Little Brother's Two-Strand Twists

K has a head full of two-strand twists!!

Lately Daddy D and I have been trying to decide what to do with K's hair. 

Do you remember his little mohawk?

Well, it's all grown out.

And it's long enough that it is getting very tangled, very quickly. The tangles are significant, so day after day of loose hair is becoming a less viable option. 

Another issue is that K is a bit "tender-headed".  He will tolerate finger detangling, but the only comb/brush he will tolerate is the Tangle Teezer, I think he likes the way it feels on his scalp. That being said, the jury is kind of out on the TT (for example, see this poll at The Natural Haven).

Daddy D still leans towards locs - which opens a whole other can of worms about locs on young children, and is definitely not something the extended family would embrace. In fact, as I've mentioned in previous "boy hair" posts, they have made it very clear to us that their preference is for short hair on boys. 

Sooooo, we could cut his hair.  It wouldn't be the first time. 

In fact , K had very short hair at one point:

But he has also has a pretty big 'fro:

And a long time ago...... before he could run away from me, I used to actually "style" K's hair. 

We decided to ask K his opinion. Since everyday loose hair was out, we gave him the choice of a hair cut or twists. He chose twists. 

I had no idea how this was going to work out, as he has literally not sat more than 2 minutes for any kind of hair time in the last 2 years. 

But it went very smoothly, and with a couple of TV shows, some snacks, and some breaks for jumping around I did manage to twist up his whole head. I think it must help that he sees JJ having her hair time every weekend - he actually seemed quite proud to be getting his hair done, like his big sister. 

He loves it!!!

Which means, further decision making is on hold, for this week, anyway! 

Any opinions on boy hair? On inviting young children to be involved in decision-making about their hair? On family pressures? On locs for children? I'd love to hear from you! 

JJ's Signature Style: Two-Strand Twists

About a year and a half ago, a simple google search led me to discover the existence of "hair blogs". The very first blog I found was Happy Girl Hair, and it was through blog-author Katie's posts that I first learned the basics of caring for JJ's hair.

One of Katie's posts around that time was about "signature" hair styles. I remember wondering if I'd ever be good enough at doing JJ's hair that she would have a signature style. Surprisingly though, it didn't take long for me to learn the joy of two-strand twists, and luckily, JJ loves them too!

A headful of two-strand twists is definitely JJ's signature style. I've become pretty quick with them, and I love the versatility they offer. JJ can wear them down, or her twists can be easily gathered in half-up half-down or pigtail styles. I usually do smedium-sized twists (note: I love this term for the size between small and medium - I first saw it used at Mainly Braids by the amazing and talented Shay. Check out this link for an awesome braid-out with smedium braids). We usually leave twists in for 2-3 weeks but I do have to pay careful attention to JJ's ends. I usually unravel and re-twist just the ends every 4-6 days or so to avoid tangles/loc'ing).

Here are JJ's recent twists:

Before twists: big hair

Halfway done. I usually do a (relatively)
straight part in the back so that I can easily throw in some pigtails. 

Done! 

JJ prefers the side part at the front so she can have some bangs hanging down.

Her bangs are actually getting really long...! 

As you can see, she loves to swing her twists around.

But wait!! It's not like JJ is the only cute kid out there who sports some awesome twists. Check out these blogs for even more twistspiration:

Chocolate Hair Vanilla Care: Love Boo's twists! Be sure to check out this post about how to do two strand rope twists.

Charlotte's Avenue: Twists are definitely Choca's signature style! Here is one of my all-time fave posts about Choca's twists.

Baby Big Hair: Chloe is another master of the two-strand twists! This is one of my favorite posts:  "lets do the twist"!

Greek Ghana Mix: The adorable GG rocks some great mini 2 strand twists here and an update on the 2 strand twists here.

Finally - be sure to check out this recent Blast at Baby Big Hair which gives the inside scoop on actor Yara Shahidi's beautiful, shiny twists.

Winter Wonderland Giveaway - Win a Classic Supercape from Fancy Pants Kids!!!

