Little Natural: GG

Meet GG, a little natural from the blog Greek Ghana Mix!

GG loves ballet and wants to be a ballerina when she is bigger. From when she was 8 month old she started walking on her toes and hasn't stopped. GG also loves going to gymnastics class walking on the beam and doing forward rolls off of the trampoline on to the mat. She loves to practice belly dancing with me and wearing my belly dancing belt. She loves wearing make up especially lipstick and wearing perfume. GG also loves to play fight with her daddy, pretend to sing like Beyonce and Rihanna, wear her dress up heels and pretend to be mummy, pose infront of the camera, and loves any kind of food with cinnamon in it.

PC: What products do you use on your little natural? 

Shampoo: CURLY Q's Curlie Cutie Cleansing Cream because its it's free from sulphates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil and petrolatum oil and it's organic.

Conditioner: CURLY Q's Coconut Dream Moisturising Conditioner this too is free from sulphates, silicones, parabens, mineral oil and petrolatum oil and is organic. I must say I love love love this conditioner it's so thick and creamy and makes detangling so quick. 

When her hair is styled out and curly I use one of these products: CURLY Q's Custard, CURLY Q Gel-les'c, Mixed Chicks Kid's Leave-in Conditioner. 

Every morning and night I use our homemade itchy scalp spray which consists of water, extra virgin olive oil, castor oil, jojoba oil,vitamin e oil, tea tree oil, and lavender essential oil. 

When I style her hair up in a protective style I use our homemade shea butter mix which consists of shea butter, extra virgin olive oil, castor oil, jojoba oil,vitamin e oil, tea tree oil, and lavenda essential oil.

PC: What is your little natural's hair care routine?

❀ I wash her scalp once a week with a sulphate free shampoo, CURLY Q's Curlie Cutie Cleansing Cream. I place a handful of shampoo in my palm rub it between both my hands and then gently massage in shampoo into her scalp with the balls of my fingertips.

 ❀ I then rinse the shampoo out thoroughly and moisturise her hair with CURLY Q's Coconut Dream Moisturising Conditioner. I must say I love love love this conditioner it's so thick and creamy and makes detangling so quick. I take about two handfuls of conditioner and rake it through her hair from root to tip, you may need more or less depending on hair length and thickness but a good way to gauge when you have enough on, is when the hair feels slippery from root to tip and you can see the conditioner throughout the hair.

❀ I then rake my fingers from root to tip trying to separate any knots/tangles in her hair making sure not to tear the hair, this takes a few minutes. I start with the hair at the back of her head and clip the rest of her hair up and start detangling with my wide tooth comb and gently comb her hair from the bottom up. If I come across a knot or tangle I hold the hair securely just above the knot/tangle and gently comb again bottom up until the knot/tangle is released. I release more hair from the clip and repeat the same process until all of  her hair is detangled. Now there are two options I follow: rinse or no rinse.

Rinse:

If I choose to rinse out the conditioner I make sure I leave in for at least 20 minutes while she plays in the bath. I rinse out the conditioner thoroughly and squeeze out any excess water with my hand before I get her out the bath. When I get her out the bath I make sure her bath tower doesn't rub on her hair as the friction will make it frizz up. For now this is quite easy because her hair is just above her shoulders when wet, but when it gets longer I may start wrapping it in a cotton t-shirt to absorb the excess water as I do with my own hair (plus if you leave it on for a few hours it gives lift at the roots).

Styling:

I don't let her hair dry too much as it won’t absorb the moisturiser properly and leave her curls dry and frizzy. Once out of the bath I get her dressed then spray our itchy scalp spray to her scalp and I massage it in, GG loves this. I then apply CURLY Q's Custard, finger combing it through her hair section by section. I start with the hair at the nape of the neck and work my way up. I use about 1 1/2 handfuls of the custard. Then I apply about a 50p size amount of CURLY Q Gel-les'c for shine and definition. Or I apply just mixed chicks kids leave-in condition and work it through the same way. 

Bedtime Routine:

Before bed, I braid her hair in a few plaits/braids stop the moisture from being lost and her curls loosing definition. GG also sleeps on a satin pillow case which is amazing at stopping flyaway bits of hair. When she has her afternoon nap I do not braid/plait her hair because the braids will stretch her curls out, so she sleeps with her hair out on her satin pillow case. 

Next Day Styling:
❀ When she wakes up I unravel her braids and shake my hands through the roots of her hair to join the sections back together otherwise they would be random parts all over the place.

❀ I then wet her hair with my hands to reactivate the products (not soaking wet just so it's a little damp) I put in the day before.

❀ I then finger comb some more Custard or Mixed Chicks through her hair paying attention to any dry and undefined curls (I don't apply the product all over her hair if it doesn't need it as it will just build up make her hair look dull and give her an itchy scalp). I don't apply half as much as the day before and really only on the curls that are visible on the top layer because her hair is not as soaking wet as it is when washed so her hair won't absorb as much product and it will leave her hair rather crispy and straw like.

Her curls are also looser than the day before because of the braids (braid out) and there is alot of volume underneath which I love and want to keep, but if I completely wet her hair her curls will lose the looseness and give us the same look as the day before but we like to change things up a bit with a different look. Plus the hair underneath is normally quite well defined from the day before, so I'd rather not touch them and cause them to frizz and ruin the style.

I also don't like to wet her hair too much when it is cold outside and where we live it is quite often, so getting used to a routine that doesn't involve a lot of wetting the hair and waiting for it to dry (I've never used heat to dry her hair and even if I tried she wouldn't let me because my cutie is scared of the hair dryer) saves us alot of time so we can have more fun playing outside together :)

No Rinse:

I sometimes leave the conditioner in her hair as it clumps her curls together very nicely. After applying her conditioner and de-tangling her hair I take GG out of her bath, get her dressed and leave her hair to air dry as is, quick and simple.

Bedtime Routine:

I follow the same night time braid routine as I do when I rinse the conditioner out of her hair.

Next Day Styling:

In the morning I unravel her plaits/braids and dampen her hair but instead of applying the Curly Q's Custard I apply some more conditioner lightly through all her hair finger combing it through section by section. I don't mix conditioner in a spray bottle with water any more because it can harbour bacteria over time, and we can't guarantee the same temperature in our bathroom everyday so I would rather play it safe and apply the water and conditioner separately. Then we are good to go :)

When I style her hair up in a protective style I spray our itchy scalp spray to her scalp then massage it in. I then apply our home made whipped shea butter mix to the section of hair I am going to be styling then comb it through to make sure the product is distributed evenly then style. Once I've styled I move onto the next section that needs to be styled and follow the same process untill I have styles all her hair.

PC: What are some of your little natural's favorite hairstyles? 

PC: How does your little natural feel about her hair?  

She loves her fluffy hair (that's what GG calls her hair out curly). She always says mummy can I have fluffy hair today? My hair is also curly and when I straightened it one day she said "Mummy I don't like your hair straight make it fluffy like mine." The next day when I washed my hair and it was curly she gave me a big hug and a kiss and said "Mummy you look pretty now you've got fluffy hair" :) Also whenever we go out and she sees someone with curls tight or loose or hair in a fro she says "look same as my hair, pretty."
  

PC: What tips/suggestions do you have for parents of little naturals?  

To prevent frizz and breakage on curly hair never brush curly hair when dry, and when it is wet try not to touch or manipulate it. 


GG is just adorable! I love her adoration of her own curl's, her mom's curls, and other people's precious curls! Both GG and her mom have lovely natural curls. Thanks GG's mom for allowing me to feature your little natural. Be sure to check out their blog here!