My one qualification for braids this time was that the girls had to have every morsel of their hair braided – no combing for Granny while we were gone!

They actually gave her the scoop the first night she was here: “Granny, you do not brush our hair. Only spraying with con-di-di-ter. No brushing – ok?”

You should have seen the look of relief on her face. lol

So here are the results – I really like how Sugar’s hair turned out in the front with the little swoop! And the three cascading ponies at the back were a first as well. I really dig it!

For Christmas, my mom gave the girls a few tubs full of ponybeads, along with some of that plastic thread stuff. She’s retiring from teaching and getting rid of some of the gear she has stockpiled over a 30+ year career.

Anyway, those beads have been put to good use. The girls have made several bracelets, as well as Maggie’s necklaces, which you can see she wears all the time now.

And now we have an almost infinate supply of hair beads!

So last week, we decided to do Spice’s hair with green beads. It’s really cute! and I was quite amazed how lined up they turned out. Enjoy the pictures.

BTW: Doesn’t that summery background in their room just set the beads off? In case you are newer to our blog, or didn’t know, my sister painted all the walls of the girls’ room. It’s amazing! And yes, she does travel (BC/AB) to do murals!

These girls are such hams. But I like it – then I get a lot of good pictures!!

I wanted to take a picture of Sugar’s extensions, but… well, I was ambushed by two dancing prancing girls.

Hams.

It’s been a while since I’ve changed my hair dramatically… maybe I just sort of ran out of things to do. After all, it’s been every colour. So I decided (without telling my husband, of course,) that I was going to do something a little more drastic.

We designed it so that you can see the hair tatoo when I part my hair on the right, but not when I part it on the left. Or, I can use a barrette to really show it off. I’ll have to post a picture soon of me actually wearing it!

Jrock was less than impressed – he said it looks like I have ringworm.

Sugar said “it’s kinda wierd, but very interesting.” Spice said “I like your new hair. It’s awesome!” And I like it too. So three out of four ain’t bad!

If you like the look – Ken at Oxygen Salon in Kelowna did it for me.

I did veil braids for the second time last week – last time was on Sugar but this time it was for Spice. She looks super pretty. It’s a very feminine style – and not that difficult, either. I know, it looks really intricate, but appearances are deceiving.

For all of you who always ask me to post a video (which is probably never going to happen! Because I spend a lot of time doing hair already! lol) Here are some basic instructions.

1. Divide a row of hair in the front into an even number of sections. Each section, make a little pony tail with rubber elastics. 
2. Then make two little braids coming from that ponytail.
3. Next row – divide it into sections again, offset behind the first row (think rows of bricks.)
4. Bring one of the little braids from each of the two front row sections into the new section. Secure the braids and hair from that section with an elastic. Then comb out the section ponytail so the old hair mingles with the new hair.
5. Then, make two braids.
6. And so forth. I liked finishing it with a “puff” – aka a big ponytail.
7. The tip is to do the little ponytails near the back of the section, and don’t tie the elastic tightly, as it might break the hair.

When you want to take it out, snip the elastics. Never try to take them off.

Hey – if you do this style (great for special Christmas!) then post a link in the comments to your pic. I would love to see it Click to embiggen the photos.

Usually when we look on the internet for hair ideas, we take an idea, often simplify it, and make it our own.

This week, however, Sugar saw one of Alicia Keys’ styles and wanted “exactly that.”  Well, I am not stylist to the stars! but here is my interpretation. click the pics to embiggen…

Funny note: We were out at a gathering today and a little Ethiopian girl asked Sugar “who does your hair?” Big people ask tthis all the time, but it’s the first time I’ve heard a child ask her. “My mommy, of course!” she replied. You betcha!

BTW, the Alicia Keys has to be the spokeswoman for Hollywood braids. I mean, some of these are SO fabulous… a little gallery for you! May we all be inspired…

Ethiopia has a very rich culutre – all the different tribes give the country an amazing variety of customs, people, languages… and hair!

