Mini Box Braids

Kandy 6 comments

Mini Box Braids

We are back, with a new style! ..Mini Braids!!

If you would of asked me years ago, "Kandy, would you ever put Lady N's hair in very small braids?" I would've said "NO WAY!" (aint nobody got time fo that) lol. 

I know how these styles are so time consuming, from putting them in, to the take down. BUT after our friend Four Natural Girls showcased our first set of box braids (which were alot bigger.) She kind of made me want to give box braids another try. But this time I wanted to make them smaller, in hopes of it lasting longer. The good news is, it has lasted almost 3 weeks, and still looks pretty good, with minimum frizz. (woohoo)

For this style, I prepared her hair a day earlier. I washed, deep conditioned, and then banded her hair for a day to stretch it a bit before styling. 

I started her hair around 1:00 pm and didn't finish until almost 7 pm. -insert sad music- We had plenty of breaks, but this was still a pretty long process.

 I used our *go-to* styling products, eco styler gel, mixed with bee mine curly butter for hold. I applied this mix to each piece right before braiding. Then, when I reached the ends of her braid, I twirled the ends with my finger. Doing this created a tiny curl to lock the braid into place, and to prevent it from unraveling. I created small box-sized sections throughout her hair. 

Overall, I can say we are happy to have mini box braids! They last longer for us verses mini twists, and they are a great protective style. Even though they take, what seems like forever to do, especially with her hair length. It was definitely worth it. 

Have you ever tried creating small box braids, if so how was your experience? 

Comment below. 

Roller Set Using Curlformers

Kandy 4 comments

Roller Set Using Curlformers

It's been awhile since we last did a roller set. Lady N had spring pictures at school, so this was the perfect opportunity to blow the dust off of our curlformers, and create a fabulous roller set! 

(Click here for our Curlformer review)

I washed N's hair the day before, and let her hair dry overnight in several braids. I removed each braid and re-moisturized it. Then sprayed a little water on a small piece. Added eco styler gel on it, and added our Curlformer. I continued this until I added all of the rollers to her hair. 

N slept in her curlformers overnight. In the morning, I removed one roller in the back of her hair. To our surprise, her hair was still wet and the curl fell. (wah-wah) So we only had 20 mins to get her out the door for school. I had to improvise so I quickly grabbed my blowdryer and began blowdrying the curlformers. We were done in 15 minutes, and I added a cute clip from our (secret santa, thanks dear) and she was out the door, and of course I snapped a few pictures. 

To maintain the roller set, I plan on placing her hair in a high very loose ponytail. Also place her satin cap over it, and spray it lightly with some Blended Beauty oil for shine. 

SpotLight Interview: Elena & Bree

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SpotLight Interview: Elena & Bree

1.) Your name and little one's name/nickname?

Elena and my daughter's name is Bree

 2.) What's your child's haircare routine?

I wash Ms. Bree's hair every other week (unless he hair is full of sand from playing at the playground), and I co-wash her the weeks in between her washes.

3.) What products are you currently using?

I mainly use 100% Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer. Depending on the style I may use Bee Mine Curly Butter, Bee Mine Deja Hair Milk.

  

4.) Do you use heat/chemicals on the child's hair?

NO, we do not use any chemicals at all, we are trying to stay as natural as possible.

From time to time I give in and flat ironed her hair but I take all the necessary steps to protect her hair from heat damage.

5.) How does your child feel about their hair?

She loves it! She prefers her hair free of any style like braids and cornrows and I believe is because it takes less time!! after all she is almost four yrs old. She loves feel of her free and natural hair, twists out and braids out are also her favorites.

 

6.) What was the worst hair tip you have received?

To RELAX it in order to make it easier on me!! But that was not an option for me. I read and read, purchased several products and tried several techniques until I found what worked for her.

7.) Do you cut/trim the hair? if so how often?

Believe it or not, I had never trimmed her hair until recently and it was soon after seeing a post by you. I started to notice a couple of split ends and read your post and I did it myself!!

8.) What is some hair advice you would like to share?

The best advice I would like to share is that establishing a routine is very important for any curly babies. the sooner you get a routine established the better. Then I would also say, don't get discouraged if a style doesn't look right after your first try, try and try again, with time you will get better and you will. The important thing here is that you try and continue to try and have fun in the process. This is a great bonding experience so don't give up!!

-If Bree isn't the cutest little girl!!! I love her curls and her Mom Elena is doing her "THANG" at taking care of her hair! I'm so glad our post on trimming has helped you! Keep up the great job! If you would like to see more cute styles on Bree, come follow their hair journey here: Caramel Curlz & Swirlz

SpotLight: Maria & Adriana

Kandy 4 comments

SpotLight: Maria & Adriana

Hello lovely readers! 

