Natural Hair: 5 Tips and 4 Styles for Tweens { A Rapidly Approaching Trend For The Sistahs } (520 hits)
BY: Stacey Taylor - 20 Feb '14 | Natural Hair Black and Married With Kids.com A Positive Image of Marriage & Family
Just when I get the hang of handling my daughter’s natural hair, she decides to become a tween and disrupts my entire existence. Yes my little girl is growing up and she is beginning to want to express herself not only in what she wears, but also how she wears her hair. No longer is she interested in ponytails and puffs. She wants to wear her hair loose and down ALL the time. Her favorite style at this time is the Twist Out. Lucky for me this is a style that I can easily do. I simply 2 strand twist her hair while its wet or moistened with a leave in conditioner, and then untwist it a few days later.
There are really no problems with this styling. She likes it. I like it, that is unless it rains, or the humidity is high, or the temps are extreme. In those cases, protective styles are in order whether she likes it or not. Running the webs only social network that is dedicated to the parents of children with natural hair, Our Natural Kids, I get questions all the time from our members asking for suggestions for tween styles. Lucky for us we have professional stylist Keianna (KeeKee) Johnson on board. KeeKee is the owner of Chi Chi Sophistication Natural Hair Care Studio based out of Baltimore, Maryland. Her specialty is locs and braiding.
Aside from lack of skill and training many of us either have no time or no creativity to do some styles. This is especially my situation. I am not a braider, never have been and not interested in learning. However, I am a “twister” 2 strand twist styles are all I can do. Twisting is easy and the styles that can be created are very versatile.
When I asked Keekee for some easy to do styles that would satisfy a tween girl’s tastes, she was very happy to send me over a few pics of her handy work.
This first style is a twisting style that I absolutely love. It utilizes fat flat twists. The top ones are pulled up in a sort of bun, while the back ones are left hanging. It’s a little bit more mature yet not too grown. This style will also last if you keep the hair protected at night.
Tween Hair 2_ Flat Twist
This one is really cool. I don’t know if I could do it but I like the dramatic effect of the parts. Starting with flat twist on one side and ending with the hanging twist on the other is very cute and again age appropriate. Notice how she used small black rubber bands to hold the twists in place.
Tween Hair 3 _ twists
See how the flat twists are manipulated with a little hang time on the side? Even though I am not good at parting I felt like I could give this one a try. With the help and encouragement of KeeKee I felt like I could do it and with a little practice I did.
Tween Hair 5
This is how it turned out. I think that I can work on my parting but other than that the style works. My daughter was happy with it and so was I.
Tween Hair 6 Lil Chick Flat Twists (1)
Here are 5 tips that will help you get through the tween hair stages with your child:
1. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new styles.
New styles can be fun and exciting to try. Seeing something in a picture and then trying it yourself may turn into a favorite style.
2. Pick styles that are comfortable for you to do as well as comfortable for her to wear.
Be careful with natural hair. It is very fragile. Pay attention to her edges when braiding or twisting, to ensure that they are not pulled to tight. Don’t cry over styles that you can’t do. Stay within your comfort level.
3. Keep an open line of communication with your tween.
It will be around now that the peer pressure to relax the hair will start. There is nothing wrong with wearing natural hair in straight styles. A lot of tweens with natural hair entering middle school will start to get pressure about this and begin to want to wear straight styles. If this is the case, just be careful, consult a stylist and remember that heat damage is irreversible Peer pressure can sometimes become overwhelming so keep the lines of communication open.
4. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Practice may not make perfect, but it can make great natural hair styles. Remember that Rome was not built in a day, take your time and just do it. You will be surprised as your skills develop and people start asking you where you take your daughter to get her hair done.
5. There is no shame in hiring a stylist.
If you want to keep your child’s hair natural as she enters adolescence and are simply unable to comprehend, execute, and maintain any of these styles, then please contact a stylist. Do your research. But find one that can take care of your child’s hair so that it can remain healthy in its beautiful natural state
As a person who is not very creative when it comes to hair styling, I appreciate being able to look at pics of styles created by other people. Since I am a DIY type of person, attempting to do my child’s hair on my own was something that I was eager to do. So, I enjoy watching YouTube videos about this and even have my own series with my daughter that covers natural hair care and maintenance for children. As she gets older I find that I have less say in how she wears her hair than I did when she was younger. Part of me is sad about that. The other part of me is happy that I am here to watch her as she grows and that I am present as she becomes aware of her independence. Regardless, I’ll be here to take care of her and her hair until she no longer needs me to.
To see more natural hair style, pics and videos all in one place PLUS a space for parents to discuss and chat about this topic and more, join us at Our Natural Kids.
BMWK – Do you have any style suggestions for tween girls with natural hair?
Stacey Taylor aka "The SistahChick" is a writer, blogger and You Tuber with a passion for natural hair and her community. She is the founder of Our Natural Kids, a social networking website that promotes natural hair health style & maintenance for kids. Through Our Natural Kids, Stacey has provided a platform for parents from all over the world to share information as it relates to natural hair and kids since 2010. Stacey is an Indiana native currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and 4 kids.
