My "MUST HAVES" Natural Hair Survival Kit!

Happy Thursday Brown Girls!

Conditioning with TRESemme'

I had one of our lovely Moms, who follows our channel, to send me a note today on Google+. Here's a small excerpt of her issue:

I am currently raising an 8 year old granddaughter and am not very hair savvy and with so many products to choose from and such a tight budget as I currently have, it has been very challenging trying to find the right techniques and products. Thanks to you and a few others who make little girl hair care vids, I have finally gotten her hair and scalp a little healthier, (scalp used to be extremely dry). Now I am working on her hair texture. Having difficulty keeping the moisture in. But I was amazed when I washed it this past weekend at how "thick it has gotten! Please continue doing your videos because I am so very tempted to get this child a perm!....lol! But every time I look at your vids, I am encouraged, it is just difficult when you can't really afford the products, at least I am not out just spending willy-nilly and finding out that things that I spent a mint on don't work for her. Today I was looking at the As I am and the Shea moisture lines. I am still confused about these curly pudding and curl meringue products. I am always thinking these manufacturers are just trying to get you by making the product sound like yummy foods. If you have any suggestions of what main items I should get, I appreciate it.

I responded to her, but I also told her that I would put more information in a blog post. So here it is!

These are my suggestions of MUST HAVE PRODUCTS for girls with THICK COURSE NATURAL HAIR. Because this is the type of hair that my daughter has, I am going to share with you the products that I can't live without. Let me repeat, These are the products THAT I can't live without.

With that being said, I know that my list will not work for everyone, but I am sharing the must haves that work best for US on our journey :)!

Please READ the paragraph below FIRST!

**I am NOT including any high end product on this list which means that this list does not contain ALL of the products that we NEED, it just contains the products that I would want if we were stranded on an island somewhere. This list only includes inexpensive products that I keep on hand at all times. When my money is funny, I can survive with these items! LOL**

Hair Products

1. TRESemme' Conditioner- makes detangling a breeze period!

2. Just for Me Moisturizer- when all else fails, this always works for us! Clears up her dry hair with the quickness!

Hair Supplies

1. Wide Tooth Comb- it's impossible to detangle her hair without one!

2. Rat Tail Comb- to make straight parts.

3. Goodie Outchless Ponytail Holders

4. Satin Bonnet or Head Wrap

That's really it! You notice I don't have a bunch of hair products on my list. Why? because it really doesn't take all of that to survive. Sometimes the basics are enough.

What are the MUST have items for your daughters hair?

Teach Your Daughter to Care for Her Natural Hair *3 Tips*

Brown Girls Hair

Every little girl loves to play in Mommy's clothes, shoes, and jewelry. She loves to watch Mom put on her make up and comb her hair. She's looking at you dreaming of the day when she will be able to do it too!

We all know that our children learn best by watching what we do, not what we say. The first step to teaching your daughter how to care for her hair is to establish good hair habits with your hair first. She's always watching you, even when you aren't paying attention.

1. Start early teaching her what to do at bath and bed time.

I started teaching my daughter to wear a shower cap at bath time at the age of 4. This is a great age because you don't have to worry too much about her putting it in her mouth and chocking on it. You still have to keep an eye on her because it is plastic, and she is in a tub of water. Parental supervision is always needed when plastic and water is involved.

Once she gets out of the tub, switch from the shower cap immediately to the satin bonnet. After she does it religiously, it will become automatic!

Just like you create a routine for your hair, create one for your daughter too. Not just the one that you do on her hair, but create a simple one for her to do as well.

2. As early as 5 or 6, you can start teaching her to moisturize her hair depending on the thickness and/length of her hair. A child with long and thick hair may have more of a challenge with this task. So you may need to wait until your child becomes a little older and more patient. Always start by keeping the process easy and fun! If she doesn't think it's a fun tasks to do, wait until she does!

You can start with a simple method like putting her hair in 4 sections, then show her how to put the moisturizer in the palm of her hand, rub it in her hands, then apply it to her hair from root to end one section at a time.

Give her one very small portion of a section to start with. As she grows more comfortable over time, add more to her section. Keep increasing her portion (as time goes). For example this week she does one small section and next week add a little more to her section etc.

3. Let her help wash and detangle her hair on wash day. All kids love to play in bubbles! On wash day, you can give her a small section of her hair (in the front so that she can see in the mirror) to help wash and detangle. This is a great way to teach her the basics of how to do it. As she grows older, you can add more hair for her to do. Eventually, she'll be able to do her whole head!

The timeline of when you start to teach your daughter is at your discretion because you know your child better than anyone else. Just know that you are always teaching her by what you do, so make your hair habits good ones and she will follow!

