Bantu knots using thread to both form and secure the coils.
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Natural Sunscreens: SPFs of Oils and Butters for Hair and Part Lines

2013-04-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

I receive many questions about what can be done to prevent sunburns on the scalp. Although I've outlined our tips on this subject before (in addition to addressing physical versus chemical sunscreens for the skin), I'd like to highlight that there are natural sunscreens in many of the hair and skin products that we already use. The key is understanding what the SPF values, working in conjunction with other options (as necessary) to ensure maximum safety. I'm still a fan of using a physical sunscreen on my daughter's skin, but when it comes to her head I'm a little more lenient with her part lines and hair (yes, hair can get sun damaged, too), knowing that she's got a few of the items listed below already on her head.
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Submit Your Pics: Mother's Day 2013 "Mama and Me" Share the Hair Edition

2013-04-13T10:00:00.001-07:00

This will be our third annual Share the Hair: "Mama and Me" Edition on our blog and I am so looking forward to seeing what people come up with this year! If you are unfamiliar with this fun family tradition, feel free to browse through the awesome photos that were submitted for our Mama and Me 2011 and Mama and Me 2012 editions.

We've got a month between this post and Mother's Day (which is Sunday, 12 May 2013), so it's time to start thinking about what hairstyle we can do to share with our child(ren). Boo and I already have a hairstyle picked out: We'll be "rockin'" something super fierce this year!
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Letters to the Dead and the Dead Letter Box

2013-04-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

Back in February I posted on Facebook that Boo (at the ripe old age of 5 years old) asked me for the strangest craft ever. As she put it, "Mama, I want to make a 'dead letters box.' That way I can write letters to people who died--Like President Lincoln, and Martin King Jr., so I can tell them 'thank you'--and then God will know that the letters in that box are for dead people and He will take them from the box and deliver them to all the people in Heaven. Can you help me make a 'dead letter box?'"
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"Kids In The House" Finally Launches: See Our Videos and So Much More!

2013-04-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been an entire year since I filmed my segments for a special project that was originally scheduled to launch in June of last year. Well, it's finally happened! The site is live and I'm happy to say it's both functional and really well-designed!
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Waves of Scalloped Cornrows (Easter Hairstyle 2013)

2013-03-30T08:24:00.002-07:00

After our St. Patrick's Day hairstyle we've moved easily into this fun yet protective hairstyle for Easter. (Note: If you're looking for hairstyle inspiration, we have several "fancy" hairstyles in our style gallery for inspiration.) We plan on wearing this one for a while, so the goal was both style and longevity. Although it looks fussy and time-consuming we took our time setting it, styling over several days. Totally worth it, especially because the cornrows that were completed at the beginning of the week looked just as good as those completed toward the end.
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Hello Kitty and Humpty Dumpty Easter Eggs

2013-03-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

Boo has decided this year that colouring Easter eggs in the traditional fashion of using dyes was both stupid and made a "big mess." She thought it was stupid because the eggs never really looked like anything but coloured blobs. So when I asked her about colouring eggs this year, she rolled her eyes and told me that I could do it by myself, if I really wanted to. Of course, the moment that I showed her the first Hello Kitty egg, she was suddenly very interested in decorating them!

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MossyRockDesigns G!veaway W!inners Announced

2013-03-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing time running this giveaway and are so excited to announce the five winners who are going to be receiving some beautiful items from MossyRockDesigns. The randomly selected winners are listed below:
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Our Commissioned Painting by MossyRockDesigns and G!veaway

2013-03-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

We commissioned this lovely watercolour painting from MossyRockDesigns by Katie Bradley and couldn't be more pleased with the results. The detail of Boo's face is highlighted in the photo above, while the full painting is shown below:
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