Dove Hair: Love Your Curls

Check out this adorable Dove commercial.

"Did you know that only 4 out of 10 curly haired girls think their hair is ‘beautiful’? The best way to inspire them to love their curls is to celebrate and show them how much you love yours. Girls are 7 times more likely to love their curls if people around them do."

Cornrows & Sister (Rope) Twists

As promised, we're back with another new hair style for your girls! This style works for all ages, even adults. Read below to see how we achieved this look.

Miss A's hair had already been stretched out from her previous hair style (large cornrows), as seen on our instagram, @beadsbraidsbeyond (follow us!) so there was no need for banding this time around. As many of you know, I almost always style on stretched hair. Click here to see how banding works and how it stretches natural hair in preparation for styling.

Alright, so now that the hair is already stretched, I applied a little Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer to her hair and gently detangled with a Denman brush. Once her hair was completely detangled, I began cornrowing the top of her hair straight back for about an inch or two. I didn't want to braid too far back because I wanted the twists to hang to the side (as shown in pictures). If you're not able to cornrow, you can always flat twist, or check out our Cornrowing for Beginners post. I ended each cornrow with a rubberband (not too tight!) and began doing a sister (otherwise known as rope) twist with the remaining hair.

Sister/Rope twists are actually very simple. Split the section of hair into two pieces and begin twisting one clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. So, you're twisting each piece in opposite directions while twisting them around one another. It sounds complicated but try it right now with your own hair. Ready? Grab a small/medium section of hair, split it into two, now begin twisting one piece to the right and twist the other piece to the left, now begin twisting those two pieces around one another while maintaining the clockwise/counter-clockwise motion. Got it? Good! If all else fails, check out some Youtube tutorials. We will be making one of our own in the near future!

Now that the top is done, I moved on to the back. I began at the nape of her neck, parting a small square with my rat tail comb, adding a little Curls Control Paste and twisting, as explained above. I didn't use a rubberband at the base because her hair type holds these twists pretty well. If you're working with a finer texture of hair, you may need rubberbands. I continued parting small squares through-out the back of her hair and twisting until the style was complete.

A common question I'm asked is how I get the ends to stay without using a rubberband. Once again, this has a lot to do with her hair type but, once I reach the end of the twist, I begin rolling the ends between my thumb and index finger several times to ensure they stay put. You can also use a little holding product (such as Curls Control Paste) for a little extra help.

This style is easy to maintain and very versatile. These twists should last between 1 and 2 weeks. Check out our Youtube channel to see how we remove the sister/rope twists.

Instagram saw this style first... Follow us for the latest hair happenings! :) @beadsbraidsbeyond Let us know what you think of Miss A's new style and stay tuned for more blog posts!

Interested in trying out Bee Mine Products (our fav!)? Well, we have a reader discount code for you! Use code: FALLBBB only at www.beemineproducts.com to receive 10% off. Happy shopping!

Cornrows, Twists & Hearts... Oh My!

Quite the combination, eh? See, what had happened was... I began styling Miss A's hair with absolutely no plan in mind. I think the outcome was cute and age appropriate for young girls, wouldn't you say?

Never mind that. I'm pretty sure you're all wondering where we've been... yes? Well, let's just say life happened. Between Lil Man being diagnosed with autism, Miss A being diagnosed with epilepsy, becoming a full time working single mom and almost everything you can think of in-between, it's safe to safe my hands have been full... and not with my daughters hair, as you can imagine! Ha. If you're interested in reading more about our personal life, feel free to stop by my other blogs Facebook page, Nik Gets Fit, chronicling my life and weight loss journey.

Just here for the hair? Got it! Let's get straight to the point...

I washed, banded and moisturized Miss A's hair as usual. If you've been following us for a while then you have probably already checked out her hair care routine, if not, click here for all the details including the products I use for this process.

Once her hair was banded, I parted the top section of hair from ear to ear and tied off the back. I began parting near her right ear first to begin the first cornrow. New to cornrowing? No worries! Check out our Cornrowing for Beginners post, here.

Once I had a few cornrows on each side, I decided to part a heart right on top. I'm not sure why, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. As you can see, my parting skills are a little rusty, I haven't done a heart in quite some time. As for how I parted the heart, well, it's actually very simple. Take your metal rat tail comb, and "draw" a heart in your child's hair. You may have to do this a few times. Always perfect your "rough draft" if possible! Once you have a shape that somewhat resembles a heart (haha), place that section of hair in a ponytail.

Alright, so now we have the cornrows, we have the heart... now all that's missing are the twists! I wanted larger twists so I twisted the remaining hair from two cornrows together at a time. I parted squares with the remaining hair in the back, placed a rubberband at each base, and twisted.

After about 1 week of wearing this hair style, I removed the two strand twists, creating a gorgeous twist out for Miss A's birthday party! Check out the pictures below. Shout out to Miss Teeny Fab Couture for making Miss A's custom Monster High birthday party outfit!

Want to stay up to date with Miss A's latest hair styles? Follow us on Instagram! @beadsbraidsbeyond

Stay tuned for another hair style this week! Yes, we're baaaaack!

Easter Hairstyles for Little Girls with Natural Hair

Easter is right around the corner which means cute dresses and adorable hair-do's to match if you're anything like us! I know how hard it is looking for special occasion hairstyles for little girls with natural hair so I decided to put together a quick post to hopefully inspire your little one's Easter hair-do!