Above are some stamps from the 70s and 80s that showcase various traditional hairstyles. One of my favourites is Tigrean (from Tigray) hair – braids in the front and fluffy in the back. Now, my girls aren’t Tigrean (they’re Oromo) but I still think they look disarmingly pretty with this style!

Here is Spice’s hair this week. The colouring is really wierd since I took the pictures late at night under our CFL bulbs – but you get the idea.

I try to mix it up a little with the girls’ hair. Sometimes it gets hard to think of new things… and then I go onto the internet and I’m awakened to so many possibilities to try! The only thing that gets in the way sometimes is my skill level… lol

I really would love to learn to turn braids tightly… to make really crisp corners. I am sort of getting the hang of melding braids into another, but you can see from Sugar’s hairdo that it still is a developing skill. I have a ways to go.

What I like about this style is that it gives her head a little shape and lift up on the top of the right hand side… I like it where all the top braids flow together. The girls’ hair still isn’t long enough to go from the very front of their head all the way to the back nape, though, so you still see a few wispies in the back on the braids. When we braid from the middle top down to the sides, that no longer happens, but straight back it still has some growing to do.

Enjoy the pictures. Sugar likes this ‘do because it has “loud crackling dancing beads on the bottom of my hairs.”

This is such a great video – I think you’ll love it too.

It’s a hair-love song from a father to his Ethiopian-born daughter. Thanks to my friend who has a daughter from China who passed this on to me – please watch it and let’s spread the positive hair vibe to all our daughters!

About the video (from NPR):

“I Love My Hair” debuted on the Oct. 4 episode of Sesame Street. It was posted on the show’s YouTube page — and then women began posting the video on their Facebook pages.

African-American bloggers wrote that it brought them to tears because of the message it sends to young black girls.

Joey Mazzarino, the head writer of Sesame Street, is also a Muppeteer who wrote the song for his daughter. Mazzarino is Italian. He and his wife adopted their 5-year-old daughter, Segi, from Ethiopia when she was a year old.

Mazzarino says he wrote the song after noticing his daughter playing with dolls.

“She wanted to have long blond hair and straight hair, and she wanted to be able to bounce it around,” he tells NPR’s Melissa Block.

Mazzarino says he began to get worried, but he thought it was only a problem that white parents of African-American children have. Then he realized the problem was much larger.

In writing the song, he wanted to say in song what he says to his daughter: “Your hair is great. You can put it in ponytails. You can put it in cornrows. I wish I had hair like you.”

That simple message has caused an outpouring of responses from women. Mazzarino got a call from an African woman who told him the song brought her to tears. “I was amazed, ’cause I sort of wrote this little thing for my daughter, and here this adult woman, it touched her,” he says.

Mazzarino says he’s happy to report that Segi loves the song — and her hair.

The yarn extensions we had for September lastest all month – yipee! So Last week I went about putting the girls on alternating hair schedules.

Last week was Sugar… something you’ve seen a lot before, but with a little Ethio twist. She desperatly wanted braids hanging in her face (which I don’t think is attractive on her, and drags in her soup,) so this was our compromise. I’ve seen it done a few times in Ethiopa, but it was the first loopy braid I’ve tried ont he girls. She was delighted.

She looks a little greased up in the pictures, but that would be the Vicks under her nose and the magic hair elixir on her forehead and scalp, before it has all melted it.

Then Spice was this weekend. She does look cute with braids down the side of her head (different head shapes) but I wanted it tidy. To we did simple cornrows with twisted ends. Pretty cute! I must say.

A note on the panda bear. It was given to her by my mom when she left us in Ethiopia. Spice didn’t play with it much the first 6 months or so. But since, it has morphed into her absolutely favoritest toy. It gets new collars (bracelets) ever day, and mostly sleeps with her at night.

Oh, FAQ: I’m getting two weeks out of their braids now….

I was worried as summer approached – what hair could I do that would stand up to the sun, days at the beach, sprinklers, etc?

