African-American Hair Care Week #1

We have two new foster kiddos with us for a while, long story, and when I am finishing digesting it, I will post about it. I promise. :)

But in the mean time, M and I have been doing "teamwork" each week as we have hair day/wash day. Hair was a huge stress for her when she moved in, and I have been trying really hard to take care of it and help teach M that it is important to take care of her hair.

I feel like I am finally able to use all of the information I learned a few years ago, after taking an African-American hair and skin care class. Although the reason I took it was because my son, had over 9 inches of length in his hair before we were allowed to cut it. So I did get some practice doing his hair a few years ago. :) But it has been so fun to practice girl styles these last few weeks.

M has come so far in her ability to be calm while I do her hair. Here are some fun pictures and information that has helped with our experience. I am in no way a trained professional, just a adoptive mother trying to pass along helpful information.

Week #1

Our style for the week!  

This is how we started our hair day. The night before was our first real hair wash and I used what I had on hand for my son's African-American hair. It was a long bath with tangles that didn't want to leave. M had a very hard time and I was exhausted by the time it was over. During our bath I soaked her hair in coconut oil in attempt to add some moisture to it and help with the tangles. As I was able to separate sections I added braids to help control it a bit until we could do her hair the next day. This is how she went to bed. Over all it was a good first effort. Hair care was super stressful for her. 

The next day we set up our hair station at my counter, put on her favorite movie since moving to our house and  I even bribed her with a lollipop. :) It gave her something to hold and stay focused. I talked a lot about team work and how brave she was being and how beautiful her hair was looking. M has a habit of yelling and screaming and any did so with any tangle that came along. But slowly she was able to start telling me calmly that if it hurt or not. We went very slow so it was a decent experience for her. It took about 2 hours to get from start to finish but she did awesome. 

Before our day I was able to get a new shampoo and conditioner, a squirt bottle for water and hair lotion for her hair along with letting M pick out pretty clips and bows for her hair. So our hair station was set up and as you see in the picture above I put her new hair lotion in my hand and worked it into her hair as we unfolded the braids. Once her hair was wet with lotion I would work the pick through her curls and get the tangles out. 

All the braids are out and her hair is wet, I would spray with water to keep it wet as we styled.  I sectioned it off with clips as needed. 

Just another view of her hair conditioned with lotion and tangle free in clips. 

Look at these beautiful curls. Very similar to my sons hair years before, when his was long. 

Now for our new style. I sectioned the entire head to make sure they were even and straight.
This gave me an idea of how many sections I wanted to have. 

I added the pony tails and along with the braids.
As I pulled each section tight I smoothed it with hair lotion. 

All done! I plan to keep M's hair in protective hair styles as she gets used to her hair care and this will also keep the moisture in. I can refresh as needed.  But for the most part they lasted all week long. 

A little bit of a side view. M as happily singing to her favorite movie, Barbie, Princess and the Popstar. :)

We added some super cute clips for our finishing touches. 

My daughter Mia, asked to have her hair like M's hair. :) 

I think over all we had a super successful week one for our new hair routine! M loved the idea of not having to wash it but once a week. Which, as most of you know, the more water you add to it, the more it dries out and can cause breakage. We also got her a sleep cap but she doesn't wear it all of the time. I think a silk pillow case will be best for her. 

You can check out future hairstyle adventures with the label, African-American Hair Care, at the end of this post.