Half Up, Half Down Braid-out

The sun is out, potato salad is ready and the grill is goin'! It is a BEAUTIFUL day out today so we're having a little cook out with the fam. I planned on trying a really intricate style yesterday but we didn't feel up to it so I ended up doing something really simple. Read below for instructions.





I spritzed A's hair with some water and parted a circle on the top section of her head (see above photo) so I could make a ponytail. I tied the rest of the hair off and braided 6 braids in the top ponytail. I used Curls Whipped Cream on each section before braiding. After the top ponytail was complete, I untied the rest of her hair and began grabbing medium sections of hair, adding Curls Whipped Cream and braiding. By the time we were finished she had about 13 braids in, including the ones in the ponytail. She slept with her hair like this until the next morning. I removed the top ponytail holder and added a little Eco Styler Gel to smooth down the top then rebanded. I removed all of the braids with my fingers and these are the results.

Do you plan on doing anything special this weekend? How did you style your child's hair?

Flexi-rod Set: 1 1/2 Years Later

I posted this on our new Facebook Fan Page lastnight but I keep forgetting that everyone (gasp) doesn't have Facebook so I wanted to share it here as well! :)

Diva Spotlight: Jada

Tell us a little about yourself & your daughter:
My name is Cherokee. My daughter is Jada, 4 years old. She is biracial and has what I think is 3A hair type.



What is your daughter's hair care routine?
For Jada we wash weekly. Normally on the weekend. A few other nights during the week I rinse with water and add conditioner. Styles do not last long in her hair at all. If I do style it, it normally lasts 2-3 days. Most of the time she either wears it down or in a ponytail or pigtails. At night I always make sure it is in either a few braids or banded. I used to not do this and her hair would be so unmanageable the next day, we call it a rats nest if just sleeps on it loose lol.













What kind of products do you use on her hair?
I try not to use much. I wash and condition with herbal essence hello hydration or pantene moisturizing for curly hair. For added moisture I use a olive leave in conditioner. There are a few brands I like of this, but my favorite is Africa's Best Organic Olive Oil Leave In. If she is wearing her hair down for a special occasion I will use a little alcohol free gel to help define her curls. All of these I buy at walmart or drug stores.

Have you ever used chemicals on her hair?
No, never plan on it.

Can we see a few of your favorite styles?
Like I said I really don't do many styles. Lack of talent on my part. :(

How did you learn to do all of this? The few things I can do I learned growing up playing with dolls lol.

How does your daughter feel about her hair? Can we see her favorite style?
Jada loves her long hair. She is in love with the movie Tangled and says that her hair is going to get that long one day. Her favorite style would have to be just a bun, most of the time its a messy bun just piled on her head. She plays sports and is a little rough when playing so she doesn't want her hair getting in the way.





If you had to share one hair care tip, what would it be?
A nighttime routine is a must! Before I had one Jada's hair was a mess. I was literally about to get it cut off to her shoulders because I thought the length was the problem. After researching her hair type, you-tubing hair care tips, and stalking BBB ;) I realized that we were doing it all wrong. She used to cry when I tried to do her hair for school and now she looks forward to it. We are both so very happy that it doesn't hurt her anymore to detangle.


Click here to see how you can sign your Diva up!

Dead Prez - The Beauty Within

I first saw this video posted on CurlyNikki and have seen it all over Facebook today so I wanted to share this song and video with you all. Enjoy!

Stretched Pigtails

I washed, detangled (using my fingers and a comb), moisturized (Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer) and banded A's hair in 2 sections lastnight. I removed the bands this morning and her hair was still quite curly, but it had more of a stretched out look so I gave her two basic pigtails. I used Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer to slick back the ponies.





By the way, I bought some new bands similar to the Goody Brand a couple of weeks ago at Kohls for $4 per pack. These are the ones I used to band her hair with last night, I will definitely be buying more!

Picture of the Day: Natural Family

Check out this picture of Roshae, founder and owner of Napps Kinx & BBs Salon & Spa with her beautiful children. You can also find them on Youtube as well as Facebook.

Cornrows, Bantu Knots & A Bantu Knot Out

After a few days of wearing the cornrowed ponytails style, I decided to do Bantu Knots. I really love how they turned out.






I released the Bantu knots this morning for this look. I sent the other pics last night. These pics might be a little dark because I took them with my phone.







Submitted by our guest blogger, Aisha.

Style Gallery Is Ready!

For those of you who don't know, I have added a Style Gallery to our new Facebook Fan Page! Click the photo and there will be the post name along with the link to the instructions. The gallery includes all of A's styles as well as our guest blogger Aisha & Anisa's styles. You can also view the other styles uploaded by our friends! Click the photo above to be taken directly to the gallery. Don't forget to "like" the page while you're there! :)

Little Penguins Giveaway Winners!

Thank you all so much for entering the Little Penguins Giveaway and posting your fabulous pictures on our new Facebook page! Another big thanks to Littlepenguinsonline.com for sponsoring this giveaway.