I am thrilled to be participating in this year's Winter Wonderland Giveaway, hosted by Untrained Hair Mom.

The sponsor for hair-raising adventures' giveaway is none other than Fancy Pants Kids!

My kids love to dress up, and they absolutely adore their Classic Supercapes from FPK. They love the way the capes fly behind them when they run and jump. They really feel like they are flying!

Gretel Meyer Odell, the Director and Designer of FPK has generously donated a Classic Supercape (retail value $20 CDN) for this giveaway (thanks, G!!). The winner of the giveaway gets to choose the colour and size of their Classic Supercape. You can check out the awesome selection of products at Fancy Pants Kids here.

Here is a little more about Gretel and her amazing business:

Gretel Meyer Odell is a Toronto mother-of-two. Eschewing store-bought gifts for the countless birthday parties her kids were invited to, Gretel started making dress-up accessories for her elder son to give to his friends. Her unique creations were the hit of every party and parents and kids begged for more. Now Fancy Pants Kids proudly delivers simple and beautiful designs – made to spark imaginations while allowing kids to write their own ‘scripts’. No commercial character knock-offs, no gender-based items - just sturdily constructed, washable designs in a vibrant and lush selection of kid-pleasing fabrics. Made for Fun. Made to Last. Made in Canada!


And - last but not least - a mama bragging moment: my very own JJ has recently been selected as one of the new faces of the Classic Supercape:

We LOVE our Supercapes. We would love for YOU to have one too! There are lots of ways to enter - see the Rafflecopter form for more details.


***CONTEST CLOSED***Congrats Tosha!!!!


Click "Read More" to load the Rafflecopter form! (Please note that Rafflecopter take a a minute to load).
Good luck!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

K and JJ's Christening - January 2009

First Giveaway - Braid Komb braid removal comb

It's been a week of firsts:

• Somehow my first year of (really, really part-time) blogging has come to an end! Welcome year 2 - I'm hoping for more exciting (and hair-raising) adventures!
• I did my first Wordless Wednesday post, hosted by Untrained Hair Mom (thanks, UHM)
• I finally won my first giveaway (thanks, Fancy Pants Kids)
• And now, I am using Rafflecopter for the very first time, to do my first giveaway!!

JJ and I are gearing up to participate in the one month protective styling challenge at Beads, Braids and Beyond. Right now JJ has a fresh new head of twists, but they probably won't last the full month. I'm thinking there are box braids in our future.

You may remember from previous posts that I don't mind putting braids in, but braid removal makes JJ and I grumpy. A while back I discovered a tool called the Braid Komb - it's a specially designed comb that makes braid removal easier.

It's locally made (in Toronto), and not yet available in the US or online.

So although it's not a big-ticket item in terms of price (retail $1.99), there is a certain exclusivity to it in that it's hard to find anywhere but here!!

For more information about the comb, check out the Komb Story on the Braid Removal Comb website.

I have 3 Braid Komb braid removal combs available to readers from anywhere in the world (I just checked my blogger stats; I know you're out there in Japan, Israel and Peru!). Hopefully, entering will be easy with the Rafflecopter form below. Here are the details for entering:

1) leave a comment on this post, telling me your favorite protective hair style

2) optional: "like" Hair-Raising Adventures on facebook

3) optional: follow Hair-Raising Adventures on Google Friend Connect

4) optional: share this giveaway on facebook or on your blog

This giveaway will close just after midnight on November 14, 2011 so don't blink or you'll miss it!

Click on "Read More" to load Rafflecopter. GOOD LUCK!

Wordless Wednesday - my first!

Cornrows into Tucked-in Twists

This style evolved from a previous style (see more here, at Making the Most of a Hairstyle).  JJ had a few braids at the front, and some cornrows at the back that still looked decent - even after 3 weeks - so I wanted to incorporate them into this style. 

I started with still-decent-looking braids at the front (bangs) and back (under the puff):

I undid the bottom row of braids, and undid the braided ends of the cornrows.

Then I cornrowed the sides up & towards the back. I secured each section in the middle of JJ's head with an orange ouchlesss band, and twisted the ends.

