The Knot Genie Review

*PLEASE NOTE*Although this post is sponsored, ALL opinions are my own. 

www.KnotGenie.com

I have found the perfect product to add to our detangling process. If you are looking for an aide to your detangling process, look no further. The Knot Genie is available for you to try!

First here's a little history, The Knot Genie was created by Rikki Mor, Mom to 3 daughters. Through her frustration of fighting with her daughters while trying to detangle their hair, she searched high and low to find a brush or something that would help make hair time easier. After coming up empty handed, The Knot Genie was born. 

The Original Knot Genie

What makes the Knot Genie different? It has varying lengths of teeth on the brush. While brushing, the bristles gently bend to unravel even the most stubborn knots. This brush has a unique cloud shape to fit the palm of the had which makes it a more comfortable hair brushing experience.

The original Knot Genie is shaped like a cloud and they have added 2 more brushes to the family. The Teeny Genie (a travel size Knot Genie) and a Genie Supreme (a Knot Genie with a handle).

The Teeny & Original Knot Genies

I have put all of these brushes to the test and here's what I found:

They ALL REALLY DO WORK! No fluff, No exaggeration, No lie!

The Knot Genie ($14.99-$19.99) is the large original version of the brush. I easily brushed through LARGE sections of hair at one time. It was very easy to hold and caused no pain while it detanlged her hair. See Video Below.

The teeny genie Knot Genie ($14.99) is a smaller version of the original Knot Genie. It's easier to use on small sections of hair or on a toddlers head. It's also the perfect size for travel.

The Supreme Genie ($22.99) is just like the other 2 except it has a handle. The brush is about the size of the teeny genie. I found this one very easy to use as well. This is the one that I used on my hair.

The Supreme Genie

I was genuinely surprised at how these brushes work. There were very few hair strands lost during the detangling process with them. (I have never detangled without losing a strand or two. I think that is normal.)

The process was PAINLESS for me and my tender headed child. These brushes also decreased the amount of time that it took me to detangle both of our heads of hair, especially my daughters.

I also used this brush on her scalp while I washed her hair and it helped clean her scalp.

There are not many products that I endorse, but I really do recommend this brush for anyone who is currently having a hard time with the detangling process. I am still in Ahhh at how they work.

You can get $7 OFF any Knot Genie brush with Coupon Code BGH7. Good NOW-December 31, 2014! Get yours TODAY! That means you can try the original genie with this coupon code for only $7.99+shipping. Purchase it HERE. I promise you will not be disappointed.

*PLEASE NOTE*Although this post is sponsored, ALL opinions are my own. 

Video Review

Banding, Does it really work?

For many years I was very hesitant about trying the banding method on my daughters hair. You may ask, Why wouldn't you want to try something that may be better for your daughters hair then using heat?

For those of you who maybe asking, What is banding? It's a way to stretch the hair without using heat. You put the hair in sections and put goody ponytail holders on each section from the base to the ends leaving an inch or so between each band. See Video Tutorial HERE.

I stayed away from banding all the way up til now!!! The reason is because her hair was so hard to manage while wet. I would detangle one section only to find that when I was done, her coils would curl right back up and be tangled again. And if it dried in that state, there was nothing I could do but wet it again and start all over....very frustrating to say the least.

When I would style her hair wet and put twist in, the style last a long time but when I unravel the twists, I still couldn't comb it. I would have to wash her hair to style it again. Not to say that I wouldn't wash her hair anyway, the point is ,when her hair is styled wet and dries, it's impossible to comb it. During the drying process, her hair curls up causing it to be tangled.

The twist out below results are cute, but I can't comb them!

 Because of this, I didn't even want to try banding.

Through out my journey of learning how to deal with my daughters long, thick, uncooperative hair (so I thought). I found what my long time hairstylist told me years ago to be true. Products make all of the difference in the world when dealing with hair.

I found the hardest part in this journey of natural hair is finding the products that WORK for my daughters hair. This has been THE PROBLEM and THE CHALLENGE. Not her hair, not the methods, but THE PRODUCTS.

I find that every time I use a New product, it will either help or hinder what I'm trying to do.

With all of that being said, KeraCare products makes styling my daughters hair while wet a breeze. That's what I used to band her hair for the first time and I must say her hair remained soft and easy to deal with the next day.

On the other hand, when I did banding as a style, using KeraCare products, I still was not able to easily comb through her hair after removing the bands. Maybe it's because I left them in too long (a week).

My take is banding works when you use the right products for your child's hair AND find the happy median between her hair being wet, damp, or dry when styling.

For my daughter's hair, it's easier to style after banding when it's damp and partly stretched than when it is completely dry. Her hair is much harder to deal with completely dry after banding. Her being tender headed may play a huge factor in this too because even the smallest amount of pulling hurts her.

Because I have only done this twice, I am going to try it a few more times to see if I get better results. Do you have any suggestions for me? What works for you?

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!

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!