The first winner is...

who said...

Congrats Alese! You will receive the following:
1- 8 oz. Organic Honey Vanilla Bean Smoothie
(cleanser/softener/ conditioner)
1- 4oz. Fresh Cream leave in conditioner and detangler
1- 4oz. Ella Jelly
(mix of butters and natural gel for twists, braids, ends etc. soft hold)
1- 2 oz. pom of their choice
(unscented coconut cupuacu , organic mango-illipe, or mocha bean)

Email me with your mailing address and pom of your choice!

The second winner is...

who said...

Congrats Ashley! You will receive the following:

1- 8oz Organic Vanilla Bean Smoothie
Assorted Samples

Please email me with your mailing address.

You can both email me your info at beadsbraidsbeyond@yahoo.com please email me by April 29th.

Happy Easter!

Check out the eggs we made!

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate! I hope you all have a blessed and fun filled day. I would love to see your Easter pictures, you can post them on our new Facebook page!

Cornrowed Ponytails

Our wonderful guest blogger Aisha is back with another beautiful style done on her daughter, Anisa!


The day after Anisa received her trim I decided to braid her hair. On the night of her trim I decided to band her hair again to stretch it out some more.


I started braiding Anisa's hair without a style in mind. I began in the back and this is what I came up with. We had to leave the house for a little while before I finished, so I put the remainder of her hair in a twisted ponytail.


Top view before I finished.


Style was finally complete. She ended up having 6 sections of free style cornrows gathered into ponytails. She also had 2 cornrows that were not gathered into a ponytail. Even though I did not have anything in mind when I started this style, I love how it turned out.


Since I decided not to add beads, I curled her hair using Curlformers. She did not sleep in them this time. She wore them all day and I took them out right before bedtime.


The results - She ended up having a nice, loose curl.

Flawless Flexi-rod Set + Easter Pictures

I was contemplating on whether I wanted to do a braid-out or flexi-rod set on A's hair for Easter. Since I've been doing braid-outs a lot lately, I decided to go with a flexi-rod set. I must admit, I was a little nervous about the outcome because the last time I did a flexi-rod set was for her 4th birthday which was well over 1 year ago. Well, her flexi-rod set came out fabulous so I wanted to share some quick instructions on how we get a flawless flexi-rod set. Enjoy!

I washed, detangled (with a comb), moisturized (with Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer) and banded A's hair in 13 sections the night before. I did 13 sections because I knew I only had 1 night and needed her hair to be stretched out as much as possible for the flexi-rod set. I've tried flexi-rod sets on wet hair in the past and it never turns out right for us. It takes forever to dry so when I go to take the flexi-rods out her hair is still damp and the only part that curls are her ends while the rest of the pain is still half way curly and poofing out.

I removed the bands from the bottom row and put the other sections in a bun to get started. Her hair was already moisturized so I gently detangled in small sections with a comb. I worked in 1-2 inch sections the entire time. I did not use a comb to part her hair, I just used my fingers.

I tried Eco Styler Gel (regular) for the first time. I added a generous amount of the gel about an inch from her roots all the way down to her ends. I did not apply any gel directly to her roots because the gel makes her hair revert a little and flexi-rods don't get very close to the roots. If banding doesn't stretch the roots out very much I recommend putting an ouchless ponytail holder to stretch them out even more, then add your flexi-rod. So you would have a bunch of little ponytails covered in flexi-rods. A's roots seem to easily stretch out so that's not a problem for us. After adding the gel, I comb it through to distribute the product evenly. I smooth the hair down as much as possible with my fingers then firmly hold the ends down towards to ground, near her waist, NOT out towards me. I begin rolling the ends on the bottom of the flexi-rod then I overlap some hair over the ends so it stays. See picture on the left.

I continue firmly rolling the hair on the flexi-rod. As you can see by the picture on the right, I leave a slight space as I roll and hold the flexi-rod at an angle.

I roll the flexi-rod all the way up to her roots and leave a little space on the top of the rod.

With the space I leave at the top of the flex-rod, I fold the rod over and viola! It stays puts.

All done with the bottom half.

Complete after about 1 1/2 hours! The Eco Styler Gel worked really well. There was no flaking, no residue and the next day her curls were really soft and bouncy, not hard and stiff. She slept in the flexi-rods, which isn't a problem for her because she sleeps on her stomach anyway but for those of you with back/side sleepers I wouldn't recommend leaving them in overnight. If you do it on dry, stretched hair, the curl should form within a few hours. I did loosen the flexi-rods a little before she went to bed. After removing the flexi-rods I separated each curl into 2 or 3, as I separated them I twirled them around my finger to give it it's shape back.

Here's a couple of other Easter pictures of A and Lil Man.

I still have to run to the store to buy some carrots so I can leave a half eaten trail of carrots to the kiddos Easter baskets. I hope you all enjoy your Easter Sunday!