I am working on a post about all the different types of Black hair, and how to tell what type your child has. But I keep getting waylaid by all these cool Black haircare websites. Wow, there's some interesting reading out there! I decided to do a few posts highlighting some of the most helpful websites out there. Today's feature is Motowngirl.

Motowngirl.com began as the personal diary of a gal who decided to go 'natural'. Years of chemical straightening had begun to thin her hair, and she was concerned about it. So she quit with the chemicals and began taking pictures of the growth of her hair. She's now had natural hair since 2001, and... more

Today in the mail I was thrilled to get some samples of Carol's Daughter hair products. I've heard quite a few people describe them as good, and am eager to try them myself. These hair products have no petroleum or mineral oil in them, both of which can build up and not be good for hair. I was sent three items to try out.

Khoret Amen Hair Oil This product smells strong and masculine to me. It almost reminds me of evergreen...or maybe it is... more

As I mentioned before, just before Christmas I brought my four year old in to the salon to get her hair professionally braided for the first time. I wasn't sure how long the hairdo would last, because she has soft relatively loose curls that don't tend to hold braids. it looked awesome over Christmas and was so easy.

But for the past few days, the fuzz at the hairline has been more and more obvious to me. I didn't want to take out her 3 week old hairdo - the hairdresser thought it would last at least 4 weeks - but I didn't want it to look scruffy either.

I decided to take out the two... more

Wednesday was my 4-1/2 year old's long-awaited appointment at a local hair salon to get her hair braided for Christmas. My daughter wanted to have her hair braided and is very tolerant of having her hair done by me. Still, this was a new thing, and on the way there, I wondered if she'd get tired of sitting still, or if the beautician might be in a hurry, or a little bit less gentle than I am. I wanted the experience to be good, and I hoped age 4 was not way too soon to do this.

As it turned out, I had no reason to worry. Shari has a lot of experience with little... more

An internet friend named Jan cracked me up with this joking poem she wrote about the job of keeping up with THREE heads of African hair. If you're feeling a little worn out keeping up with your child's hair, you may chuckle too.

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What was she thinking, adopting three kids? Three heads of hair is more, what it is

Three very beautiful African American girls. Three heads overflowing with mountains of curls

Combing the hair she gives a frustrated yank, I wish someone would run me over with a tank.

My life is consumed by hair, hair, hair, hair She already had one, then adopted a pair

Now it’s washing, conditioning, combing... more

I haven't shared any hair pictures in awhile, so when my 2 year old's hair turned out extra cute today, I snapped a couple pictures to share. I divided her hair into four sections and did one twist in each section. You can find a pretty good description of how to do twists here.

I decided while taking 15 minutes just to comb out the tangles that her hair is getting too long to leave loose for more than a day. It just gets... more

My girls both have loosely curled (easy) hair. Because of this, I know there is much more to say about Black haircare than I know. I was thrilled to read the following very helpful advice from a mom on my adoption agency e-group. She very kindly gave me permission to copy it here to help other moms whose girls have the more challenging types of hair.

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Hi all,

I know I appreciated information like this when I was in the process of adopting a year ago, so for those of you interested, I wanted to give you my opinion regarding 'Carol's Daughter Hair Products'. After several people mentioned it, I decided to give their products a try on my two daughter's... more

(PART ONE HERE)

Keep in mind that you do NOT have to do the entire hair do at once or even in two sittings. If I am planning to do smallish braids, I section and moisturize the hair at one session. A few hours later I come back to do the top braids. Then the next morning I finish the hairstyle by braiding the back.

If you already have the hair sectioned off, you may be able to braid at least part of the hair during a nap if your child sleeps heavily. I have heard that in the AA community it is not uncommon for little ones to be seen in public with a half-done... more

Learning how to do a good job with Black hair can be a challenging thing for us clueless white mommas. We have to learn to deal with an unfamiliar hair texture. And in most cases our first practice sessions are occurring on the head of a very small and wiggly daughter who most likely is not all that thrilled about having her hair tugged all over in the name of beauty.

I am by no means an expert. My corn rows still leave me filled with dismay-- I just can't get them as neat and tight as I wish. But I have found a few things that make it easier for little ones to tolerate hairdo time.

A major key is to keep the 'sit still' time to the absolute minimum. Make... more

Part One Part Two

This is the final part of Connie's awesome haircare series. Thanks again to Connie for taking the time to write this all up for us!

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The hair should be cut every two weeks to maintain a nice well groomed look. With a little practice, it should only take 20-30 minutes to do the job. Lining should be done weekly or bi-weekly—a two minute job. The... more