FAN FEATURE: Jaena

Tell us a little about yourself and your daughter:
I am 24 and a single mother to my 2 year old biracial daughter. We have been on our “hair journey” for about a year now and while I have  learned a lot, I still have a lot to learn!

What is your daughters current hair routine like?
Right now I co-wash her hair once a week (or more depending on how dirty or sweaty she gets) with Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter conditioner. I use coconut oil on her hair religiously as I feel it’s the only oil that really helps her hair.

What are your favorite products to use?
My favorites are the Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter conditioner, extra virgin organic coconut oil, EcoStyler for hold on ponytails or braids, and Queen Helene Royal Curl Curl Shaping Crème for when she wears her hair down. It keeps her curls intact and bouncy without the frizz! I love it.

Have you ever used chemicals or heat in your daughters hair?
No, and I don’t plan to. Now when she gets older and she decides that she might want to, that’s her choice (and by older I mean 18 years old and out of my house lol). But im hoping to instill a love in her for her natural hair that will keep her from feeling that using chemicals or heat is the only way to feel love for her hair.

How did you learn to care for your daughters hair?
I was literally CLUELESS on how to care for my daughters hair until I started following Beads, Braids, & Beyond’s blog, and by asking YOU questions. Lol. I asked A LOT of questions and talked to a lot of other moms that were also learning or already knew how to care for their biracial child(ren)’s hair.

Was there anything you really struggled with learning about caring for or styling your daughters hair? Anything your still trying to or looking forward to mastering?
I am still trying to find one amazing product that will help my daughters hair retain moisture! I feel that the products I love are good enough for now, but I am always on the lookout for something better.

What was the worst advice you have been given about hair care?
That it was ok to use baby oil or baby lotion in her hair! Haha.

Any tips for our readers?
Don’t be a product junkie! I learned the hard way that trying too many “grown up” products is bad for the hair because of the ingredients in them. And another one I learned was don’t pull the hair too tight. Just keep it simple.

SHOW US SOME PICS!

Mommy is doing an awesome job with Jaena's hair! Thanks for sharing with us!

Mini Braid Mohawk

OK, this is my favorite style I have done with Keyanna’s mini braids so far! Key’s little cousin came over for a visit rockin’ his new Mohawk so of course she had to have one too. 

This style is super easy, I just parted her hair in half and did about 5 mini braid cornrows going towards the top of  her head on each side. I threw on some curlformers for a couple of hours and when they came off she was good to go. 

Unfortunately, when we took our trip to the beach she got so much sand in her hair it has been impossible to get out. so we'll be taking down the mini braids tonight.

FAN FEATURE: Damiya & Lynessa

Tell us a little about yourself and your daughter: 
I’m a full time nursing student and and also work to support my beautiful daughters. I taught myself how to do hair because we live in a small town where there are no “ethnic” hair shops and I wanted to be able to take care of my daughters’ hair by myself without having to rely on other people. I would love to be able to do more with their hair more often but can only work it into our schedules every few weeks.

Lynessa (3), Mommy Heather, & Damiya (5)

What is your daughters current hair routine like?
We use Palmers Olive Oil shampoo and conditioner. For styling, we use either regular gel or the mix introduced by MiMi Braids of Gorilla Snot and Lets Jam. We just ordered the Bee Mine Curly Butter and are anxious to try it. I don’t band either head of hair and usually don’t remember to put on a hair wrap at night.

What are your favorite products to use? 
I actually used a mixture posted by MiMi Braids on the last hair style and it worked great on the cornrows.

Have you ever used chemicals or heat in your daughters hair?
NO CHEMICALS! I have straightened it with my CHI iron once but didn’t get the results I wanted so haven’t ever tried again.

How did you learn to care for your daughters hair?
Pretty much trial and error. I have a whole cabinet of hair care products that I’ve tried and either liked or never used again, unfortunately.

Was there anything you really struggled with learning about caring for or styling your daughters hair? Anything your still trying to or looking forward to mastering?
I’m a SUPER neat freak and don’t claim to be creative; therefore, it tends to be hard for me to come up with new styles because I like things to be very asymmetrical.

What was the worst advice you have been given about hair care?
Honestly, no one has really ever given me any advice. As I said, I taught myself pretty much everything I know.

Any tips for our readers?
Practice makes perfect! Also, don’t be afraid to do a little research and ask people questions about their or their children’s hair if curious.

SHOW US SOME PICS! 

Thanks for sharing with us Heather! I definitely see a few styles I plan on trying ;)

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CORNROWED MINI BRAIDS INTO CURLY SIDE PONY

We have been switching up keys mini braid styles like crazy this past week, there is just so much you can do with them! This style was actually inspired by a style one of our friends on our Facebook page had done on her little girl. (Thanks Taylor!)  

This style is pretty basic, using the first few rows of her mini braids I made 1 small cornrow going across her head (from the left side to the right) and ended it just above her right ear. I started back on the left side of her head making a larger cornrow using all of her remaining braids. When i got to where i had ended the first corn row I banded them off into a ponytail. 

For this style I went with using the long and wide curlformers to give it a little tighter curl, I also applied Kinky-Curly Curling Custard before putting the curlformers in and it definitely gave the curls a better hold.

CURLED MINI BRAIDS INTO PIGTAILS

We won the Curlformers giveaway a few weeks ago over at Mainly Braids! We chose the extra long and wide styling kit so when they arrived in the mail I decided to try them out on Keys mini braids. I loved the result! 

I took the first few rows of the mini braids and cornrowed them back into the pigtails. 

MINI BRAIDS

Last week I decided to do mini braids on Keyanna, I LOVE THEM! They do take a while to do, but last a while if they are taken care of and are very versatile so you can switch up the style as often as you like (I’ll be posting up some of the styles we did over the next few days). I did Keys mini braids over the course of 2 days, Keyannas hair is not super thick so it may take you longer if your childs hair is thicker/longer. 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Time: 4.5 hrs 

Products Used: BeeMine Luscious Moisturizer, BeeMine Bee Hold Curly Butter 

For this style I simply started at the nape of her neck parting small squares, adding BeeMine Bee Hold Curly Butter and braiding each 1,  I went from left to right and moved up her head as I finished each row. I continued this until her whole head was braided. 

HALF BACK CORNROWS INTO BRAIDED PIGTAILS

A few weeks ago we took a trip to the zoo, it was especially hot that day so I wanted her hair up off of her neck and back to help keep her cool. I decided to use the style she already had in (Alicia Keys Inspired) add a few more cornrows, attempt to do a spiral cornrow, and finish it off with some braided pigtails. 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Time: 1 hr. 

Products used: BeeMine Luscious Moisturizer, BeeMine Bee Hold Curly Butter 

1. I started by parting her hair ear to ear, then making a diagonal part to do the first cornrow. 
2. I rotated doing a straight back cornrow and a crisscross cornrow. Using the leftover hair at the top of her head, I did a triangle shaped spiral cornrow. 
3. I then parted her loose hair in the back straight down the middle and gathered it into 2 pigtails, I did about 15-20 hanging braids on each pigtail, added beads and barrettes, and I was done!