For those who's children have VERY thick tight curly hair

i may be an idiot...but i just skimmed over the topic and saw the offence about pantene for colored hair....i was under the assumption...that that was for people who have chemically colored their hair....thus the "colored hair" was this remedied....or does pantene have products for aa hair..... dazed and confused.... yet wanting insight on hair care.

Vega,I thought the same thing! I just assumed it was for "color treated" (dyed/bleached/changed color).... I am happy to hear some of these suggestions. My nieces STILL scream and cry when getting their hair done. Their little eyes and faces are just red and splotchy after a hair styling session w/ Daddy, Mommy or their favorite baby sitter....... I'm afraid to touch it, they get so upset, even if I just need to take out an elastic or beads and put new ones in..... Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I am afraid I was the one that did the very bad thing of stating "COLORED HAIR" because I forgot the bottle said "FOR WOMEN OF COLOR" and didn't check the label before posting and quoted the bottle wrong. Yes it is for ethnic (is this the right term) hair. I don't want to say AA because not everyone has an African background just because they are not CC. One question, why can you say "women of color", but not "colored hair"? I am still new to this and am trying to learn and don't want to offend anyone anymore.

you did not offend me....... i was just curious as to the product...... we are all in this together.... and will learn by trial and error....... your beautiful daughter looks like her hair would be a challeng...my son has the tight ringlets....a challenge in and of themselves.... my other son right now has soft silky hair........

TraceyK,I have noticed that our DD now cries when her hair is washed. This all started at about 10 months. I'd heard that some AA children have sensitive scalps and thought that it wouldn't be a problem for us....that is until we hit 10 months:cool: I want to second the NO POO method. It has worked wonders for DD's hair. If we do shampoo (every few months) I use the same Pantene product that you mentioned. Your DD's pictures are adorable!

I'm 37, AA, and STILL struggling with hair issues! So now, with my newly adopted daughter, I have chosen to have a stance of experimentation, with the goal of trying not to cause undue pain. My 18 m.o. baby is also AA and has very different hair from mine or my husband (well, he doesn't have much hair anymore!). Here's what we've settled on for now: we personally don't want to make bathtime a negative experience since she's so new to us, so we use tearless shampoo and a separate tearless conditioner for toddlers by J&J while she's in the bath. With the conditioner in, I comb her hair with a wide tooth comb, from tips to root to get all the tangles out gently. With her hair completely wet and rinsed, I put in moisturizing products and comb through completely. (We choose to use moisturizing products after she's out of the bath-Hair Milk by Carol's D., mostly). Then, I gently squeeze her hair with towel to get out excess water. (Today I experimented with part baby oil and part water, and I really liked how it left her hair.) We mostly leave her hair natural and in an afro--SO cute. If I do put in afro-puffs or ponies, I put them in when her hair is wet, using a brush. So far, this has worked for us and DD has no tears at all! Between baths, I use organic products (Carol's D.) after I dampen her hair with water.Talk to us in two weeks and we could have a different routine!

That sounds like our routine. I am happy to say since we have been singing "the farmer in the dell" during bath time she hasn't cried. I liked the Carol's Daughter products, but they have soy and Drihan is allergic to soy and for the longest time we couldn't figure out the excema on her face until my other daughter pointed out the soy in the hair butter, so now we use the Just For Me conditioner/hairdress and no problems with the skin, unless she eats certain foods.

Hi everyone, I wanted to ressurect this thread rather than starting a new one, because Athena's hair is pretty thick and tightly curled, and I need some hair oil to give it more moisture. It's probably a moot point since I'm going to be able to get the CD products next weekend at a Sephora store. But I have tried multiple products on her hair including: Pink (hate the smell), optimum oil therapy, olive oil creme, (all those in the ethnic section of my walgreens), baby leave in conditioner, redken conditioner and leave-in conditioner (I still use the regular conditioner but since it was $16 for an 8 oz I'm not sure I'll be getting it again once it runs out), garnier leave-in, curls rock by bed head (also 18 dollars for a small bottle), and others. I haven't been thrilled with any of these and find that most make her hair hard and leave a residue that gets flaky on the hair, even if it is very meticulously worked in. Her hair is very soft and combs out fairly easily after it's been washed but then it starts to seem dry later. Also she has a patch of hair above her bald spot in the back that is very dry and I keep putting more oil there to soften it. The best thing I've found honestly is plain olive oil, but then her hair smells like olives. I put a little of the olive oil hand cream in it that I got from Greece also to give it a nicer smell. Any other ideas for a good hair oil or cream? It may be getting washed too much but I don't really think that's the problem. I wash it about every 3-4 days. Sometimes it gets rinsed with just conditioner in between. Any advice would be appreciated!!

