Kiddie Corner: Natural Hair

Introducing Amaya Sanai!  

Of course because I'm a naturalista my mini me also embraces her natural curls and kinks!  Although she is my flesh and blood our hair is like night and day, she has hair exactly like her daddy.  I try to keep her routine really simple because 1) she's a toddler that can't sit still for more than 5 minutes and 2) she's a toddler! Lol!  I shampoo and condition her hair once every 2 weeks followed by using a leave in conditioner and some oil to seal in the moisture.  Her hair is like a mop and sucks up water like it's the last time it will ever do so and it is extremely thick.  I usually do her hair on Sunday's, when I have time to wash, blow dry (sometimes) and style all in one day.  Because I don't like using much heat, I only blow her hair out about once every 3 months (using a heat protectant) just to make it easier to manage.  Peep what I'm talking about....

 Shrinkage!

And this was "tamed" blown out hair!

Every time I style her hair I make sure that the style will last at least a week because it is just too much to handle during the week when getting ready for daycare and work.  So I rotate between ponytails, small twists and braids to not put too much stress on her hair.  Here are a  few of the styles I have tried on her.

 I attempted to replicate the style at the top left but it didn't come out exactly that way, but she still loved it!

The left picture was wash day for us but we wanted a quick trip to the zoo before so I simply put two large flat twists on the sides and used a sock bun to give her a top bun.  The right picture is her typical style of small twists that usually lasts her two weeks when I retwist after the first week.

Being super silly in my cousin's wedding wearing her twist out!

Another twist out for her 3rd birthday!

I have been following this same routine for her for at least two years now and it works well for us.  Now that she is getting older I do ask her input on which style she would like so that she continues to love her hair.  Although natural hair is really popular she still sees other imagines on TV and every now and then she says, "Mommy I want my hair long and long" which translates to straight hair. Hahaha!  I have straightened it for her once and she loved it but I love her thick and fluffy hair and I tell her this often so that she knows her hair is beautiful just as it is :).