Criss Cross French Braids (AA, Day 4)

Here we are at day 4 of our African American hairstyle experiment. And I have to say, this is my favorite so far. *Even though it took a good 50 minutes!!* Some of that was figuring out what I was going to do though, so it may take you a little less time.

Does anyone remember this x braid we tried last June? Doubtful, since we had like 5 people looking at our blog back then, LOL. It's pretty much the same concept, just taken up a notch.
This is a bad angle, it's hard to tell what's going on. But, split the hair in half like you're making pigtails. Put one side in a pigtail just to keep it out of the way for now. Then, make 6 sections on the other side (like the picture) and put each section in a fairly loose covered elastic. (You're going to want to use something you can easily yank out with one hand later.)

Starting on the front section closest to the center part, start inside-out french braiding diagonally over to the middle outside section. Yank out the scrunchy and continue with the french braid over to the bottom middle section. (When you go across the parts you'll need to do a small section of a regular braid until you have more hair to add in with the french braid.)

Same thing, just opposite direction. Braid all the leftover sections and you're halfway done!

Now you can take out the pigtail, make six more sections and finish the other side the same way.I don't care if you're white, black, brown, yellow, or green. This looks pretty cool if you ask me! Just make sure you have a movie for the daughter and some chocolate for the mom before starting. We ate a whole bag of m&m's while doing this....oops! I did another version of this one with elastic braids too. It looked great, but was a pain in the bum to take out when we were done. BUT, if you don't know how to french braid, that's an option. (I would suggest just cutting out the elastics when you're done instead of trying to save them if you go that route.)

Bantu Knots/Zulu Knots, African American Hairdos, Day 3

I don't know if I'm sold on the look of this one, but the princess loved it!! We did this on Saturday morning and took them out before she went to bed. She ended up with beautiful curls for church on Sunday.
So anyway, these are really easy to do if you want to give it a try. Just section off some hair and start twisting...... When you get the piece twisted, start wrapping it around itself. When you get to the end, wrap an elastic around the whole thing to keep it in place. If you're working with African American hair, you may not even need an elastic. Just tuck the ends in on the bottom layer and it should stay all by itself! (At least that's what I've heard.)I'm thinking this would probably work a little better with shorter hair. These knots just seem huge to me, LOL. I've actually seen some babies wearing these type of knots and they look adorable!
As you can see, I TRIED to make a fancy design with the parts. Yikes! It's harder than it looks to make a design on someones head.

I took pictures of the curls when we took these out but I can't find them! I'm guessing they got deleted the the last time I cleaned out my folder. Dang it! They turned out really cute too. Well, if you have a spunky little girl who wants to get noticed, this would be a good style for that. Otherwise, if you're staying home and looking for another way to curl hair without using heat, this works really well. (For all types of hair.)Be sure to check back tomorrow for day 4! It's my favorite of the AA styles we have tried.

African American Hair, Day 2

I didn't do any step by step pics for this. I figure you either know how to french braid or you don't. And sorry people, my pictures aren't going to help if you don't, right? :) You could always try watching my inside out french braid video. But I'm not gonna lie, it's not the greatest! SOME DAY if I get a new camera I'll try again, k.

This is nothing new, just some dutch braid cornrows. I did try to come up with a new and interesting way to do the parts though just for fun.


I started on the four braids on both sides of the part on top first, then did the braids in the back, working from the top down.

It's funny, the day I did this we had several people stop us in the store and ask how long THAT took!?! Actually, it really wasn't that bad. It took 24 minutes from start to finish. Inside out french braids are the fastest braids to do in my opinion. It was totally worth the 24 minutes too! We got three days of hairstyles out of it! I kept the braids in for 2 days until they started getting "fuzzy" then took them out and had adorable curls for the 3rd day. If she had any type of texture to her hair, we probably could have gotten away with keeping the braids in even longer.

African American Hairstyles Day 1 !

Okay, first a little history here: I have been emailing back and forth with one of our readers, Shaniquia for a few months now. She and I have become good friends through email. Shaniquia just happens to be African American with 2 adorable daughters. One day the subject came up that she loves all of these hair blogs, but she hasn't been able to find many hairstyles that have worked well with the texture of her daughter's hair and asked if I could try and come up with some styles just for her.

Now let me just say, I am not claiming to be any kind of an expert when it comes to styling African American hair!! I have absolutely no experience in this area and these posts aren't meant to be offensive or anything like that. I just wanted to do something nice for a friend. I've seen some of the most intricate and creative styles on little African American girls and I have to admit, I'm a little jealous of that texture!! So anyway, I have several styles we have tried that I'm hoping will work for you, Shaniquia.

Also, if anyone else has any ideas or pictures of African American hairstyles you have done, send them my way! I can only do so much with this stick straight hair! (Just make sure if you are sending me pictures, they are YOUR pictures and not taken off of a website or whatever:) I know I don't like my pictures taken, and want to show everyone else the same consideration.

