My daughter is 3 1/2 and has very dry, brittle African American hair. The kink is very tight. I normally section it into about 1 to 2 inch squares, rubber band close to the head, twist the length, rubber band the end, and sometimes add a few beads. This do lasts about a week before it becomes fuzzy. My friend said I should try to straighten it with a flat iron to make it last longer. I saw a steam straightener on TV that seemed nice. What should I do?
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? I agree with most of the professional stylist and other Black women's answers, DON'T straighten your daughter's hair. It will ruin her hair, and possibly her self image if she never grows to see her natural beautiful hair. STOP using rubber bands and STOP washing it with shampoo as often as you do. What most people don't realize about commercial products for natural ethnic hair is that they are filled with ingredients that aren閳ユ獩 for ethnic hair. You can take care of your daughter's hair with stuff around the house or buy natural products for ethnic hair online or at health food stores, and there are several styles you can use that will stay in her hair in between washings.
Washing: First, if and when you wash your daughter's hair (with shampoo), it should only be about every week or every other week. Shampoo, esp. ones with SLS (Lauryl Sulfates and any derivatives) strip our hair of moisture, which might be the reason her hair is so dry. So, find a shampoo that doesn閳ユ獩 have that ingredient (this is where you might have to go to a health food store or buy some from online), and deep condition her hair when you shampoo (deep condition with a mix of olive oil, flax seed oil, avocado, and banana, use cool water to rinse it out). If you don閳ユ獩 have a hooded dryer available, just put the conditioner in her hair and put a plastic shower cap on her head, and leave the conditioner in for about 30 min to an hour before rinsing it out. In between shampoo washings, do a conditioner wash, which is basically like washing the hair with shampoo only with conditioner. Put it in massage the hair, rinse it out.
Moisture: Couple things. Never use anything that has mineral oil, paraffin, cones- like dimethecone, or petroleum, and cheap store bought stuff have one or all those ingredients in them. They give the feeling of moisture on Black hair, but that only lasts for a day or two; they really just sit on the hair and scalp suffocating the pores and cause things like dandruff. Oil your daughter閳ユ獨 scalp. What kind of oil? Natural stuff that you know she isn閳ユ獩 allergic to. Most natural women like pure shea butter. Melt it down first in a microwaveable bowl, and use a little on the finger tips down the parts of the hair. Or, use any combination of almond, olive, grape seed, various nut oils, jojoba, or coconut oil. Again, use a little because a little of any of those go a long way; you don閳ユ獩 want that stuff running behind her ears and ruining her clothes. When it comes to moisturizing her hair you could smooth a little more oil from root to tip, but I like to use hair lotions on my hair. Lotions seem to really penetrate better on hair. If you want to buy it, make sure it doesn閳ユ獩 have the cones, mineral, or petrol oils; you should go to a health or whole food store they usually have a range of products that are chock full of extracts and oils and food grade preservatives. A good pick me up for her hair would be a mix of 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable glycerin and one cup water in a spray bottle. The veggie glycerin will help the water and moisture in the air seep into the hair. I also add a few drops of vitamin E to my spray bottle. Use the oil/lotion/spray right after shampoo and conditioner washes, and any in between time her hair and scalp look dry.
Style: Always use a wide tooth comb on kinky hair. Once you閳ユ獫e combed out the hair with a wide tooth comb then you can use a medium width-tooth comb. If you don閳ユ獩 know how to do it yourself, I閳ユ獓 say try to find a stylist that knows how to cornrow AKA French braid hair. It doesn閳ユ獩 have to be in some fantastic design like you would see on TVor in magazines, two simple braids should be fine, or more if you like. Make sure to use clear plastic bands at the end of the braids. Corn rows are a safe style for Black hair in between washings and other stylings. The other thing to try is a two stranded twist. Basically, it閳ユ獨 taking a small to medium section of hair, separating it into two pieces and twisting them around each other. It閳ユ獨 better to do this with damp hair and hair lotion or aloe vera gel, to help the ends stick together. There is the regular three strand braid, section her hair into as many sections as you like and braid those sections. Or create two pig tails, and from the pig tails braid as many braids as you can. Use clear plastic bands at the ends of the braids. Most importantly, Black hair needs to either be tied down at night with a silk or satin scarf or you need to get satin pillow cases for your daughter to sleep on. Cotton pillow cases not only absorbs oils and moisture from our hair, but it also catches the ends and makes them snap which of course causes dry hair and split ends.
