Not a Hair Blog: Celebrating Hope's (Big) Hair

Since Hope is out of school for a couple of weeks, I wanted to really let her hair down... literally.  See, she takes swimming lessons at her preschool once a week, and swimming lessons in the pool mean a swim cap on her head to protect her hair.  Swim caps and big hair just do not get along very easily.  So we tend toward more protective styles that can be easily managed and maintained, that will also fit under her swim cap.

No swimming lessons=no swim cap=bring on the big hair!

And when your hair looks and feels this fabulous, 

you have just got to put your (own) hands in there!

So, if you're interested in knowing what I did (& how), here it is... pretty simple really.

You may have already seen from our Christmas pictures that in her previous style, Hope was already showing off her big and fabulous curls.  She was wearing two "Afro puffs" with two beaded braids in the front.  In case you missed it...

I had been maintaining this style by putting in two rope twists in each puff every night (4 twists total).  In the morning I would undo those twists and add product as needed (curl cream or moisturizing spray).  Actually her hair has felt so good all week that I have added very little product. Just fluffed the puffs (cute, I know) and that was basically it.

So this morning, I removed the twists and one puff first and started (from the bottom up) to rake through (with my fingers only) some good products: (1) Oyin Handmade Juices & Berries, (2) Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and (3) Shea Moisture Curling Souffle (but just a little, mostly on the ends).  I used a method called "shingling," where I layered in the product, as I already said, from the bottom up.  This ensures that product is evenly distributed through all the curls, and not just those on the surface.  After I finished the left side, I just repeated on the right.  I did pay attention to trying to sort of 'merge' those two sections, as they had been separated with that down the middle part.  I didn't want her hair to continue parting down the middle.  It was simple enough... I just took a little from the left of the center part, and a little from the right, and raked it with my fingers... part line disappeared!  Then I removed the two beaded braids and applied the same products to those strands.

Maintaining this style will require some attention each evening and morning, but that's no big deal.  I'll simply put some rope twists (random, no exact parting) at night, and then undo those in the morning, again applying any needed product to keep Hope's hair moisturized and healthy.

The best part of this style (and every style we do, really) for me is Hope's own reaction.  She loves this!  She is currently dressed up in her princess dress, and has informed us that she is going to a princess party with her big hair!