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.

Big Stretched Out Curls Part 2

By around 4pm today A's roots started getting poofy so her twist out just wasn't blending well. I decided to use the big stretched out curls method I posted about earlier, only this time I was using a twist out instead of a braid out. I sprayed her hair with some water and began separating the twists. I added some more Little Penguins Ella Jelly to her hair and fluffed. Viola! Once again, beautiful curls. They even held up today outside in the heat.

By the way, if you don't "like" the new Facebook Fan Page, you're missing out. There's a ton of information, questions and answers. Wonderful parents and caregivers to trade tips with. Lots of hair styles. You will be the first to know about new posts and see new pictures. :)

Elongating the Curls

I have had several emails asking me how they can let their daughters wear their hair out and natural, without it shrinking up to their ears. You can stretch the hair out by doing twists, braids, or banding. For a more natural look you should do it on wet hair.

I am going to give you a run down on how we got this look on A.

Sunday night we:

• Rinsed her hair with warm water
• Applied about a quarter size amount of Giovanni Smooth as Silk shampoo. Washed scalp & rinsed.
• Applied a very generous amount of Giovanni Smooth as Silk conditioner. Left in for 30 minutes with a plastic cap. After the 30 minutes I detangled her hair with a wide tooth comb and rinsed.
• Applied Giovanni Direct Leave-in
• Pulled her (wet) hair back in a low ponytail and banded the ponytail. I used about 10 Goody Ouchless cloth covered ponytail holders going down her ponytail until I got to the end. A went to bed and...
• In the morning I took out all of the ponytail holders. Her hair was slightly damp, which is okay because the weather is nice here, I added a little Mixed Chicks Leave-in and a cute headband and she was good to go!

This was wash day, which is why it included so many steps. You can just rinse your childs hair, apply a leave in, then band, braid, or twist the hair. I have gotten a similar look on A from doing 5-6 big single braids, I do them fairly loose because I didn't want a really defined braid out. I wanted more of a natural look. When I do this she definitely doesn't have as many tangles as she would if I let her wear it out and natural without stretching it a little. It is a bit more frizzy and her curls are not as defined, but that's okay.

To maintain this look:

• Moisturize the hair at night. Rewetting is optional. (only if you are going to band, braid, or twist it again) You do not have to comb/brush the hair.
• Band, braid, or twist it back up. If you do not want to do that then put the hair into a very high, loose ponytail on the top of her head.
• Have her sleep with a satin bonnet or pillowcase is possible.
• Take it down in the morning, add a leave-in or moisturizer....good to go!

If you plan on letting your child wear their hair out for several days, I highly suggest once you wash their hair you leave the conditioner (I like to add virgin coconut oil along with the conditioner) in for 15-30 minutes. Longer if possible. I prefer leaving it in overnight (when she wears her hair out for a long period of time) for a very easy detangling session in the morning. Remember, remove any knots or tangles with your fingers You cannot "remove" knots/tangles with a comb. You can rip through them with a comb, and as A said "nuh uh, we don't happen to dat." lol. (watch the video if you don't know what I'm talking about)