We are back with a SpotLight all the way from Brazil! 
Isn't it amazing how we have readers all around the world! Today's SpotLight is originally written in Portuguese. Not sure if you all noticed, but take a look on the left side on our blog. There is a "translate" button, so please use this tool to translate. I tend to click on this button every now & then, and look at my site in other languages (my fave is yiddish kinda cool.. don't ask...lol) :) 

Olá, meu nome é Maria Fernanda, mora em São Paulo, tenho 10 anos e meu apelido é Fefe.

Faço hidratação e nutrição 2 vezes por semana, testamos vários produtos que surge no mercado, o qu uso atualmente não é novidade mas é bom para meu cabelo, Rigen da Alfaparf, sempre potencializo a hidratação ou nutrição com oléos naturais, meu cabelo é natural, não tenho nenhuma química.

Eu me sinto bem com meu cabelo, gosto dele, só uso preso porque tem muito volume, mais quando for adolescente vou fazer uma química para reduzir o volume...

Minha mãe corta as pontas do meu cabelo, uma vez há cada dois meses mais ou menos.

O conselho que dou para mais meninas de cabelo afro como o meu, é que façam muita nutrição e hidratação, não usem formol, e procurem um bom cabeleireiro na hora de fazer uma química...

Lembre-se sempre que o barato pode sair caro.

Beijos,

Mamãe Adriana e Maria Fernanda.

-Maria tem o cabelo lindo assim! Mãe está fazendo um trabalho tão bom em cuidar do seu cabelo. Mantenha o bom trabalho! Muito obrigada por participar!

  I wanted to try responding in another language, how'd you think I did? 

LOC Method

Kandy 14 comments

LOC Method

If you have been experiencing serious dryness this winter, you may benefit greatly from using this method of moisturizing your hair. Especially if you've found that no matter how many things you've tried, your hair is still feeling dry hours later. This method is called the LOC method. 

L.O.C method, what is that? 

L=Liquid.

O= Oil.

C=Cream.

Here's how it works. The liquid moisturizes your hair. The oil seals in the moisture, so that it won't escape. Then the cream works to locks in both the liquid and oil. The cream creates a barrier so that neither will escape your hair strands. The whole process is based on how you layer each key ingredient.

Step 1: First use water or a water-based moisturizer (which means water is the first ingredient listed on the bottle.) Now apply the L (liquid) to your hair. (If you have thick hair try applying it in sections.) Products such as Giovanni Direct Leave-In, or even Bee Mine Juicy Spritz, will work perfectly.  

Step 2: Next, apply the O (oil) make sure the oil is a natural oil such as (coconut, extra virgin olive, or shea butter.) Apply the oil directly on top of the liquid. 

Step 3: Finally apply the C (cream) on top of the liquid. Creams such as Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer, or even Shea Moisture Conditioning Curl Milk will work for as the cream. Just make sure the consistency of the moisturizer is thick and creamy.

Now, if you like to wear your curls down, try adding gel or styling butter as your (cream.) As shown below.

On the left there is (zero) products on her hair. On the right is after using the LOC method.

Using the L.O.C method will stop you from having to reapply products daily to your hair. Therefore it helps to save $ in the long run. 

- Have you tried the LOC method, please share your thoughts below.

Children Natural Hairstyles Youtube Video

Kandy 2 comments

Children Natural Hairstyles Youtube Video

Hello everyone! 

We are back with a new Youtube video! 

"Children's Natural Hairstyles: Part 5" 

I hope you all enjoyed it! 

Please subscribe to us at, http://www.youtube.com/kandylandkurls 

 and rate the video.

-We will have more videos soon, by subscribing you wont miss out. 

Deep Conditioning Oil Treatment

Kandy 1 comment

Deep Conditioning Oil Treatment

It's a new year, and I'm going to experiment more with Lady N's hair. I started off by using a new way to deep condition her hair. If you read our hair routine (click here) you will notice that her oil treatment, and deep conditioning treatment, are done on two different weeks. After hearing my friend Ki talk about mixing them together, a light bulb went off in my mind...It made much more sense to do both treatments together. 

Here's what I did.

  

After shampooing, I used one of my favorite deep conditioners (Bee Mine "Bee*U*Ti*Ful Deep conditioner) and mixed it with extra virgin olive oil. I used roughly one and 1/2 tablespoons of the deep conditioner, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.)

Next, I mixed it really well. 

Then applied this mix in sections throughout N's hair. I let this mix sit for approx 20 mins, and used our hooded dryer to help the mix penetrate deeper. Next, I began finger detangling her hair in sections. I used our spray bottle to re-wet hairs that were drying. I noticed right away that the oil helped to slide her curls apart, along with the deep conditioner. Detangling was a breeze! I really like this combo of deep conditioning, and oil treating the hair in one wash. These ingredients work very well together. Plus, with this weather, her hair needs more moisture. I will definitely do this more often this winter. 

-What different hair methods are you experimenting with this winter?