Giveaway!!!

Welcome to Curly Queues first giveaway!!!

I love the Shea Moisture line. I use it a lot with P. I also know that some of you love it as well or would like to try it... now is your chance! Enter below to win your choice of either Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk OR Shea Moisture Curl Smoothie!!!

The giveaway will now include BOTH a 4oz bottle of Shea Moisture Curl & Style Milk AND a 4oz tube of Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie!!!

Raffle begins on November 4th and will end on November 11th!

Picture: Hairstyle

Just a style we did yesterday. I will probably keep it in until Saturday! I used Shea Moisture Curl Smoothie on damp hair.

Queue-Torial: Rope Twists

Here is a quick "queue"-torial on rope twists!

For the purposes of this, I did not use any product in P's hair. I do recommend, if you are leaving the style in for any length of time, to use something for frizz and to moisturize. I usually stick with Shea Moisture Curl Smoothie or Organix Moroccan Aragan Oil for these styles. Both products make her hair very soft and manageable, and they smell awesome. Be careful to not use too much of any one product as it can cause build-up.

STEP ONE: I detangled her hair and spritzed it with a water/conditioner mixture. I then divide her ponytail into two equal sections.

STEP TWO: Twist each strand of hair clockwise (to the right). I hold the ends to keep them twisted tightly.

STEP THREE: Keeping the sections twisted clockwise, place the right section OVER the left section.

STEP FOUR: Keep twisting right OVER TOP of left-- being sure to keep that counterclockwise twist on each section. I find it easy to do a quick twist to the right as I am placing right section-over-left section. It becomes a pattern of: cross hair, twist sections, cross hair, twist sections.

Finished product. You can secure with a rubber band (I have to with P's hair, it will not stay otherwise) and finish off with beads, barrettes, etc.

Baby Curly Queues

Here is our first picture post! I just wanted to show a totally product free style that I used on P. It only lasted a day, but that is all I was looking for with her being with her Daddy all day while I was working.

Items I used for this style:
- spray bottle full of water
- wide tooth comb
- rat-tail comb
- snag free rubber bands

After wetting the hair with water, I carefully combed through to detangle.

Then I began parting her hair horizontally from ear-to-ear. The front section I divided slightly unevenly, with a slanted part that ran diagonally from above her left eye and ended in the middle of her head. I used snag free rubber bands to secure the two sections into two pony tails.


I parted the back of her hair into two equal sections, then parted those sections into two more equal sections-- so I had 4 equal parts of hair along the back of her head, as you can probably see in the picture above. I secured each of these 4 sections with snag free rubber bands.

So, I had 6 sections of hair all rubber banded with the snag free rubber bands. I then began the twisting and braiding-- I did a two strand rope twist on the two front sections, I secured them with another rubber band. The back 4 sections I did a basic 3 strand braid, again securing with a rubber band.

At this point you could leave everything as is... or you could add beads to the ends of the braids and twists... or any other types of ballies or accessories! I, however, decided to do knots with the back section of braids-- I simply twisted the braids and secured the ends underneath existing rubber bands.

I did one last spritz of water all over her head.

This style held up very well throughout the day without any product. I took down the back 4 sections for sleeping and P wore the two twists the next day with her hair out in the back.

Sulfate and Paraben free options

If you choose to stay free of Sulfates and/or Parabens, there are some affordable options for you!

Simply U shampoo and conditioners are sulfate and paraben free! There are three options available: color-treated, moisturizing, and volumizing. Simply U can be found at WalMart for less than $4 each.

L'Oreal Everstrong is sulfate free. It can be found in drug stores (Walgreens, CVS, etc.), Walmart, or ordered from Walmart.com. The bundle of shampoo/conditioner from Walmart.com is priced at $12.71!

Renpure Organics have a huge line of sulfate and paraben free hair products. These can be found at drugstores, as well as Walmart. The cheapest I have seen for these products is below $6 each. Here is a link to check out their entire product line!

TIGI Rockaholic Livin The Dream is a sulfate free shampoo. It can be found at Walmart, and online at Walmart.com (where it is priced at $15.77) 

Sulfates, Silicones and Parabens... oh my!

What are sulfates? There is an ingredient is every shampoo and every body cleansing product called the "surfactant." The surfactant in shampoos are surface active ingredients-- which means the surfactant is the actual portion of the formula that cleans. A lot of shampoos use Sodium Lauryl Sulfate SLS or Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate ALS as their surfactants. These sulfates are cheap, so they're found in a lot of shampoos!

What are silicones? Silicones used in hair care products are typically liquid at room temperature and have an oily consistency. They're usually insoluble in water, but are sometimes modified to make them water-soluble. Common silicones you will see often in hair products are: Amodimethicone, Dimethiconol, Dimethicone, and Cyclomethicone.

What are parabens? The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in their report "Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: Agents of Subtle Change?" reported that the chemical preservatives called parabens—methyl, propyl, butyl and ethyl (alkyl-p-hydroxybenzoates)—displayed estrogenic activity in several tests. That means that it is possible that parabens mimic your body's own hormones. Several countries-- not the United States, though-- have banned certain parabens from being used in products.


I personally do choose to use sulfate and paraben free products on my daughter's hair. We use Renpure shampoos and conditioners and have had great success with them. They are reasonably priced- I usually see them at Walmart for under $6 a bottle, and the bottle lasts a very long time, even with myself and my daughter using it.

Other sulfate-free shampoos include: Renpure line of products, Organix line of products, Bed Head Superstar shampoo, certain Burts Bees shampoos, Kinky Curly line of products, and Shea Moisture line of products...

Welcome!

Welcome to Curly Queues.

About Our Family:
We are a family with our toes in the sand! We live at the very well known Jersey Shore-- not that Jersey Shore that you see on MTV, the actual Jersey Shore, Southern Cape May County. In the Summertime, we love going to the beach and pool. In the Fall and Winter, we still enjoy spending time outdoors as the weather allows.

I have a son, R., and a daughter, P. My son loves reading, and playing "pretend" games. He has a very vivid imagination, and is always pretending he is Spider Man, Super Man, or other various superheroes and characters! He plays football, and along with school, has a very busy schedule.

My daughter, P., is my princess. I know, that is very cliche, but she really is. She is very talkative, and very rough and tough... but also the sweetest kid you could meet. She is a little boss, though, too. One thing, P. always lets you know her opinion! 

The Blog:
I've just really begun this journey with natural hair care, since P's hair has really just started growing over the past year. My goal is to always keep learning, because there is so, so much to learn about this topic! So, for those of you who are also just beginning, welcome! We can learn together :)