Here are some shots where you can kind of see how her hair looks.

Just looking at the photos, I can tell that your DD has hair as my oldest at home does now. (In fact, your DD's hair is really NOT as tightly curled as my 8yr old's!!!) Okay....I'm struggling with this even now; mainly because we're still waiting for the ICPC to go through (a real mess and, well, I won't even go there right now)......and in this state, her hair (as well as the other two childrens' hair) seems drier than I've ever known it to be.) Have you tried the Biosilk, by Farouk? We're using something less expensive now (with three babies it can be WAY too expensive).....BUT, truly, the Biosilk was the best product we ever used---and we used it for 7yrs. I have to admit, the price has gone up INCREDIBLY! It now costs something like $30 for 10oz (something around that price---which is INSANE), but it really does the trick. You mention that you're washing her hair every 3-4days...that might be too often. I know we wash hair every week, and sometimes, a bit longer than that. THIS was something we had a hard time doing as *I* wash my hair every single night. I hope this helps somewhat. It seems dealing with my childrens' hair becomes more complicated the older they get; and we refuse to perm or relax their hair until they're much older---which can make it even harder. Sincerely, Linny

i am still a huge fan of carols daughter products...love the smell and hair milk absorbs and leaves hair soft and not residue....... i am also using their hair smoothie that with repeated use seems to lessen tangles in my sons hair......... they have it at sephor in cleve...... i am happy to have just learned....... i have used almost all their porducts....... both sons have very different txture...so i use different products....... on each..... donna

thanks Linny and Vegangoddess... I appreciate it. Is the biosilk available anywhere or do you have to go to a salon? I don't remember seeing it but if I did I'm sure the price would've put me off! I am going to be near a sephora over the weekend so I'm going to pick up the cd products and see how they work.

Hannah went thru a period where I could just do no right when it came to washing/conditioning her hair in the tub and my solution was to do it in the shower after swimming at the pool. Not my favorite place for grooming, but she withstood the showers better then the tub and she'd had so much fun swimming she put up with just about anything. Love the picture of your daughter, I haven't seen one in quite awhile.

Athena's hair looks a lot like David's. He has wonderful, thick, hair. Let us know how you like the CD products. I tried a lot of things too, but none have worked as well as those. I spray his hair with Black Vanilla Spray and use a wide toothed comb to get out any tangles and then rub in Mimosa Hair Honey and pick it out. It works great. His hair is soft, well moisturized and looks really nice. We only wash weekly. Any more than that does dry out David's hair. I'm glad we're past the stage when he felt the need to rub oatmeal and sweet potatoes in his hair on a daily basis! If Athena's hair gets dirty more often than weekly then maybe a rinse with conditioner alone would suffice?

Hey thanks Joskimo and Oakshannon! I do condition Athena's hair sometimes without shampooing it. I do think the longer I leave it unwashed the better it looks somehow. This is counterintuitive to me and I still have a hard time believing it. Anyhow I finally got the carol's daughter products when we were in Jax the other weekend. (We don't have a Sephora anywhere nearby so that's why it took me so long.) Anyhow they ARE very good. But I paid 50 dollars for the hair honey, the black vanilla smoothie, and the hair milk. What I wanted to let you know is that a friend gave me 2 products called baby love, a detangler and a hair cream. They are completely great and don't break the bank at $3.49 a piece. These are not found in the ethnic section at walgreens or walmart. I'm not sure where she got them. But I think they are just as good as carol's daughter products and they are so much less expensive. They also don't have much of a scent. (I'm not thrilled with the smells on the cd stuff.) Anyway thanks for all your advice and comments!