All about the hair

 

In the past two years, I have accumulated a NUMBER of products for hair/body care.  Here is what that accumulation looks like:

 

 

I have two girls with very different hair types.  Sena's curls are fairly soft, but they are also very tight.  Addie's curls are also soft, but they are looser.  Without product, Addie's hair becomes very frizzy.  I have recently discovered that coconut oil works better to keep her curls under control than the stylers I have been using.  I also think the stylers have been drying Sena's hair out, so I am currently trying to stay away from them as much as possible. 

 

 As time has gone on, there are certain products that have become my favorites.  Here they are:

 

I wash the girls' hair with shampoo every 2-3 weeks.  We co-wash the rest of the time during each bath and that is usually every other day (more often in the summer.)  I like to use Aveeno, Aussie, or Pantene conditioner when we co-wash because they are the best detanglers.  After baths, I always put some type of leave-in conditioner in.  My favorite is either Shea Moisure Curl Enhancing Smoothie or Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner.  Both of these are very moisturizing and they are also reasonably priced.  My local Target carries the Smoothie, but I had to order the Shea Butter leave-in from Amazon.  I love, love, love the detangling aspect of Kinky Curly Knot Today (especially after naps), but after using it for so long on Sena, I am finding that it is not as effective as before.  I have been using the Shea Moisture leave-in most of the time.  I also use the Aussie Moist and Aveeno Nourish + Moisturize as leave-ins on occasion. 

 

I have discovered that the products that contain shea butter work the best on Sena's hair.  So, I decided to order some unrefined shea butter for myself to make a spray that my friend Sara told me about.  It was equal parts shea butter, olive oil, and water.  I like it, but the shea butter just STINKS -  literally!  It is unfortunate that it has to smell so bad!  I decided this week that I might like to make my own hair butter.  I did some research online and today my shipment from soap.com arrived. 

 

For my butter, I used shea butter, avocado butter, jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, and water.  I also added some mango and mandarin essential oils to help mask the smell of the stinky shea.

 

The shea butter is the glob on the front left and the avocado butter is the glob on the right.  I melted the butters in a double boiler.  Then I added the oils and water and mixed it all up with my hand mixer.

 

Here is the finished product:

 

I immediately applied some to the girls' hair and I think I'm going to like it. We shall see.  I am hoping that this will simplify the hair care routine around here.  I would prefer if my product collection looked more like this:

 

Just for fun, I straightened Sena's hair this morning.  I had none of the necessary tools except a hair dryer and a flat iron, so the style lasted approximately 10 minutes before it started to kink up.  It didn't help that it was raining and humid, either.

 

Sena loved the straight hair - she kept running her fingers through it

She also liked her "big" hair.  I like it, too!

 

 

 Sena told me I needed to do Addie's also.  Surprisingly, she cooperated.  Here is what her hair looked like:

She looks so grown up and her hair is LONG!  She immediately started messing it up with her hands and that was the end of the hairstyle.  :)