Mixed Race Hair

[KatieMac]

If I start it here they can move it to the right place (If they decide to start a topic (& ever decide what to call it))

where do I start......

PS Make sure the hair's really wet, and full of conditioner. Even after washing, if their hair has dripped a bit, I still spray it with the water/olive oil mix.

I think it's the styling post washing

Hello, I just wanted to say that I have found this thread to be a great help. I am mixed race, (white & afro caribbean) DH is afro caribbean. Today for the first time, I felt I was able to manage my DD hair, DD is 8 by the way. I washed DD hair with conditioner instead of shampoo, I then conditioned it and combed it through with Herbal Essence's hello hydration conditioner and styled it into little twists, it is looking absolutely fantastic and I can't stop looking at it, DD is very happy with her hair.

The trouble I had before was after shampooing her hair, it would get matted and I would struggle to get the comb or brush through her hair, it was probably because her hair was nearly dry, now I know to dampen her hair and to use some conditioner, part of her hair did get matted but what I did was to gently separate the hair, I was then able to comb it through without too much fuss from DD.

I truly feel now that there is light at the end of the tunnel as far as DD hair is concerned, many thanks.

So pleased for you Smalline, my breakthroughs came bit at a time; but you must be so proud with your success for your DD & her hair

That's great news Smalline :)

KM, if you explain in detail what's going wrong I'll try again to help!

It's very clumpy, she doesn't have the patience to separate it out

It ended up in fat curls again

Hello,

Could I just say that the 'Cowash' method as it's known is fantastic for our type of hair. But do make sure that at least once a month you give hair a good clarifying wash.

This is to prevent build-up on the hairshaft; could lead to flakes, itchy scalp and hair feeling a bit heavy and lank after a while.

You could try a Cider-Vinegar & Water wash/rinse to help if hair feels stripped or matted after a shampoo.

Try and avoid SULPHATES in shampoo esp. for kids.

Happy brushing!

Sorry me again...

I don't go anywhere near PARABENS when styling or washing my little DD's hair - and cutting them out of my haircare regime too.

A trick I developed when started looking after my own hair as a child:

Before leaving the shower, having washed and conditioned my hair (leaving a small amount of conditioner in hair), would detangle then braid or twist while under the shower, then squeeze out excess water.

Made my life so much easier as my arms would HURT - had that much Thick, LONG hair. I used to cry!

So glad I found this thread. Struggling with my DD's gorgeous hair and really want to break the back of this now while she is young (2 yrs old). She already has a head of tight curls - mixed race, so not afro and the actuall hair texture is quite fine/easily broken, just ve4y curly.

It is fine on the day I wash it and condition it. I can comb it through and style it easily, and use a little bit of a shea butter-base product from Mixed Chicks to smooth it down a bit ready for styling into pigtails or a plait (still haven't mastered braiding, but am practising!).

But on all subseqeent days I struggle badly with her hair. It just ISN'T manageable at all when dry. No styling products seem to work. They just make her hair feel greasy and heavy, OR don't help at all (e.g. conditioner sprays - don't work).

But I can't wet her hair every day, can I? Won't that just dry it out? What do others do?

Hi AvaBanana (great name!), look at Franch's posts a bit further up in the thread, especially the one on Mon 24-Jan-11 19:44:36, where she explains the method she uses on her dd's hair. I've adopted that method for my own dd's hair and so far it is working very well.

Make sure you use a shampoo that doesn't contain sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate as this will dry the hair too much. Also avoid conditioners that contain silicones (names usually end in -cone or -oxane, have a search on the co-wash method for lists) as these build up on the hair unless you use harsh shampoo that contain sulfates.

You can wet the hair everyday, just add a bit of conditioner or oil to some water in a spray bottle and use that to wet your dd's hair. I use a mixture of aloe vera gel, jojoba oil, glycerin and water.

Good luck!

Now it was lovely yesterday, not dry at all ('tis this morning but it needs doing)

So we are definitely on the right lines

Yay, glad you're making progress KM.

With the detangling/defining, she will definitely have to get into the habit of dividing it into very small sections. As I've been saying, it's a faff to start with but gets so much easier.

Also if she finds the hair she's done is tangling up again while she's doing the next section, use those hairdresser's clips to hold the 'done' hair out of the way.

I know she's keen to do it herself but have you thought of doing the whole thing for her the first few times (while she watches TV maybe) so that you can get up to speed? Then she can actually see the results and once it starts getting easier for you, you'll be able to pass on the skill more easily.

She did it herself on Monday night (in bed while she was supposed to be asleep)

It was so nice on Monday soft, and moisturised

oh that is such good news KM!

Did she tie it up for the night?

She had it in 3 bunches with a scarf on

Very happy for your DD, KM! :)

Did dd's hair today, and it looks just lovely. It took a long time again, especially the smoothing, but marginally less than last time.

How dilute do you think the conditioner/water mix should be?

I take it that's for spraying? then I'd say really quite thin, so as not to block the sprayer. When I used a conditioner/water mix I used to make it so it was like thick water if you see what I mean. I never measured... Perhaps 5 parts water to 1 part conditioner, something like that?

That's what we guessed about

But we didn't spray, we used her fingers to run through her hair

I spray liberally with roughly 7 parts water to 1 part olive oil (towel round their shoulders + one on my lap essential!), and then put a huge dollop of conditioner through with my hands - maybe around the size of an egg for DD1, bit less for DD2. Detangle a bit with the fingers, then wide-tooth comb, then define curls OR bristle-brush into plaits or whatever.

Obviously if I do a ponytail/bunches I define the curls once it's tied up.

Thanks for that Franch, that's clarified a few things for me: I couldn't see why I should define the curls before plaiting! Also good tip about defining the curls once the hair is tied up.

A question for everyone: what type of scarf do you use at night? I've tried a variety of head coverings (satin nightcap, bandana, long scarf) but none of these actually stay on dd's head all night, so they are not all that useful...

No probs mammya!

I'm having trouble getting scarves to stay on all night too. DH has twists and bought a black bandanna thing from his hairdresser - it has ties at the back and does stay on. I'm going to ask him to see if they have anything suitable for the girls. In the meantime I did a bit of googling and found this which looks like just the thing. This lady also recommends a satin pillowcase.

What the heck, I've gone wild and bought a Stay On Satin wrap thingy. Will report back.