I added Halloweeny-colored beads to the bangs. JJ loves to whip her hair. 

I also twisted the twists and tucked all the ends in. JJ's hair is long enough that I didn't need to use pins.

Finally, for school and for eating and drinking, I tucked the long, beaded bangs into the twists. This helped to keep the braids clean (e.g., out of her food!!)  and helped keep her classmates safe. Did I mention she likes to whip her hair?

This style lasted another 2 weeks!! And got tons of compliments too!! 

Yes, I am patting myself on the back -  almost exactly one year ago I wrote my very first blog post!!  I have learned sooooo much since then! 

Thanks to all of you who have inspired me, and to all of you who have stopped by over the past year to take a peek at my hair-raising adventures! 

Making the Most of a Hairstyle

I always find it interesting how one style can evolve into another. A little while back, I got a month's worth of styles that originated from these cornrows into pigtails. 

After 3 or 4 days, I used pipe cleaners to give the style a new (curly braid) look:

After another 10 days, the top part of JJ's head was looking fuzzy from a combination of car seat, napping, falling-off sleeping caps, wrestling, etc:  

I left the braids in at the front and the back, and just took out the top cornrows. I'd been applying my home-made shea butter/coconut oil/shea oil mix to JJ's braids regularly, and her hair felt lovely and soft when I took it out of the braids.

top cornrows halfway out - look at that soft, shiny hair! 

JJ spent abut 5 days with a big pony puff  -  somehow I forgot to take pictures beyond this one:

So now we were almost three weeks in from the original style. The bang braids and braids in the back were still looking decent!

I took out the very bottom row of braids but kept the back cornrows in and incorporated them into a new style; cornrows into tucked-in twists. Some of the "bang" braids also still looked okay, and ended up getting included in the new style too.  

cornrows at the back going on week 4

original bang braids going on week 4

Both JJ and I are happy when we can stretch out a style. Although we both love hair time, it's nice to change up a style little at a time to minimize the meltdowns we both have when things take longer than expected. And JJ's hair grows well and stays in good condition with less manipulation.

Win-win!!

Halloween Style - "Rapunzel" Yarn Braids

JJ decided months ago that for Halloween she wanted to be Rapunzel. She had a very definite idea in her head. She wanted long, golden hair.

I, in turn, spent months trying to figure out how I would achieve this, as well as struggling with how I felt about her wanting long, golden hair.

A good friend encouraged me to lighten up. She said that she was sure that JJ wanting long, golden hair for Halloween did not necessarily mean that she disliked her tightly coiled, shrinkage-prone black hair. This friend reminded me of the many times that I have changed my look drastically for Halloween, theme parties and other special events.  This, she told me, was the same thing. It was one day, and JJ should have what she wanted.

After some thought, I decided to go with an interpretation of long, golden hair that would respect what JJ wanted, but would also incorporate her natural hair.

First we found some light golden yarn, with just a little bit of sparkle to it.

Working with clean, dry, stretched hair, I added in the yarn. 

At first I tried to do a two strand twist, half hair, half yarn. 

JJ decided it was too candy-cane-like. 

I tried another twist. This time I started with a flat rope twist into a two strand twist. She liked this look better, so we went with it for the rest of the hair. 

In the end she had six flat twists in the front, with the yarn incorporated into them. The parting style was copied from this simple braids into princess hairstyle at All Things Cute and Girly.  JJ had an additional 6 braids (with yarn incorporated) at the back, for a total of 12 medium-sized sections. I braided the ends of each section. The length of each section (once braided) was at her waist. 

I pulled the two sides together into side ponytails.

JJ also wanted to add this crown that a friend had recently given her. 

In the end, JJ was extremely pleased with her long, golden Rapunzel hair, and she had a great time at school and trick-or-treating.

Little brother's hair, on the other hand, was pretty low maintenance: white hat. 

BOO!

Happy Halloween!!!

One last photo: the next day at school Rapunzel style - pulled into a loose bun.

And check out these other great Halloween Carnival styles:

Got Halloween photos to share? Get the linky code and link up!