Well, I decided that the swimming would just happen, and not to worry. But I did start making their braids smaller and using more of my secret hair elixer. (Secret told here.) So far so good! In the pictures below, you can see Sugar’s hair was just done, so the hair elixer is gooing out… but the braids have been lasting about three weeks, which is great, I say!

I’m finally starting to do smaller braids on the girls’ heads – it just didn’t seem worth it when they used to go through a head of braids in a week! but now that it’s lastly two weeks, it makes it more worthwhile to sit for almost two Disney movies!

I tried something new with Spice and I really liked it – sort-of tigrayan style with braids in the front tight to her head, and then braids loose in the back. Sugar got a normal “one puff” – but with the braids continuing out, which I liked as well.

Our Okanagan Families With Children From Africa group had our second Happy Hair Hour last week – what fun!  Thanks so much to N for hosting.  There were 7 of us ladies… most with kids from Ethiopia and Swaziland, and one Ethiopian lady. The agenda – eat baked camembert, drink wine, be merry, and talk hair (specifically, our kids’ hair).

One of the items I brought to show and tell (this is one of my favorite part of Happy Hair Hour, aside from the gossip and the cheese!) was my Magic Hair Elixir.  And today – oh you lucky people – the recipe is going to be shared with the world!!!

So it was born of necessity. The first time I was going to do twists on my daughter’s hair, I didn’t have any holding paste or wax. I don’t like gel staying on there and drying the hair out, and the only beeswax paste I could find, well, it’s main ingredient is petroleum. So after encouragement from my friend, I decided to make my own.

A couple batches in, I can tell you that it works AWESOMELY. The wax gives you a grip on the hair and holds a bit, the butter moisturizes and the oil allows it to be the right consistency for dabbing onto the hair pre-braiding. It doesn’t leave a film on my grils’ hair at all, and it helps it stay nice and moisturized and healthy. Enjoy!

My magical hair elixir

• 1/4 beeswax
  I get mine at the farmer’s market, or last last Saturday night, at the honey farm!
• 1/4 coconut or shea butter
  Both work great. 100% butters are available at your local health food and most grocery stores.
• 1/2 oil (olive or sweet almond are good)
  The trick is you can’t use any oil that needs to be stored in the fridge after opening.

Melt together in a jar over water, then stir several times as it cools. Store at room temperature.

So they lasted just over three weeks. Then I couldn’t stand it anymore, because their foreheads were getting fuzzy.

Spice – the first day.

Sugar – two weeks in.

Sugar actually asked a few days ago to take the yarn extensions out – she wanted “new braids” – but I said “four more sleeps”… with, of course, the devious intention of stretching that to a week since they can never remember how many sleeps anything is.

Alas, four sleeps it was. But for a day’s worth of braiding, that’s not too bad. For a first time doing yarn extensions, and with active three year olds, anyway. Anybody got these things to last a lot longer and still look good? Any tips?

The girls were pretty durn excited when we snipped them off tonight. Some moms may identify with this – Jrock and I thought long and hard before we decided to offer them yarn extensions, because of all the social/cultural/identity implications. Anyway, we decided that they wouldn’t hurt them (like a relaxer or weave – I think that is so wrong for kids!) Our only concern was that they would like the extensions so much, that they wouldn’t want their “real hair” anymore. Especially Spice, because she’s pretty vain and really into hair. But they both surprised us and, as much as they enjoyed them, are ready to get back to their “real hair”… which they agree is softer than yarn anyways.

Enjoy the video… it’s of them getting their “hair” cut off. You get a little more of their talking than I can usually capture on film. It’s pretty amusing.

For the first time I tried yarn extensions yesterday on [edit:Spice! oops - wrote the wrong pseudonym!] Yikes – two and a half Disney movies long!!!! ehhh!!! She did sit still the whole time, though. People ask me how they do that – the trick is, it’s the only time they watch TV. So they are rivetted!

But it does look really good.  Please please please last a long time!

here is the vid I used to do them, for all of you who request videos the wonders of youtube.