Little Girl's Hairstyles: Winter Hair Care Tips

If any of you live in my same dry dry climate, you know that it can be hard on your hair, as well as your little ones. Here's some general tips that can benefit those flowing locks this winter:

1. Don't go outside with damp or wet hair in the winter. Your hair could freeze, and if it's chilly enough, hair can breakoff. Wear a scarf and/or hat to protect wet hair (if it's a must), and use a good daily conditioner (or don't wash every single day!).
2. Glossy hair is a reflection of your inner health. Take vitamins (yes for kids!), exercise, drink lots of water, avoid stress and smoking, and eat those veggies!
3. Cotton hats are easier on your hair, as they create less static than wool or acrylic. You could try a cotton scarf under a wool hat as well.
4. And remember, when using those high heat hair devices, always use a good heat protectant on your hair. It will help keep the moisture in that heat zaps away.
5. Static filled hair usually equals dry hair. A quick rub from roots to ends with dryer sheets work great, but again, great daily conditioners or deep conditions 1 or 2x per week are helpful too!

Happy Winter days outside! Building snowman, sledding, ice skating= all great for happy healty kids (and hair!).

Little Girl's Hairstyles - A Dance Do: Twist Braid Bun 7-10 Min

This one is in honor of all you moms who lovingly help their dearest darlings pull on tights and leotards 2 or 3 times a week and drive to the dance studio to watch their princesses bounce around to the best of Disney songs. And you do it all with pride and joy! Right? Right! I know, I do it for both of my gals, and I love every dancey dance minute of it. Nothing's cuter than when they put on those leotards and tights and ballet shoes.

SO, they need some cute-out-of-the-face-ballerina-hair that's fast and easy to match. This is what my littlest princess wears to her big 4 year old class:

It's SO easy and fast! Pull the hair back into a high ponytail, hair thoroughly damp.

Divide the ponytail evenly into two sections of hair.

Do 2 twist braids in the ponytail, and feel free to tie a big red ribbon around the ponytail. For the most part, just ignore the ribbon. It was purely experimental. 

After your twist braids are finished, let me direct your attention to some fabulous hair tools: Mini Pins OR teeny tiny bobby pins that works superbly in little girl's hairstyles! Their hold is amazing, and just the right size for their little heads (see below). This is what I use to hold in her bun.

Take one of the twist braids and start wrapping it around the base of the ponytail.

Wrap the twist braid until the end,

and secure with a mini pin. It works better if you stick the bobby pin down INTO the bun, rather than placing it next to the bun, as I'm doing here.

Next, take the second twist braid and wrap it around the bun in the opposite direction that you wrapped the first braid.

And secure the ends in the same way. Use as many bobby pins as you need to around the base of the bun until it's secure.

If you've cleverly incorporated your ribbon in as I've done here, all you have to do is tie it! :) Otherwise wrap one around at the end, and she's all set!

Happy Dancing!

Little Girl's Hairstyles --Q & A "What Hair Products Do You Use?"

I told you all that I will never show my OWN hair on here--because I detest doing my own hair! But, I am sure many of you have similar hair strife, right!? 

I had a reader ask me what products I use on my own hair, since I've mentioned that my hair is thick, curly, and as such, dry dry dry! Well, with the help of some good stylist friends, who get product for me at their salon distribution stores, I've found some really great stuff. So, here it is! Hopefully this is one hair care tip you can use on yourselves, friends! Here is what is in MY shower:

My two favorite conditioners in the world are:

Biolage Conditioning Balm (see below)

Redken All Soft Conditioner

If you ever get dry damaged ends, and need an awesome deep conditioner:

It's a 10 or

Redken Real Control Intense Renewal

I love love Biolage. They are formulated specifically for drier hair (curly hair tends to dryness, since the hair shaft itself is more porous), and I love their Hydrating Shampoo.

Now on to styling products:

Since curly hair tends to be dry, and doesn't have a lot of natural shine, I like to use a shine serum. This is not just for when you straighten your hair either-although it's wonderful to smooth on the ends when you do--but I use this when I'm mixing up my styling concoction for when I want my hair curly.

My favorite shine serum is:

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny (you can see how it's almost gone!) I just use one squirt of this, and mix it into my hand along with a dollop of Paul Mitchell Super Sculpt (see below), and a squeeze of Redken Curl Refiner (see below).

These are available at your salon, or if you have fabulous friends (like mine) or stylists that will get them for you at a discount, then you are blessed. I'm a die hard fan of these hair products, and no, I don't use these on my girl's hair. These are for ME and ME only. :)

For some tips on little girl hair care, see my post here.

Some basic rules if you have curly hair (or if your girl does!).

• Don't wash it every day. I used to think this was horrendous, since I'm a clean freak, but washing it even just every other day does wonders for the elasticity and strength of your hair. As I said before, dry hair is more porous, this is what gives it it's texture and curl. It also makes it break easier. The natural oils from your scalp hydrate your hair and keep it healthy, Washing your hair too much strips away these necessary oils, and, thus, split ends and breakage. The curlier your hair, the drier the hair shaft will be.
• Getting frequent hair cuts (8-12 weeks) is also a must for good hair health--especially if you are trying to grow it out!
• If you have really dry ends, and don't want to cut off several inches, try masking your hair ends in one of the deep conditioners I mentioned above before you get in the shower. You can let it sit while you shower and then reapply conditioner again. You can also put it on your ends and put on a shower cap, and blowdry the shower cap for 5 or so minutes, then wrap your head in a towel to keep the heat in. The heat will open the cuticle and allow the conditioner to do it's job.

Here's to your happy healthy hair!

Little Girl's Hairstyles - Valentine's Day Dos! 10-15 min

Valentine's Day Hairstyles!!