Now for our first attempt:

Start off with a center part and 3 sets of pigtails on each side.
Take one of the pigtails in the front and make a twist braid with it. Send it over to the other front pigtail and secure with an elastic.Make another twist braid and send it over to the middle pigtail on the other side.Now on the opposite side you started with, twist braid the bottom pigtail and add it to the other bottom pigtail. Again, twist and add to the other middle pigtail.At this point, I made three twist braids in the remaining hair and regular braided them together.We got these cute bows at Oh So Girly.




See those little hairs popping out at the bottom? I should have used some pomade or gel. Which reminds me. If you know of any products that work well with African American hair, let me know as well.

An Oldie, But Goodie!!

So, a long time ago (well, not too long ago, but before I started hair blogging.) I kept a hair scrapbook! (Yep, I really am obsessed.) I was looking through it the other day and came across this. I just had to share.

Look how little she is!
I don't have step by step instructions because the scrapbook wasn't really made for anyone but us, obviously. But, it's pretty much two of the woven tiara's flipped to the side and made on both sides of the upside down ponytail.


Probably not too helpful, but maybe it could give you an idea for something. Interesting, eh?

Quick and Easy Braided Pretzel

I haven't posted anything quick for awhile, and I know sometimes you just need something quick. So, I dug through my hair folder to see what I could find and came across this one: A 5-10 minute cute do!
Start with a regular old set of braided pigtails. We did a zig zag part on top which isn't necessary, but I like it this way.Take one of the braids, fold it in half and put the end back through the elastic at the top of the braid.Now take the other braid and bring it through the loop you just made with the first braid. The same way you did the first one, put the end of the braid back through the elastic at the top of the braid.It should look something like this. (If your daughter's hair is a little shorter, try making the braids closer together to give you a few more inches to work with.)To keep it from drooping, place the braids where you want them and pin with a couple of crossing bobby pins. (I only used 2 bobby pins and it held all day long.) If you look closely you can see where I pinned it, at the top, to the left of the part.Add some cute clips or bows. We got these "ribbon flowers" from Kaytebug Boutique.

I didn't even curl the ends. Just added a little hairspray, fluffed them a little and let them sprout out freely! I wanted it kind of funky and messy looking. If the ends bug you, you could hide them or curl them. Just do whatever you like. This would also be cute made with twist braids. Or for a different look, up a little higher on her head.

Facebook, Q&A and other Biz....

First off, I got talked into making a page on Facebook..... yikes! I've said it before and I'll say it again- When it comes to computer stuff, I am SLOW!! I don't know what the heck I'm doing on there!! Just look past my techie skills and love me anyway, K. The page is brand spankin new and very plain. Eventually I hope to figure it all out. But, I would love to see you all on there as my "fans" (snort) while I'm learning. It's all just for fun anyway, right? Maybe you can even give me some pointers? Here's the link: Hairstyles on Facebook. Oh, and I just posted an upcoming "event" on there that you just might want to check out. :)

Okay, now onto Q&A: I've had questions from some of you in my inbox for awhile now and I just never seem to get around to answering them. It's not that I don't like to hear from you or anything like that. I just never seem to find the time. The hairstyles alone seem to keep me pretty busy :) I have a few extra minutes, so here you are......

Q- How much time do you usually spend on hair each day, and WHY??

A- I usually spend between 10-30 minutes on The Princess's head each morning. I do remember a couple of styles that took a little longer, but it's a rare occasion that I ever go over 30. I don't know if you've noticed, but I usually do her hair wet and actually leave it that way. I rarely use the blow dryer, so that saves time. And I have become really fast at doing braids and parts and everything else, so it really doesn't seem to take long at all to whip something up. I've found that the more I do hair, the faster and easier it becomes. Also, keep in mind that The Princess is six. I would have never attempted some of this stuff when she was say, 2-3. I'm amazed at some of the hair I've seen on the blogs with younger models! My Princess had a hard time sitting still at that age and we pretty much just stuck with piggies and ponies back then:) It also helps that she is my only daughter, in half-day Kindergarten, and goes in the afternoon. Our blog may come to an end next year when she goes to first grade. I don't really see myself getting up one minute earlier than I HAVE to before school, kwim?

And the why?? Simply put, The Princess loves having her hair done and loves the attention she receives from the dos. And, I love doing her hair and the time I get to spend with her while I'm doing it. It's a win, win!

Q- Her hair always looks so smooth and shiny, what products do you use?

A- I'm probably not the best person to answer this question. I actually think her hair looks the way it does because of it's natural texture. It's just naturally straight and shiny, it's nothing we've done to it. I use whatever is on sale and cheap! Just plain old shampoo, conditioner, hairspray and gel, nothing fancy. Lame answer, I know. That's just the truth of it. I have noticed though, when I do her hair while it's still wet, it turns out much better than if I start with it dry. So, that's the best tip I can give. Use lots of water :)

Q- I just can't get the french braid, can you please do a video?

