Pretty Easter Hair

Well, writing came in a distant second this week to the holiday and a two-day tryst in Chicago with my sweetie, but it feels good to be back in the regular rhythm of writing.  See, I'm so glad to be writing again, I'm even getting alliterative. 

I hosted Easter Sunday dinner.  It was my first big sit-down type holiday, and I though it went down flawlessly.  I really had a good time, and I think everyone else did too.  But, hosting a ham dinner for 13 adults and 4 children was not my crowning achievement of that Easter day.  My proudest moment was when I finished Little Miss' hairstyle.  I think most transracial Mommies are pretty obsessive about their African American daughter's hair because someone somewhere has told them they aren't doing it right.  Well, I'm no exception.  I like to get it right.  And this Easter--Fab-u-lous!  With hair like that, who needs a bonnet!

I followed directions in the book It's All Good Hair that I recently reviewed (filed under racial topics, reviews, and books).  It took me 45 minutes, which is about standard for anything a little bit complex.  I put it in on Saturday night, so she had slept in it once by Sunday morning, but it still looked good.  It stayed in pretty well for five days, though the shorter, thinner hair on the back of her head started pulling out of the rubberbands.  If I do it again, I might just put that hair in little puffs instead of attempting to twist them. 

I've found that most hairstyles are not really that difficult.  It's all about learning a method, and then it just takes time.  The step-by-steps in It's All Good Hair are very good.  I recommend the book in general and I don't feel I can copy the steps out for this article.  That might be crossing the line of plagiarism.  So here is an overview of how I did it.

I washed it (I've found this is the key to getting styles to stay in pretty well over time).  Then I rubbed in her hair lotion.  I used my finger to create a circle of hair right on the crown of her head, like a ponytail using just a small amount of hair.  I held it loosely with a hair rubberband.  Then I started with the vertical parts from the ponytail to her forehead.  For parts, I like to use my finger to create the part, then sharpen and straighten it with a pick.  This creates a nice, clean part with less screaming and wriggling (my fingers are gentler than a rattail comb!).  Two parts from ponytail to forehead created a long rectangle of hair.  I put a short part in the center of the rectangle, across the horizontal, to create two squares.  I rubberband-ed the square next to her forehead, then two-strand twisted that section of her hair.  I joined that twist to the square right above it, rubberband-ed the two together, then twisted that section of hair up to the ponytail.  I tucked the end of the twist into the ponytail rubberband and oila! one section done.  I moved to the right of the finished section, put in another part to create another rectangle, and continued with the same method. 

I bought a bunch of pastel colored rubberbands at Walmart to create a design as the rubberbands held the twists.  They weren't too sturdy, but they looked pretty and were easier than beads.  To me, the colored rubberbands looked like little jewels and the puffy ponytail at the top looked like a crown, and my Little Miss looked like a Princess!  A perfect "crowning" acheivement for this Mommy!

Comments

[Sarah]

I am sure she looked adorable. I wish I had seen her. We must have crossed paths that day at church. Good job!