Today's Agenda: Hair

I decided it was time to really work to get Basia's hair healthier.  That meant that we needed to cut a significant amount off of it.  I researched like crazy and watched tons of youtube videos.  I also found some healthier products to try to get her back to her more natural hair state. 

I swore that I would never relax her hair, but I was talked into it at a salon when she was 4 and have done it a few times since.  She was blessed with such amazingly long, thick hair since birth, and there came a time when the books I read did not teach me the things I really needed to know to care for her hair properly.  I recently watched some videos and thought, "Oh, my gosh.  If only I could have known that when she was two and her hair was much shorter."  "If only I had been doing that all along." 

Don't get me wrong, I could DO her hair.  I could get it to look pretty.  I could braid it all sorts of ways.  I just have not done all the right things for the core health of her hair, and it is showing.

It finally hit me how damaged her hair is, and I knew it was time to make some changes.  I have great offers from women at church who will do fancy braids on her hair or bring me to their salon, and I would like to get her to the place that I can accept them.  If you have ever been around for one of our hair sessons, you know that Basia's not an ideal candidate.  The 6 hours in a chair when she was four with various people working on her at once was traumatic to both of us.  Every emotion she feels is so strong, and it is hard for her to control sometimes.  I have dreaded taking her back ever since then, even though I should have.

 

I decided that the first step we needed to take was to remove lots of damaged hair.  Lots.  She was a little sad, but it is AMAZING how much better her hair felt instantly.  I took each little twist out of her wet hair, FINGER DETANGLED (this is the magic step that I never knew about before--awesome stuff!), combed it with my handy wide-toothed comb, and trimmed it.  I will likely blow dry it straight and make adjustments to the cut once we finish all the detoxing next week.

The next step was to start a detox process with the above shampoo.  It's crazy stuff, and we watched videos together on how to apply it correctly the first time.  We will be repeating the washes a couple times a day for the next week until the last of the synthetic products are gone from her hair.  I could really see her natural hair growing close to her scalp, and I can't wait until it all looks like that again. 

As I applied the shampoo to each little section, I twisted it.  After it was applied to her whole head, we rinsed it really well and then shampood a second time.

This is the finished hair for today.  We had to go with a really simple style because we will wash it again each day this week.  Her puff is so short now, but I think it is really cute.  There is no doubt she is on her way to healthier hair.  I also think that watching videos together, learning new techniques and seeing other children getting their hair done was a bonding experience.  She would remind me to make sure her hair was wet enough and to make sure that I applied the shampoo to the underside of her hair.  She felt like she was also invested in the process, and I really do feel that there will be far few tangles and hair battles in our future. 

This is my open apology to my daughter, for the things I did not know but vow to do better in the future.