The single most asked question I get regarding my beautiful boy is 'who did his hair?' Answer: Me. Immediately they reach down to touch his hair (are they checking to see if it's a wig?? do they doubt my ability and expect to find some nylon mesh against his scalp?), and by now he even knows it's coming and obligingly allows them a moment to inspect before he flashes them his dimpled smile at which point they melt and lose their train thought which then leads them to ask 'How do you do it?' Ok.... let's just say that is the equivalent to asking how to tie your shoe. Try to talk someone through tying their shoe for the first time ever without a shoe to exhibit it on. It's not an easy sell. But fixing Ty's hair is not hard, really. However, you just gotta see someone do it. We knew we wanted to try to Twist/Lock his hair from the first time we went to Ethiopia. It is a common style there among the older boys ... the younger boys have short cuts. And babies either have a fine baby fro hair or shaved. When we returned home with Ty we were invited to dinner at our friend's,the Yate's, house. Their son's family now lives in Ethiopia and their daughter Summer is doing amazing things in the Korah region (check out Project 61 here). That same night Summer was flying in with her Ethiopian 'son' Worldu, and guess what? He had the COOLEST hair! Did you know that hair transcends all languages? So grateful for that~ as Worldu and Summer gave us a tutorial on the steps right there in the Yate's livingroom while listening to some Ethiopian music via Brian's blackberry. (If only there were dogs barking and coffee beans roasting we would have been transported right back to the EGH (http://ethiopiaguesthome.com/).) We left there feeling confident that our little guy was going to have Worldu's hair and we couldn't wait to get started! The next several weeks many websites and blogs were read, products were trialed, suggestions were made (some good some bad...good: make sure you wet the hair before trying to style, pick out the hair while wet with conditioner; bad: after you shampoo add baby oil directly to the hair and style..ok there aren't any worse than that one so I'll stop here.) Ty's 'curls' as some call them have been referred to as Locks by my most educational supporters (aka the check out clerks at my Kroger) and known as twisting by others. If you look either of these up on Youtube.com you're likely to find Twisting as a form of braiding and Locks are definitely associated with Rastafarian freeform styles. Locking is more or less the correct name and he would certain look like a cool little 'Marley' if we didn't pick it out every 3-4 days and start over. In an attempt to give you a shortened, most simplistic explanation... you know when you're nervous, or bored..some use it to flirt..and you twist a strand of your hair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ol_iisVm2w&feature=related) well that is what we do with it. We wash and condition (see products below) and while still nice and damp we squirt a few spritz's of Kinky Curl's Spiral Spritz all over hair. Then using Kinky Curl Custard (a small dab for each few sections) we begin our flirty twist. In the end we get this really cool hair. That others enjoy inspecting!
Another important part of hair care is regular cuts. However, you MUST find someone who knows how to cut this ultra fabulous hair! So don't be afraid to say no to your Redken Specialist and seek out the girl who spends most of her life in Haiti cutting hair for the orphans or go right into Penney's and look for the friendliest black lady who knows a desperate mama when she sees her and is way ok with tellling you what you SHOULD be doing without stomping your pride. It may take a few tries..but they're out there!
Here are our treasured products: Kinky Curly works wonderfully with Ty's hair...the price is worth the effect! I first started out with the Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Products (found at your local grocery store) and even now sometimes I'll still use them. The Mango and Lime No More Itch works great on Ty's scalp too, which tends to get pretty dry.
Looks at those beautiful strands... love it!
After washing, conditioning (and picking out while conditioner is in hair), this is the look right out of the bath. No more long tendrils..those things got bounce!
Here's a pic of Ty's first cut...
This is his blowout...pretty fab right?!
Followed by a deep conditioning treatment...snacks and t.v. are a must at this point.
And rewarded with his fave..a blue lolli! Makes for a happy boy!
Here's another view.. taken several months later (considerably longer).
He is getting so big. I still picture him as a baby, but the blue lollipop picture makes him look 4 or 5. What a handsome man.
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