Nice Hair!

They say girls like to do their hair.

But when the barber put a little gel at the front edge of the boys' hair this time, they got all ga-ga and asked me to snap a photo for Dad at work. 

[eyeball roll]

Normally, Joe just buzzes their hair here at home. But it was a particularly busy period, Mom was getting desperate, and in a weak moment they were zipped into the barbershop. No complaints from them!

Beautiful Hair

Marguerite has some beautiful hair.

Learning how to care for it has been a huge learning curve for Yours Truly. Sometimes it even requires two of us. But I am constantly in awe of the beauty of this tightly-coiled mass of hair which looks so exotic when in an afro and so sophisticated when tightly corn-rowed.

Marguerite, you are beautiful!

When time is tight, it takes both Mommy and Daddy to work through my hair.

Check out my freshly-combed hair.

Twenty-one months old, and I have a lot of hair! 

When Mom pulls my hair straight, it's down to my shoulders.

Braids are nice, but it feels good to have my hair "loose" once in a while.

A New Look for Kathleen

Kathleen, before...

Beautiful with long hair.

Kathleen after...

Beautiful with short hair.

The Leones Do Hair

Not a lot of time goes by around here, it seems, without hair styling marathon or two.

Daddy does hair.
(Yes, that's a head-lamp on his head.
And, yes, he has his essentials always within reach—detangling spray and beer.)

Mommy does hair.
(Yes, Mommy looks like she hasn't gotten enough sleep.)

Anna Marie does hair—curly hair for Kathleen's "Big River" performance.
She did this seven times, for seven shows.

(Oh, and when you cornrow all rows except the middle, you get Mohawk Baby.)

Hair Skills Improving

I did it! Box braids!  (Okay, they're box twists, but let's not get nit-picky.)

The parts aren't very straight.

And don't even ask me how long it took.

But I was able to get this style to last almost two weeks! Now that's cause for a celebration!

Rockin' the Twists

This is what it looks like when Dear Ol' Mom finally figures out how to twist Marguerite's hair—and manages to get the twists to stay put. For three whole days!

It sure is fun to work on such a beautiful girl!

Sporting the kimono that Cousin Helen brought from China several years ago.

And this is what her hair looks like after I take out the twists. Bring on the detangler!

Tub Time

Marguerite usually does not mind baths. But on this fine day she was just not up for it.

I decided to post these pictures to show how different her hair looks when it's wet. I put tons of leave-in conditioner on it while she's soaking wet in the tub and I brush through it. On this day, I parted her hair, just for fun. Within minutes of getting out the tub, her hair will shrink back into the little coils she usually sports. But she does look different when it's wet, combed out, and weighted down with conditioner.

Awww, poor, unhappy girl!

When is my mom going to get me out of here?

Much better! Safe on dry land!

Whew! I hope we don't have to do that anytime again soon.

Hair Products

Joe likes to tease me about Marguerite's hair "products." Never have we had so many different "products" in the house than since the time Marguerite came into our lives. We have a whole "Marguerite Shelf" in the bathroom closet now.

I've learned that African hair is fragile and brittle and dries out easily. For that reason, we shampoo Marguerite's hair very infrequently, but we condition it often, every day if possible. A wash with conditioner-only is known as a co-wash and should be done much more frequently than a shampoo.

I've also learned that different products work for different hair textures--and among Africans there is quite a wide range of hair textures, as there is among Caucasians. I've also made mistakes along the way, trying to find the right products for Marguerite.

One thing I've certainly found is that the natural products are not only better for Marguerite's hair and scalp, but they really do work better (maintaining her curls and style) too.

Using YouTube as my guide, especially the excellent hair how-to videos by Natural85, I've come up with a recipe that works well for us. I buy the natural products in bulk, rather than buying the natural products already in ready-to-use mixtures. I've been experimenting with a combination of raw unrefined shea butter (from Africa), jojoba oil, olive oil, unrefined coconut oil, castor oil, and vitamin E. I make the mixture nice and thin (less shea butter) for an everyday leave-in conditioner. I make it much thicker for a pomade which I will use to tame the frizzies and provide some control as I braid her hair. (I'm still working on braiding. We may do another braiding experiment this weekend.)

Photographed below are the products I am currently using to make our homemade mixes for Marguerite's hair. It is a pricey bunch of ingredients, but it does save us money over buying the all-natural conditioners and pomades already-mixed.

Oh, and with hair length increasing and curls becoming more defined, I've finally figured out (I think) that Marguerite has 4a hair. (Didn't know there were defined hair categories? Right. Neither did I until Marguerite entered the picture. :)

Kathleen helps amass the ingredients for our first run at homemade hair products.

This is what the shea butter looks like at room temperature.
It's not hard as rock, but it's not soft like butter either. It takes some effort to mix it.

The thin every-day leave-in conditioner is on the left.
The pomade (for styling) is on the right.

All done!
The leave-in conditioner (in the tall water bottle) and the pomade (in the little container on the right) will be stored in our bathroom and used for many a hair-styling adventure for Miss Marguerite.

When Daddy Does Hair

It doesn't get much cuter than Daddy doing Miss Marguerite's hair.

It's a process, believe me. And Joe is getting in on the act.

Super-Dad does Marguerite's hair.

It's best to work through her hair while it's soaking wet -- thus, the wet face.

She actually enjoys this, though you'd never know from this photo.

Yes, Joe's body hair rivals Marguerite's head of hair, doesn't it? It's an Italian thing.

All done! Thank you, Daddy!

Hair

While the learning curve is still high for Marguerite's hair (which I beaded somewhat unsuccessfully today), Anna Marie is great at Therese's hair. Check Therese, sporting Anna Marie's most recent hair-do.

Finger Curls

Inspired by my friend, Rebecca, I decided to try finger curls in Marguerite's hair. The "puffs" which I'd done previously seemed a little hard on her hair, the elastic pulling on the hair shaft more than I would have liked.

These finger curls are not as numerous as they could have been, but since it was my first time, I'm giving myself a little pat on the back.

Since this first finger curl attempt, I have not been able to get Marguerite to sit still long enough to go a second round. Since she is starting to eat finger foods in her high chair now, perhaps that would be the best location for my next finger curl effort.

In spite of my amateurish efforts, that is one beautiful baby, eh?