10 Tips For Making a Visit to the Salon a Smooth Activity For Your Child + the Beautician

It is a beautiful thing to see your baby girl with some beautiful braids in her hair.  Mothers, do you agree?

Let me share something with you.  There is a world-wide head-ache that sometimes happens when a little girl has to sit down in a beautician's chair to get her hair braided.  Of course, the little girl is never happy to be participating in said ritual. So she lets her displeasure show by whining, moving around and needing to go back and forth to the bathroom. 

MOTHERS!! we are only their beauticians.  We are not their disciplinarians.  With your help to keep your child seated in the chair and holding her head in positions that we need them too, this will speed up the process to get her on her way back to living the life of a child! And us on our way to our next client. 

Ten Ways You Can Help Your Child's Beautician

1. Have a conversation with your child about what to expect when getting her hair braided.
2. Share with her the rules to getting her hair done.
3. Let her know that there should be no crying.
4. Show her videos on Youtube that exhibit what will be done to her hair.
5. Show her a before and after picture of her hair and then ask her which hairstyle she wants.

6. Rehearse with her a hair braiding session so she can get an idea for how she will need to sit.
7. Explain to her how important it is for her to do what the hairstylist want's her to do.
8. Pack her a light lunch.
9. Bring her favorite book, toy or electronic device.
10. Enforce discipline.... we don't mind!!

It is really an amazing thing for a little girl to get her hair done.  All that trouble for her to soon emerge from the salon chair feeling like a big girl.   

Is My Daughter to Young to Wear Extensions in Her Hair + What is the Proper Age For Extensions

I get this question a lot.  "IS MY DAUGHTER TO YOUNG TO GET EXTENSIONS??"

Let me say this in writing! Not me, or anyone else can tell you if your child is to young for extensions. If you feel as a parent the best hair care for your child would be to have individual braids, cornrows or twists in her hair, by all MEANS, have some extensions put in her hair!  Now, if you are talking about a baby or a child that is a toddler, I wouldn't advise it.  But again, it is your child, and you should know what is best for her.

On another note, Black women as a whole will never deny the convenience of forsaking the daily routine of constant manipulation to our hair.  Not to mention how the extensions protect our ends from damage.  Why would you not want this for your daughter's hair? 

However with a child there are more things to consider when deciding to have extensions added to her hair.  One, how thin is her hair?  Two, how fragile is her hair?  The younger the child is, the thinner her hair is. And the older she gets the texture will change, hopefully becoming much thicker. Remember, with most children up until the point of puberty their hair is thinner and fragile and can break and get damaged more easily from the stress of extensions.  Even though this is a hair reality for a lot of children, it is not the reality for all.  I have added extensions in little girls hair as young as two years old, because their hair was thick enough, and healthy enough to handle the extensions.  I have cornrowed little girls hair as young as one year old because their hair was healthy enough to manage the style.  So, again, it would depend on the parent, and the state of the child's hair.

My opinion is, if you don't feel comfortable with having extensions in your baby girl's hair, a great way to get the same look is to braid, cornrow or twist her hair,  just as you would with extensions.  Her hair will still be protected, and the style will promote growth.  When all is said and done, age is just a number.  The appropriate age for extensions is, who really knows???

How to Grow Your 4c and 4b Hair + Protective Style For Fragile Hair

So, you have researched and discovered that you have KINKY 4b/4c hair type, which is very fragile. You have also learned that it is very important that you use good hair products to care for your hair.  Moisturizing is the key to keeping hair healthy.  However, it won't matter how much you moisturize or condition your hair, if you are not handling it right.

Okay, I tell my clients over and over how important it is to wear protective styles - Twists, Cornrows, Braids, Coils, Tuck and Roll Styles - because for those with fragile hair types it’s one of the key areas of length retention.

Make a mental note, write it down, or carry a key chain that says "when you wear protective styles this helps prevent breakage of the hair, matting and tangles."  Not to mention that great moisture retention the styles provide.

Once you have learned which products and protective styles compliment and promote hair growth for your hair, stick with that regimen.  Be smart to notice the difference in how much breakage you experience, the amount of split ends that appears, and eventual growth.

Because of the frailty of 4b/4c hair, you might want to finger-comb your hair instead of using a wide tooth comb or a brush each time you detangle your hair. Finger-combing is more gentle on your hair and you can feel when hair is tangled or snagged.  Yes, it takes a lot more effort with your hair when Finger-combing, however, this method should help to reduce hair breakage even more.

One thing is an absolute when it comes to healthy hair care.  It is a routine of consistency.  You must keep up this routine of low manipulation to see some worth while results.  You can't do this for one week, or even two weeks and see massive results.  Healthy hair care takes months of consistency!!

Hair that is textured like ours grows on the average of 1/2 inches per month.  

Individual Braids Are Manageable + Easy to Maintain + You Can Create a Variety of Styles

 

Are you having a hard time choosing the right style for your hair? Well don't worry.  Individual braids is one of the easiest styles to maintain and manage. Not only that, they're elegant and classy.  They can be worn in styles for when you are dressed sharper than 2:45, going to club or for a casual outing. You will definitely be able to find that perfect look with individual braids.

Be sure to spray your individual braids every other day, or nightly to keep them from looking dry and old.  An idea mixture for your hair would be some moisturizer and conditioner with a couple of drops of coconut oil or extra virgin oil. Or you can purchase a jar of STYLES WITH PERSONALITY'S Hair Food which promotes hair growth and keeps the hair conditioned.  Just be sure not to over treat your braids.  Extra wet or oily braids will collect dirt and cause a build up.

