Tedious/Intricate Hairstyles: Experience, Tips & Distractions

Blogger Post from Sdestra (featuring MadiMelzCurlz)

My daughter, MadiMelz kept complaining while I did her hair at one point (a few years back...she still complains but not much) due to length of time it takes to style her hair.  This is when I want to be adventurous and do tiny twists, braids or a combo.  I like to wash, untwist, detangle, unbraid, rebraid and retwist her hair to last another 10 years...lol.  And between the washes, I would style the twists too to keep them looking fresh.  As much as she loves the end result of her hair style...she hates the process at times.  It even came to a point where she complained about having too much hair!

She said, "Mommy...I have too much hair, can you please cut it?"  I looked at her and thought to myself...all that hard work isn't going any where and do you know how many people would love to have as much hair as you do!!!  But I was not going to burden her with that...she's young and at that age, the world somewhat revolves around them.  All she knows is that it takes long to do her hair.  But for me, it's priceless because I can make the styles last for 2-3 weeks.  Brush here, gel here, moisturize there, wash on this day, throw on a scarf and voila!

When I want to do detailed styles, I dedicate a day for it...that's right...a day.  So I can break up the times I do her hair.  That also helps me in the process because I have a baby boy who is a bundle of demands with a strong personality...I wonder where he got that from?

I started playing movies for MadiMelz, sometimes have her read a book to her baby brother, she plays games on her DS and sometimes she falls asleep and that's when I go for the kill and do it all.

What I felt was not fair to myself was when I had an image of a style I wanted to do for a particular event, I set myself up for disappointment.  Especially when time runs out on me or I let time run out on me...whichever it is, time is a factor.  If we plan on going somewhere, I have to be realistic and do a quick style on her hair if I haven't had a chance to twist, braid and all that other good stuff too.  Just keep it simple and cute which I'm getting the hang of.  Here are the repercussions if you try to do the hair in intricate and tedious styles especially if you have a small window to do it to prepare for any event.

-You get very impatient

-Your blood pressure rises

-In turn, your voice rises because your Curly Gurl will not sit still

-You get flusterred
-The style doesn't come out the way you invisioned
-You are subconsciously being a little rough with the hair
-You're rushing and keep watching the time...trust, it will keep going without you...
-Your Curly Gurl feeds off that energy and doesn't cooperate
-Your Curly Gurlz complaints are becoming annoying just because you're in a different mind frame
-When you're done, not only that you aren't happy with the style...but you are ripping and running to get yourself ready and yelling at everyone else like it's their fault..lol.

I'm not saying I do all of these things...but I can imagine what it can be like in some instances,



For BlessedMomOf3 and I,
These tips help us when it comes to detailed/tedious hairstyling of our Curly Gurlz:


~Watching a favorite TV show or movie
~Prepare their favorite snacks
~Allow them to play a game on a handheld device (DS, Leapster, Your cell phone with fun apps)
~Place a variety of their favorite books in front of them for their reading pleasure
~Allow them to play educational games or watch child appropriate shows on your laptop
~If they have an older sibling, allow them to play a card game or board game together
~Offer them 2-5 minute breaks every half hour or so
~Or dedicate a day (if possible) to do the hair and break it up to make it work around other things that need to be done.

What tips can you share that has helped you?  Believe me, the best feeling is to get that hair done and have it last a few weeks is priceless!

Thanks for reading!

-Sdestra

"My Daughter's Hair Is Not Growing, Why?"

Many of us who are currently on a hair journey went through the phase where you think your hair is not growing.  And many of us learned that your hair will always grow, it's just that you need to maintain and retain what you grew out of your scalp.  That means if you don't care for your hair ends, which is the oldest section of hair on your head, it will slowly break off.  As a result, you think your hair is not growing.  Those ends must stay moisturized being that it tends to be vulnerable to dryness, brittleness and split-ends.  Protective styles tend to be a great way to protect those hair ends and also help keep it moisturized as long as it is being moisturized.

But what about our/your young Curly Gurlz who we are diligently caring for their hairs to acquire a successful hair journey?  We received a few questions about why does it seem like a child's hair doesn't grow when the ends are moisturized and taken care of... And we had also pondered on the same thing at one point during or daughters' hair journies. 

You're doing all of the right things:

*Washing/Conditioning
*Combing from ends to roots
*Moisturizing and moisturizing the hair ends often
*Cowashing
*Using Oils
*Using less tension when braiding/styling
*Staying away from those hair candies that have metal prongs in them
*Tying a satin scarf around their heads or have them sleep on a satin pillow case

But the hair still falls at the same point on the back as it did a few months ago.

The hair is going to grow regardless.  Us being adults, we stop growing at around a certain age...so during our hair journey, as long as we retain the hair we grew, we will see the length as it comes.  But for our little ones, it's a different story.  Some children go through growth spurts and despite that, the hair will seem like it's "not growing" because of the physical growth.  Sometimes the physical growth will "take away" the length of the hair because the child has gotten a bit taller.  If you really want to keep track of your Curly Gurlz' hair progress, you may want to use a ruler/measuring tape/paper clips (lol) to measure the hair, rather to go by where it falls on the back.

One day you can claim that your 6 year old is APL. Then next year, despite all the tedious care you put into the hair, you say that same child who turned 7 is a little past APL...you would think that the hair will fall somewhere a bit further than last year's.

This may be relevant information to some and not to all.  Each child is also different and unique because of the way they were designed by God. 

But do keep this in mind...

*Your child's hair is growing,
*Keep moisturizing and using protective styles to protect the hair ends and retain length
*Measure the hair instead of relying on where it falls on the back to protect yourself from discouragement & disappointment.
*Try focusing on the health of your child's hair and the growth with be an added bonus :)

Hope this helps

Written by Sdestra
(Mom to MadiMelzKurlz

(Disclaimer:  We are not experts, but merely sharing information that has helped us during our Curly Gurlz' hair journies)