I had a most lovely email from a reader who sent me her cute Valentine's hairstyle! Look at this:

Here's what Jo said: i love your site ! here's one u can try & have been doing this to my girl for about 10 years... this pic is the next door neighbor's lil girl i just did b4 school today (v-day party today at school) did my girl too but her pic wasn't as clear & her hair is longer wanted to show it works on shorter hair too... thanks for all the ideas & hope u enjoy this one... the part is the key btw... & i only pull from the top so the braid floats a lil... peace

Thanks a million Jo!! She did such a great job on this hairstyle!!

Here's my submission to the land of hearts and cupids! Start off with a small zig zag part to the crown, and make two hig ponys.

Put in two twist braids on each side.

Join the two twist braids closest to the center in the middle of her head.

Next, join the two outside twist braids down low on her head, forming your heart. You can do this with regular braids, fish tail braids, whatever you want to do.

I used my wave iron on the rest of her head, and stuck in this gorgeous bow from Flowerz In Her Hair.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Little Girl's Hairstyles - Daisy Chain Braid with a WAVER 10-15 Min

Here's a zippy and cute do that is doable before school! I did it one morning AND took pictures, and got her on the bus. Sorry abut the bluish tint to my pictures here. My bathroom lights stink for picture taking. But the show must go on...

For this fun and fancy one, I started with a side part back to her crown.

I then angle parted the larger section, and clipped off the middle area. I did spritz these little sections with water before I began my braid.

I did a daisy chain braid down to her ear and put in an elastic.

I did another braid in the middle section, angling towards the same direction as the first.

And then, I got out my WAVER. And yes,  I LOVE it! I found this one in a clearance bin at Ross, and you would have thought I'd found a $100 bill buried in that bin. You see, long ago I had ye old crimping iron (1980 called and wanted it back), and I have since yard saled or DI'ed it, and have regretted it ever since. I didn't love the crimpled look, but I just loved the idea of the crimper. Nice, evenly distributed waves, not induced by an hour and a half of braiding. I've searched high and low for one that I liked (I don't like, I repeat, I don't like using the 3 barrel thingamajig) and was easy to use. SO, I'm telling you all this so that when the day comes and you find your waver buried in a bin, you will be as happy as I was! They are FABULOUS! Here's what Bessie (this is what I've named her since she's so beloved now) looks like:

See the nice deep waves? And it has temperature settings so you adjust it according to the type of hair you are using it on.

To begin waving I parted off her hair into small  sections. I comb the hair out first, and lightly mist that section with hairspray, comb again, and then pick up my first piece to wave.

This waver gets extremely hot, so to protect her little noggin, I place the comb right next to her head when I use the waver up close.

Do each piece evenly, and always spray with hairspray before. This will help keep it in throughout the day. When you have waved all her hair, very lightly comb through from underneath, and only if necessary. If you've combed the piece out beforehand, it shouldn't need much.

And voila!

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Q & A: How to get the gals to sit still long enough to do their hair!!??

A recent comment (and many many others) have led me to share just some things I do to get my gals to sit still and let me play with their hair.
This is what my friend Angelia said:

I can't get my fiance's girls to sit still and play beauty shop. I even got a comb and everything. I want to play with their hair so bad, but they just run around like boys. :0(


Well, here's what I do ladies:
 
1. I go to my girls' bathroom and grab 3 things: Their small step stool, the garbage (for hairs that are combed out),  and the basket that I keep all of my hair 'tools' in (elastics, combs, hairspray, spray bottle, etc.). It's portable and I keep it under my bathroom sink so it's ready to go.
2. I park them on the small stool in front of the TV (gasp! I know). I turn it on to their favorite cartoon (or whatever they'll watch).
3. If that is not going to hack it that day, I offer a variety of my wondeful homemade nutritional snacks...such as candy, fruit snacks, pretzels,etc., to eat while they watch TV. (I am teaching excellent habits here.) 
 

My basket

This usually works 9 times out of 10 with my 3 year old. My 6 year old has been through this enough that she'll stand still for me in the bathroom and we just chat while I do her hair. But, like I mentioned in my last Q & A, it just takes repetition. Kids will get used to a routine and you can have your 15 minute window of hair time. I've found that having all my stuff readily available helps too, because if I'm constantly getting up to get something, they like to get up too and run away.
 
I hope that's doable for some of you! Don't give up--they get used to it, and LOTS of compliments help them start to like the whole 'getting pretty' time.  :)
 

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Puffy Braids with Headband and Corkscrew Curls 15-20 Min

Here's a "Half and Half" hair do. I have seen versions of this idea at various times, and have always had mixed thoughts on them. "Is her hair supposed to be curly? Should only parts of that be crimped/curly?" I just decided to try it out for myself, and I think it's a keeper!

This is what we started with: Mostly straight, but with some pesky waves underneath.

So I lightly misted her hair with water and round brushed it all straight.

Next I parted off the headband section, and clipped the back away. I parted off the first of 5 ponys, each about 2 inches wide.

I pulled the first 3 ponys into the next, like here.

After the 3rd, I parted off the next 2 sections.

I put in an elastic in the last pony first, since I wanted to join both the bottom pony and the top into this last pony.

Here's what it looked like after I put in both sides.

Next (and I'm not sure why I don't have pictures of this ....) I did corkscrew curls, using my 1/2 inch curling iron, around the back of her head. I took pieces only from the top, right next to the parted off headband, only going about an inch down from the headband, and I did a corkscrew curl. I then did the same inch tall section next to it, and so on until I'd done all the way around her head. Let the curls cool, and then comb through them lightly, from underneath, with your fingers, to separate the hair and spread them out a bit.

This shows better what pieces I curled going around the back of her head.

This big flower bow came from KayteBug Boutique. Excuse the goofiness. She'd had enough hair for the day.