A- I have an extremely crappy old camera that won't let me record long enough to show the whole french braiding thing. We got a new camera a little while ago, but it's not compatible with our ancient computer. Sometimes I just can't win! If I ever upgrade our computer, it's one of the first things I'll be posting. But until then, I've seen some great tutorials around on other blogs and websites. Just do some searching and I bet you'll find some instructions that work for you. Good luck!

Q- Where do you get your little colored elastics?

A- Walmart, in the regular hair aisle. The brand is "Goody Ouchless." They come in a package of 250 with 3 different sizes for around 3 bucks. They also have clear and black ones in the same brand.

Q- What type of comb do you use to do parts?

A- Just a regular old comb. (The type that has bigger teeth on one end than the other.) I know a lot of people use rat tail combs to do parts, but I can't get those to work for me.

Q- How do you come up with all of these hairstyles?

A- I don't come up with all of them by myself. I get ideas for these styles ALL OVER the place. The grocery store, church, movies, school, dolls heads, other hair blogs, household objects like hot pads and shoes...hehe. Sometimes something just pops into my head. I even have dreams about hairstyles sometimes. I really don't think there's anything I could do with hair that hasn't been done by someone at some point already though. Hair has been around forever!

Q- Are there any websites for hair you have come across that you would recommend? I'm always looking for new ideas.

A- Check out my sidebar on the right side. All of those links listed under "partners in crime" are hair blogs. So many ideas your head will be spinning, I'm sure of it!

Okay, now I'm tired of answering questions and this post is getting long! I'll probably do another Q and A post sometime in the future. So, if you have any questions you are dying to ask, fire away. Just don't feel bad if I don't get around to it for awhile though.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend!

A Continuation Of The Beverly Hills Chihuahua Hairstyle

Here's a little quickie post for you.....

The day after we did the Piper Perabo hairstyle from Beverly Hills Chihuahua. The Princess liked it so much that she wanted me to do it again! But it was really windy outside so I didn't want to leave her hair down to get all tangled up. (Neither one of us enjoy combing out a tangled mess at the end of the day.) So.... this is what we did instead. I didn't think you would need step by step instructions for this. It's just twist braids in the main pony with the sections added in all the way down. You can refer to the other post if you need help with the top.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua Hairstyle

I had a reader email me about a hairstyle she had seen in the movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." I had not seen the movie, but of course I was curious about the hairstyle so I had to rent it, LOL. We took a trip to the Redbox last weekend and for $1 I'm so glad we did! My kids liked the movie and The Princess loves this new hairstyle we TRIED to recreate. I couldn't find a picture online to show what this is supposed to look like. But, if you end up watching the movie, it's the hairstyle Piper Perabo (Rachel) is wearing towards the very end. So anyway, it doesn't look quite like the original, but I did the best I could to copy it. :) I started with a part down the middle, then 2 parts on each side going behind each ear. Yep, they're crooked, I didn't worry too much about getting this one perfect, it's supposed to be a little messy. At least that's my excuse for the messy parts :)

So, you're going to end up with 2 sections on each side of the middle part (4 total.) One at a time, take a section and twist it towards the middle of her head. Keep twisting until it looks sorta like this and temporarily hold it in place with a clip. Get all four sections twisted. Both sections on the right side are twisted counterclockwise. The sections on the left are twisted clockwise. Join them all together in the middle with a clear elastic. In the movie I didn't see any elastics, but I wasn't in the mood to figure out how they did that, kwim? Then of course later on while doing the hairstyle I though of a way to hide the elastic but didn't want to go back and redo. So, you'll see how I hide another elastic a few steps down. Just do that here too if you want it covered, k.Ok, now take the hair in the ponytail and make some little twist braids with it (if you don't know how to do a twist braid, click on the link, you'll find an instructional video there!) I did four.Flip the twist braids up out of the way and form a section underneath like this......Bring the twist braids back down and add to the ponytail you just made, securing with an elastic. Make 2 more sections on both sides, twist and cross them over the elastic. Then, bring them underneath the ponytail. (This is what I'm talking about with hiding the other elastic, you could do the same thing on top with the outside sections.)

After you cross and bring the sections underneath, secure them with an elastic under there.

And here's what you'll be left with. See, I really should have done that top section over. Now that elastic is bugging me and it's such an easy fix. Oh well, maybe next time.


I think Piper Perabo might have naturally curly hair, I don't know. But in the movie it was kind of loosely curled and messy looking. I didn't have time to go into all of that, The Princess was almost late for school. But, in the past I've made similar curls by wrapping the hair around the outside of the curing iron instead of clamping the hair inside the usual way. I loved how this looked when she came home from school. It was a little messier and had loosened up a bit. It actually looked more like the original do in the movie at that point. So now I'm wondering if any of you have seen the movie and if you noticed this hairstyle when you watched it?