Kidz Corner

Straightening Virgin Hair

As I mentioned in my March Beauty Haul, my sister promised my niece that she could get her hair straightened for her sixth birthday. I had the honor and privilege of being the one to grant her wish! To see how I styled her hair, step by step, come inside...

My sister typically styles my niece's hair in two strand twists. This style helps keep her hair moisturized and protected from daily tugging and pulling. She has never had her hair straightened in the entire six years of her life, so this was quite an adventure!

Step 1: Washing, Conditioning & Detangling

My sister shampooed and conditioned my niece's hair because she "wanted mommy to do it," and since she has been well versed in the ways of DPrincess28 (*smile*), she knew to detangle her hair while it was saturated with conditioner: 

Conditioner detangling

For more instruction on detangling tight curls, see Detangling Tight Curls.

Step 2: Heat protect and section off

Once my niece's hair had been washed and conditioned, her care was then placed into my hands, so the first thing I did was apply some heat protectant to her hair before placing it into four workable sections:

Hair sectioned off with heat protectant

Because this was my first time straightening her hair, I had to use trial and error in terms of selecting a heat protectant. Since I had just purchased John Frieda's Frizz Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme during my last trip to Target, I figured why not give that a shot? I had already used it on my sister's hair and mine, and it seemed to work well. The only drawback however is that it feels a little waxy initially, but that feeling wears off after a while.

Step 3: Blow Dry

I dried my niece's hair using my Ionic blow dryer. I tried using a paddle brush, but her curls were so tight, it was hard to get the brush through. So, I ended up using a comb attachment. Although the comb worked better than the brush, her curls were still a little tough to deal with, as the comb kept popping off due to the tension! I learned real quick that with curls as tight as hers, I have to use smaller sections than usual, and take my dear, sweet time... 

Blow drying a section at a time

Comparision shot of shrinkage vs. blown out strands

One section done

Hair all blown out

Step 4: Flat iron

Once dry, I used my Herstyler flat iron on medium heat to straighten her hair section by section.

Step 5: Trim & Curl
  
Because my niece hasn't had her hair trimmed in like, ever, she was in desperate need of one! Her ends were looking really rough, and I knew they would not hold a curl well in the state they were in. I therefore took about 1/4" off all around, then curled her ends using my ceramic curling iron by Revlon. This was the end result:

Because I don't want to be responsible for causing heat damage, I'll admit that I didn't get her hair as straight as it could be. It started to frizz up shortly after I straightened it, but I knew that once her mother applied some moisturizer to her ends, the frizzies would calm down without the need for heat.

Step 6: A pop of pink!

I mentioned in my March Beauty Haul that I had purchased some pink hair for my niece's big day:

I measured off a section that fit well along the side of her head, then sewed on some wig clips:

Pink clip-in

I then clipped in the piece and voila!

Slightly frizzy hair with a pop of pink! ;-P

Because the party wasn't until the next day, and we were all tired after a long day of work, school and grooming, it was time to prep her hair for bed. I decided to use the ponytail pin curl method to prep her hair so that she could keep the curls without having to use heat the next day:

Ponytail pin curls

I told my sister to wrap a satin scarf around her edges to protect them while she slept. All she had to do the next day is take the pins out, fluff and apply the clip in.

We had a great time at the party! A few days later, my niece learned what every curly girl learns sooner or later, which is the fact that straight hair and water don't mix, LOL! Oh well, so much for a long lasting style :-P.

As I continue to work with her hair, I'll learn more about what works best for her in terms of products and heat. Yet we plan to keep her hair in natural, heat-free styles the majority of the time, as our goal is to help her maintain a healthy head of natural hair.

That's it for this little adventure! If you'd like to share the hair adventure of a little one in your life, please see the Kidz Corner submission guidelines in the Introducing Kidz Corner! post.

XOXO,

DPrincess28