Twist Out/Knot Out's

Twist out with criss cross cornrows

Click here for instructions

Bantu-knot out with flat twists inspired by Naptural85

Click here for instructions

Cornrows and twist out

Click here for instructions

Twist out on 4b/c natural hair

Click here for instructions

Flexi-rod Sets

Cornrowed updo with flexi-rod curls

Click here for instructions

Flat twists with flexi-rod set in the back

Click here for instructions

Full flexi-rod set

Click here for instructions

Up-do's

Cornrowed updo

Click here for instructions

Cornrows and large two strand twisted updo

Click here for instructions

Cornrows and cinnabun updo

Click here for instructions

All Natural

Large flat twists into natural afro

Click here for instructions

Au' natural

Straight

Straightening thick 4b/c natural hair

Click here for instructions

Flat ironing long natural hair

Click here for instructions

There are many more hairstyles to choose from to please feel free to browse the blog or check out our Facebook page for thousands of hairstyles shared from all around the world!

www.facebook.com/beadsbraidsbeyond

Bee Mine Products Black Friday Sale!

Click to enlarge

OUR FAVORITE HAIR PRODUCTS! Bee Mine Products Black Friday Sale starts TONIGHT at 10pm EST! $20 minimum purchase. Early bird discount tonight for 30% off! Use redemption code: BBB23BLK at check out! 25% off all day tomorrow. These sales don

't happen often so take advantage while you can!www.beemineproducts.com Please allow 7-10 days for your order to process as these hair products are hand made. :) Discount can not be combined with any other offer. Have a happy Thanksgiving! 

Beads, Braids & Beyond FACEBOOK! What happened?!

I'm sure many of you are wondering what happened to Beads, Braids and Beyond's Facebook page, truth is, I don't know! Apparently Facebook deleted it. SIGH. Please go like and share the new page, thank you!

https://www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsBeyond
https://www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsBeyond
https://www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsBeyond
https://www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsBeyond
https://www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsBeyond
https://www.facebook.com/BeadsBraidsBeyond

Defining Short Natural Coils & Curls

This is Miss A's little cousin, "Lil Bit". You may remember Lil Bit from a couple of previous posts, here and here. Lil Bit has asked me to give her curly hair every time she comes over. I remember from the last time I washed and styled her hair that she has the tiniest little coils that dry up really quick when not wet. I wasn't really sure what to expect but her curls turned out fabulous and she absolutely loved her hair! She was playing with her hair all day, it was the cutest thing ever. :-)

I decided to go with my go-to product for wash and go's. Kinky Curly Curling Custard, of course! First, I washed Lil Bit's hair with Cara B Naturally Shampoo and V05 Conditioner. I detangled while the conditioner was still in with a Denman brush. After rinsing I immediately applied a little Kinky Curly Knot Today leave-in conditioner all over her tiny coils. I knew if I waited too long her hair would dry up and Kinky Curly seems to work best applied to soaking wet hair. After applying the leave-in, I grabbed about 2-3 inch sections of hair at a time and applied about a quarter sized amount of Kinky Curly Curling Custard. I find that the curls are better defined when you just rake the product through instead of combing or brushing so I simply raked the product through each section with my fingers, making sure every coil had some curling custard on it. You can see picture of her wet curls above and below.

After a long day of playing her hair finally dried. Below are the results. The bangs frizzed a bit more than the side and back  but I think that's because she couldn't keep her fingers off her curls! :-)

For the record, her curls were not crunchy at all. They were very soft and well moisturized. The next morning her coils were still very defined so I sprized her hair with water and put her curls into two little pigtails.

Bonus pic of the cousins! :-) Lil Bit, Miss A and Ky!

Check out more pictures of Ky's Flat Twists into Afro style by clicking HERE.

Don't forget to stop by and "LIKE" us on Facebook! We love hearing from you!

www.facebook.com/beadsbraidsandbeyond

Elongating Natural Curls With Banding

Last night I washed, detangled and banded A's hair. I parted her hair in three sections, 1 ponytail in the back and two in the front, added a generous amount of my favorite moisturizer, Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer (use our reader discount code: BBBFALL for 10% off!) and loosely banded her hair. I spaced the ponytail holders 1-2 inches apart, I only wrapped each ponytail holder around 2-3 times. The next day I removed the ponytail holders and she still had curls, but much looser than her own. This was completely by accident but I thought her hair looked nice so instead of rebanding I pulled half of it back and viola!

To get this to work on your child's hair, they need to have a definite curl pattern. Band in large sections (2-4) and make sure you space the bands out and don't make them too tight. Also note, when doing this, don't expect for the curls to be perfect and frizz free. Each curl will look different and that's okay. :)

If you don't know what banding is please check out our banding frequently asked questions post.

Being silly.

Happy 6th Birthday Miss A! (Picture Heavy)

Today is Miss A's 6th birthday! I seriously cannot believe it. They grow up so fast. I posted a few pictures on our Facebook page of what she looked like when we first started the blog in 2009 and she has changed so much!

I couldn't have asked God for a better blessing. She has completely changed my life. She's sweet, loving and caring. A great big sister. She is going to grow into a beautiful, and smart young woman. She will forever and always be mommy's phat phat. I love you A! :)

Here's her birthday weekend recap...

I took the picture above yesterday before taking her to Toys R Us with a $30.00 budget to pick whatever she wanted and before taking her out to eat. She declared it the best day ever.

She had a small sleepover with 2 of her cousins. They are playing tea party with one of the gifts she bought from Toys R Us.

She insists on listening to Michael Jackson nonstop every birthday. Long live the King.

Something she has been asking for....a LeapPad Explorer! By the way, I can do a review if anyone is interested for the holidays! :)

Playing with her new LeapPad!

Hair: Kinky Curly Curling Custard - Outfit: Gymboree Cake: Walmart :)

Thanks for reading. :) Don't forget to enter our 2 year blogging anniversary celebration giveaways! There will be a lot more posted.