I閳ユ獡 sorry this is so long, but natural Black hair is often cared for in the wrong way and straightened in frustration when it isn閳ユ獩 necessary. Below are some links to good vegetarian products (some specifically for Black hair) that can be bought online or found in certain stores, as well as a link to a YouTube vblog of a young Black mom with natural hair that talks about how to care for and style natural hair (she's not the authority on natural hair care but she sums up all the best information there, and she has at least 55 vid on line most of them are about taking care of natural hair, so WATCH them, please). Hope this helps.
P.S. Carols Daughter apparently isn't as natural as it used to be, so watch out for that. I know lots of people like her stuff, but if you are going to claim all natural ingredients then mean it. And lots of women are going ape isht over Miss Jessie and Blended Beauty products but those products have animal bits (AKA animal products like urea, marine or pig fat, lanolin, placenta, bees wax, and other proteins) in them. Just a heads up for other vegetarians and vegans out there that might have a problem with slathering that stuff in your hair.
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? Try Carol's daughter's products.
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? she is too young..if you start messing with her hair now and damaging it she will have none left by the time she is 20
and if her hair is dry and brittle the last thing you want to do is straighten it or use any hot tools on her hair.
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? i would go to a cheap drug store like walgreens or longs and buy a conditioning kit that straightens your hair for about a month or more. its safer than using a hot iron on a small child. i think the kits are called deep mousturizing or deep conditioning . i also wouldn't use an iron because it damages the hair folicles and you dont want your kid to get older and then hair even coarse or brittle hair. i straightened my hair for almost a year striaght and ended up cutting off more than 10 inches because my hair was so coarse and damaged.
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? I really don't think you should start straightening her hair as yet-she's a bit young, and it will get very damaged. However, you could look up some information on caring for natural African-American hair-it's not too hard. Here's a very informative site about natural hair:
http://www.motowngirl.com/content/
I hope this helps you-Good luck.
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? why dont u use a straighten comb with pressing oil. flat irons wont do good
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? its not that good of an idea to start straightening her hair, she is onlt 3 and if it is dry and brittle, it will just become worse.
i have been straightening my hair for only about a year, and is totally dried out and i have to get hir cuts often because of split ends, all due to straightening my hair, and i have a really good straightener, for her sake just put up with having to redo it every week.
What is the best way to straighten natural African American hair (for a 3 yr old)? As a stylist of 15 yrs the first person is right carol's daughter products are good but a little high when u can go into your local stores %26amp; save the online$,the credit card charge %26amp; the shipment wait.Whatever you decide please,please don't apply chemicals to that baby hair , not even the "just for me" relaxer.I've seen it done parents do it at home then when something goes wrong I've had 3 to run to my shop with kids from ages 5-8 yrs old with damaged hair! The best thing to do with a 3yr old's hair keep the hair %26amp; scalp cleaned and use B%26amp;B Super Gro Max Strength here in tx it's about $4 no more than $5 I've did wonders with this product on my clients kids hair after being damaged. Another thing rubber bands No, No get ponytail holders go to walmart(Dollar Stores has them too..like Dollar General.,,don't know what they may call them where you are but our are like a family dollar) their should be a ring of different colors or black %26amp; white ones about $5-7 maybe cheaper can't remember my daughter is 14 she thinks she's too grown for ponytails she does braids, yippy NO RELAXER she hates relaxer thanks to the mouth of her father but anyways, back to your baby get the ponytail holders they come in all sizes wash her hair only 2x a month no more b/c you will wash the moisture out her hair b/c of what's in the world's water today it is damagng to our hair shaft if washed too much so only 2 x's a month beginning month %26amp; middle or every 2wkshowever u choose just skip some time don't wash close together..Another option braid it sometimes %26amp; not tight and don't apply the ponytail holders to tight thats another damaging thing to the hair shaft causes bumps, irration to the scalp %26amp; later dead hair that will stop growth. Ok I think I gave you everything I could think of but if not %26amp; you have questions email me braidingupdiva@yahoo.com. include your email address %26amp; I'll give you my hair website addr for more tips on kids hair and on hair period.
