Straightening Long Naturally Curly Hair

Please note: My daughters hair did not look like that before straightening. That's just a picture showing you what her curls look like.

I finally straightened Miss A's long natural hair. Can you believe it? I sat her down and I told myself I would try one section and if that one section was not straight after one pass of the flat iron, I would quit. Well as you can see, it worked! And the best part, the actual straightening process only took roughly 40 minutes. #Winning

So I'm sure you want to know how it was done, right? It's not as difficult as you may think...

• I washed her hair a few nights before using Bee Mine Products. Don't forget you can use our reader discount code: COLDBBB for 10% off your purchase only at Beemineproducts.com
• After washing and detangling, I moisturized her hair with our favorite product, Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer. Click here for Miss A's full hair care routine.
• I banded her hair immediately after moisturizing in two sections. Click here for Banding F.A.Q.
• The following day I removed the bands, detangled and put her hair in one banded ponytail going straight down her back.
• On day three it was time to flat iron her hair but first I applied a small amount of extra virgin coconut oil to her hair to protect her curls from any heat damage. Grabbing a very small (about 1 inch in width) section, I brushed the section with our Denman D3 brush and ran the flat iron down the section from root to tip.
• I used a pink Hana Elite 2 inch flat iron that was gifted to us from Misikko.com a while back. Absolutely love this flat iron. I kept the flat iron around 300 degrees and continued this process until complete, which again only took about 40 minutes.

Flat iron used, only we used a 2 inch made for thicker hair.

I think banding her hair made the biggest impact. Her hair was already stretched out quite a bit thanks to banding. If you plan on straightening natural hair any time soon, band the hair for a couple of days first instead of blow drying to reduce the amount of heat used on the hair.

Bed time routine has been very simple. I have been placing her hair in 1 or 2 twisted ponytails or one loosely banded ponytail, nothing special.

Please feel free to ask any specific questions.

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Bee Mine Products Black Friday Sale!

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OUR FAVORITE HAIR PRODUCTS! Bee Mine Products Black Friday Sale starts TONIGHT at 10pm EST! $20 minimum purchase. Early bird discount tonight for 30% off! Use redemption code: BBB23BLK at check out! 25% off all day tomorrow. These sales don

't happen often so take advantage while you can!www.beemineproducts.com Please allow 7-10 days for your order to process as these hair products are hand made. :) Discount can not be combined with any other offer. Have a happy Thanksgiving! 

Little Girls Natural Hair Style: Flat Twist Ponytails with Twisted Bangs & Rainbow Beads

By: Carrie Fay of Amaro Baby

With hair as amazing as Violet's, it's easy for me to get carried away with new styles.  Sometimes I lose track of the fact that my daughter is only 3 years old and does not (in my opinion) need to look any older thanks to the too-fancy styles that I can't seem to resist.  So it's refreshing when we find those styles that are simple enough for me to do, sturdy enough to last a week or two, and CUTE enough to make her look like the adorable 3 year old that she is.  

This is one of our "go to" styles:  Flat twist ponytail(s) with twisted bangs and rainbow beads.  

Flat twists have always worked better on Violet's hair than cornrows for keeping the fuzzies away, and some type of bangs just seem to suit her.  It adds a feminine touch and protects her hairline better.  Beads aren't something we normally do, but when we do them, it's usually a "color explosion" kind of thing.  (Once, my five year old son asked me, "Can we just put Violet's hair back the way God made it?  You know, with rainbow beads??")

We opted for heart snaps at the end of each twist this time.  Last time we did beads, we used rubber bands and saw a bit more breakage on the ends than I would like to see.  Snaps fall out occasionally, but I'd rather that than cause damaged hair.  

Anyway.  This is our style for the week.  The pigtails and colors suit her fun personality and her age.  And most importantly, Violet is a happy camper.  She loves her rainbow beads, skipping and jumping around the house to feel those pigtails swinging (and as a direct result, we can hear every. single. step she takes... another wonderful perk of a head full of beads!).  

Have a great week, everyone!  

CARA B Naturally / Walgreens.com Gift Card Giveaway!

CARA B Naturally products

CARA B Naturally and Beads, Braids & Beyond are teaming up! You may remember the name CARA B from Miss A’s Updated Hair Care Routine post. Great natural products for babies and children! Since you’re here reading this blog, chances are you love trying new hair care products for your kiddos. Well, did you know Walgreens.com carries CARA B Naturally? How convenient! Even better, CARA B Naturally will be buy one, get one half off (BOGO!) at Walgreens.com and with your purchase you can be eligible to win a $50 gift card to Walgreens through this contest! Note: No purchase necessary to enter, see end of post for details.

“Wait…so you’re telling me I can buy natural products for my child BOGO AND be eligible to win a $50 gift card to Walgreens and spend it on whatever I want?”

Yes! That’s what we’re telling you.

Follow the details below to enter!

·         Visit Walgreens.com and make a BOGO purchase of CARA B Naturally products. Come back to this post and leave a comment below telling me you have done so. Make sure you leave your first name and last name initial. Example: I purchased CARA B Naturally products on Walgreens.com! –Nikki G,

·         Visit this link to CARA B Naturally’s special contest entry page and enter your invoice/receipt number. Same rules as above apply. Come back to this post and leave a comment below telling me you have done so. Make sure you leave your first name and last name initial. Example: I entered my receipt/invoice number on CARA B Naturally.com! –Nikki G,

·         Once you enter your information be sure to mention Beads, Braids & Beyond (BBB) as the blog where you learned about the contest. After you've entered your information, you can email friends, post and/or tweet about CARA B Naturally’s Walgreens BOGO contest! Each additional email, post or tweet will count as a separate, additional entry. Leave a separate comment telling me you shared on Facebook or Twitter or emailed. Leave your first name and last name initial at the end of the post.

·         A winner will be chosen at random on November 17th and the gift card will be mailed/emailed.

Disclaimer: No Purchase necessary to enter.  To enter without a purchase, send an email with your name, email address and zip code to info@mycarab.com with the Subject Line "Contest”