My Biracial Baby's Hair: and how I thought I'd have the upper hand.

This has got to be the most exciting topic I have ever written about! Being that I am in an interracial marriage I get a lot of different questions from a lot of different angles. Some are from well meaning (but ignorant on the subject) people and others are flat out hilarious! I for one have always seen myself marrying a white man. It sounds funny, I know, but when you're raised in primarily white circles the way I was (I mean, it makes since to me). So yeah, I have secretly coveted a mixed baby for my entire life. I think the blend of two vastly different ethnicity is a beautiful thing, no matter the mix. Black and White, Vietnamese and White, Native American and Black, Puerto Rican..I mean, these kids are living doll babies!! However, if its one thing I thought I'd never have a problem with, it's styling my mixed baby's hair.  Honestly. I assumed it couldn't be anymore unruly than my (black) hair, and figured it would probably be similar to my husband's texture of hair. Straight and W-H-I-T-E! LOL! Well needless to say, my child had NO hair when he was born and little did I know that not only would it be curly, but it would also have a HUGE characteristic of my hair: dryness.

In my son's 1st year I have learned so much. Now, a lot of what I've learned about mixed hair, was spawned in the beginning of my natural hair journey. If you don't know, black people don't wash their hair everyday the way many white people do. Our hair is much dryer and naturally more fragile. This is why we use oils, creams and other hair dressers daily. The "black nature" of mixed hair is that it craves moisture. I learned quickly that although I assumed I would be able to simply dampen my little boys "white hair" with water to style it, I couldn't have been more wrong. That's just it! It isn't white hair or black hair at all! But like mine, it needs a lot more than water to be kept soft, manageable and looking neat. The only thing characteristically "white" about my son's hair is that it does need to be washed a little more frequently than mine but some how, still not as much as his daddy's. Another important note about mixed hair is, although it needs moisture, too much will leave it weighed down and greasy looking.

I've never been a fan of No More Tears but I eventually realized that that even the baby shampoo I had chosen to use wasn't cuttin' it for my mixed baby :) It left his hair stripped of its natural oils (which it needs). So I set off on a journey to find something that would clean his hair (naturally!) but not leave it "too clean"...or so clean that it was dry and lifeless. I tried using a bar of African Black Soap (which I was VERY nervous about) but it has shea butter and ash in it. And ya know what? The woolly patch in the back of my sons head softened and curled up perfectly. It worked wonderfully, but when I ran out, I would have to go back to using our Baby Bee from Burt's Bees. So was still on the search for something better. Along the way I learned how perfect leave-in conditioners are for mixed hair. I tried a squirt of my Tresseme Natural Conditioner with a Tbsp of rosewater (great for hair) just to give it a try. It worked! The key I've found is using a really good natural conditioner and just misting his entire head after a bath or whenever I'm ready to style it. My signature regimen for him is doing this and combing it through after I wash it with Basalisa Soap. It seems to have the balance of essential oils that leave our baby's hair soft, detangled and moisturized. Plus, it smells amazing!! It is by far mine and the Hubby's favorite to bathe in, so we run out quickly. We also love the White Tea Ginger (goat milk) lotion, featured in my Choosing Safer Products video post. It has done wonders for our skin and mixed baby's hair!! I welcome all questions and comments ;))

::Lovin' my mixed baby's hair!::