Healthy Hair Care is an adopted practice!! 

Signals That Your Individual Braids or Twists Are to Tight

After years of self styling, and styling others hair, here are some very important thing that I've learned during my journey of wearing, and installing extensions to promote healthy hair.

There are some stylist that will style you completely BALD! There are several things that come to mind when I think about installation techniques.

1. TENSION AND EDGE CARE
Some stylists are heavy handed, in which they use entirely too much tension on the hair, pulling it away from the scalp when braiding and twisting as if this is going to make the hairstyle more spectacular.  This is a major assault on the hair follicles and can lead to traction alopecia and even permanent hair loss. It is sad to say that this happens more often than I would like to say. 

Here are some signals to let you know that your braids are too tight.

1. If you have a headache after installation. This definitely should not happen. However, it can happen if you are extremely tender-headed.

2.  If you have little bumps or redness around your hair line or general scalp areas causing discomfort, tingling or itching. Those are inflamed or irritated hair follicles.

3. If you notice a nice amount of white bulbs around your hair line or general scalp area, that is being caused by infected hair follicles.

4. If your face and hairline have you looking like you have had plastic surgery because your braids are so tight, this should never, ever happen.  **This is when you call me to book an appointment. **

Get Rid Of Dandruff In Your Child's Hair Once and For All

There are times when you might see something that looks like small snow flakes in your child's hair, on her scalp.  This more than likely is dandruff.  Dandruff is not contagious and most of the time it is not a serious condition.

Dandruff is a very common scalp condition (among all races of people) that causes the skin on your scalp to itch and flake up.  The condition is generally explained as a scalp reaction that causes the natural cycle of skin replenishment to occur more quickly on your scalp.

No worries, dandruff can be controlled fairly easily.  If you have a mild case of dandruff, you can get it under control by shampooing your hair regularly with a gentle shampoo.  However, if you have a more severe case of dandruff, medicated shampoos or physician assistance may be necessary.

Dandruff is a condition that is usually simple to diagnose.  If there are flakes of dead skin present in your hair and on your shoulders coupled with an itchy scalp, there is a good chance that you have dandruff. The condition can be impacted by the climate that you live in. Fall and winter months are usually the most difficult times of the year for people with dandruff due to indoor heating contributing to dry skin and scalp.  Dandruff usually improves during the summer months.

Tea tree oil has been medically proven to be a natural anti-fungal and functions as a good disinfectant. You can mix 5-10 drops of tea tree oil in your shampoo and wash your hair as normal.  I believe the method is more effective after shampooing your hair, mix 1 tablespoon of tea tree oil into 1 cup of warm water or Aloe Vera juice, spray into your scalp and let it sit for a few minutes. Gently pat the extra moisture out, but don’t wash it out.

The Right Way to Take Care Of Your Daughter's Hair While It Is In a Protective Hairstyle

Let's talk about protective hairstyles for children.  A protective hairstyle can be your very best friend when it comes to healthy hair care for your child.  Any style that keeps the hair’s ends secure, and can be left in for a week or longer with very little daily handling is considered a protective style. This could be cornrows, individual braids, box braids, twists, flat twists or a number of styles.

One of the reasons for protective hairstyles with girls, is to promote easy hair maintenance and hair growth.  There are times when the child's hair will not grow.  A possible reason why you may not see any growth of your child's hair (African American hair) could be because you are manipulating your child's hair too much, and too often causing fragile and weak spots in turn can cause breakage.  Another way for me to say it is, if you’re combing and brushing your child’s hair every single day, this may be the main reason why your child's hair is "refusing" to grow.   In some cases, her hair might be breaking off faster than it’s growing.

If this happens, give your daughter's hair some down time from all the combing and brushing with an adorable braided style, or some cute cornrows.

Okay, we understand that protective hairstyles are a good thing, but putting your child's hair in a protective style doesn't take away the fact that you still have to do some maintenance on her hair until the hair is uninstalled.  The hair and scalp still need to be taken care of. By doing this, you can be confident that your daughter's hair will experience its maximum growth while in braids or twists.

One simple hair care maintenance routine is to keep your child's hair and scalp moisturized while it is in braids.  You can purchase a small spray bottle at your local beauty supply or Walmart.  Fill the bottle with moisturizer (mixed with a little water) and a few drops of your usual conditioner. Spray the mixture on your daughter's hair every other day (or nightly if your child has extra dry hair) and you can then seal her hair with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or any oil or butter.

Healthy Hair Care is an adopted practice! 

REASONS FOR GETTING EDGES RE-BRAIDED AFTER A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME

New growth can get ridiculous, real fast! There are times when you don't have time to uninstall and reinstall the entire set of braids, or twists.  No worries, the first two rows can always be re-braided/twisted.  Re-braiding the edges gives the look of newly braided head of hair.  And no one is the wiser that you only did the first two rows.  

This maintenance practice saves you time, and money.  After taking out the edges, be sure to detangle and deep condition before getting the braids redone.  Your edges are already fragile, so be sure to give them a little LOVE.  Doing this can make a protective hairstyle last a lot, lot longer.  i.e. a style can last for two months instead of one.

Need a touch up on those edges, be sure to contact Mosci at 619.642.9382!  Or book your appointment online by clicking here.