This article was featured on CurlyNikki HERE!
This article was also featured on BlackGirlWithLongHair HERE!

Spring Break Braids

Brown Girls Hair

*VIDEO* of Crystal Swain-Bates Book Review

Here is the video version (my daughter's point of view) of the 3 books we reviewed by Crystal Swain-Bates. You can read the written version (my point of view) HERE!

Brown Girl enjoying Color My Fro

Click HERE for the written version!

Crystal Swain-Bates Books Reviewed

My daughter had the pleasure of receiving 3 books from an awesome lady named Crystal Swain-Bates!
She is the author of 5 books that fill the much needed niche in the African American literary market. My daughter was so excited when she opened up the package and saw books that featured characters that look like her!

It was so much fun capturing her discovering these books on camera. I will post the video version to this review later in the week! It will be very fun to watch, I promise! You will get first hand how my daughter feels about each book!

This written review is more of my point of view. The video will be solely my daughter's point of view.

I took some pictures of the front and back covers of each book so that you can see how beautiful and creative the characters look!

The first book that we will review is called Color My Fro!

Color My Fro by Crystal Swain-Bates

This is a coloring book that caters to women and girls of all ages! All of the characters have cute natural hair styles. The fashion is very chic and fun! It's even better that you can color them to look however you desire!

My daughters choose this book first to explore. I'm sure it's due to the fashion! She loves clothes! If your little one is a fashionista, I'm sure she'll love this one too!

Color My Fro: In celebration of the beauty of black women with natural hair, 31 big-haired fairies, mermaids, warriors, models, cheerleaders, and fierce divas grace the pages of this coloring book. Fun for any occasion, “Color My Fro” is perfect for natural hair lovers of any age.

Brown Girl Enjoying Color My Fro

One of my favorite pages in Color My Fro

SUPERMOMMY by Crystal Swain-Bates

Suppermommy is about how a little girl feels about her single mom! I must say when we first opened up this book, I didn't think my daughter would relate to it because she's not in a single parent home! To my surprise, she totally could relate to it because GREAT Mom's are great single or not! We both loved the story line in this book. It captured both of our attention as we read it! This is a must have for all households that have a Supermom involved!

This is a very easy to read book and the illustrations in it are awesome!

Supermommy: Perfect for children in single-parent homes, this picture book celebrates a single mother’s seemingly supernatural ability to care for her children, at least in her daughter Miadora’s eyes as she attempts to showcase her Supermommy at her school’s show and tell.

The Colorful Adventures of Zoe & Star by Crystal Swain-Bates

This is the perfect coloring/activity book for Spring Break and Summer Vacation! It carries you through and adventure with the girls while giving fun and exciting activities to do along the way! I love the way this book encourages girls to have self confidence and to explore all of the positive possibilities that life has to offer not to mention the natural hairstyles that they are rocking in this book!

The Colorful Adventures of Zoe & Star: This book follows the afro-sporting Zoe & the braid-wearing Star as they imagine themselves as scientists, veterinarians, fairies, princesses, and more! Follow them throughout over 45 fun-filled coloring and activity pages that inspire creativity, promote self-confidence, and celebrate diversity.

Crystal didn't forget about our boys, she has also written a book that is especially for them. We didn't get a chance to review it, but for those of you who have little boys, buy it for them! I'm sure based on the books that we have, they won't be disappointed! The description of the book follows:

The Colorful Adventures of Cody & Jay: This book follows Cody & Jay as they imagine themselves as scientists, race car drivers, superheroes, artists, and more! Follow them throughout over 40 fun-filled coloring and activity pages that inspire creativity, promote self-confidence, and celebrate diversity.

All of Crystal Swain-Bates books are published by Goldest Karat Publishing.  You can purchase them on that site or on Amazon.com. They are all less than $10 each!!

We are sure you will enjoy them as much as we are!! Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for the video version of this review!

Click HERE for the video!

Brown Girls Trick

I thought it would be fun to share this with you all today.

This morning, I was taking pictures of my daughters hair after removing her curlformers. She then told me, "Mommy, I don't like doing this anymore?" I was like, "What?" You don't like doing BrownGirlsHair anymore? She said, "No Mom, I don't like doing this anymore"! For a moment I was so SAD because she has always loved doing this with me. I was thinking in my head, she loves the camera........then she yelled out APRIL FOOL!

I was so relieved that she was not for real because doing this brings me so much pleasure and it allows both of us to bond and enjoy each other! And it forces me to be more creative with her hairstyles!

If only you could have seen my face! She got me this time! LOL