The Girl in 3C



NeNe-Dec 2010



NeNe- So long ago...

NeNe and I are on our way to long, strong, healthy hair. Our journey began about 3 yrs ago when NeNe's hair started to get long and the frustration began......

 I had anticipated having to learn how to care for my Mexican/Caucasian/African American daughters hair since I first learned I was pregnant with her. Even before she was born I found myself fascinated with other mixed race little girls hair and how it was styled and I was taking mental notes at every turn. When she was an infant haircare consisted of washing her hair or wetting it, then adding the product of the week I had picked up to try out on her curly curls.  I got alot of advice, solicited and unsolicited. Most of which was completely wrong for her hair. As her hair got longer I became more and more stressed over her peculiar hair texture. I typically styled her hair in ponytails with varying parts as all attempts to style her hair down and natural ended up looking like a hot mess.

About a year ago, I started reading up on bi-racial hair and began making changes in the way I thought about and cared for her gorgeous curls. I gave orders to Dad to stop brushing her hair into a ponytail when it was completely dry. I asked Grandma to refrain from any style attempts. I resorted to programming Nene to tell anyone who got near her hair that only mommy can do her hair. I tried some natural hair care product lines and found a few keepers. All was going well, until I got bored with the one or two styles that were not damaging to her hair that I had been reverting to.

That's when I opened up my laptop and started searching for style websites for little girls. Let me tell you it took some digging, but I found a few terrific sites that inspired me to learn to braid and cornrow NeNe's hair. I admit, I was intimidated by the very idea of cornrowing, but I'm so glad I kept trying until I got it.

Now that I have the basics down, I have been noticing that most of my go to sites feature little girls that have 4A hair and what works for them, doesn't always work for us. For instance, my daughter's hair is difficult to part and her hair seems to resist parting, if that makes any sense. Also, a style that may last two or three weeks for some girls, would only last a week in NeNe's. As I hunted for a site that featured 3C hair styles and haircare advice for little girls, I came up short.

My hope is that mothers of little one's with 3C hair like miss NeNe  will teach me a thing or two and maybe I can share my experiences with them.

I'd love to see any pictures of your cuties 3C hairstyles and welcome all feedback.

And so, it begins.........