May 2012 Archives - Untrained Hair Mom

Summer Backyard Blast Giveaway Hop

May 31, 2012 By Brooke 2 Comments

Here it is! The Summer Backyard Blast Giveaway Hop! We’ve got 2 great prize packages geared towards children that will aid in them having safe and happy outdoor play this summer.

Prize Pack #1: Stay Protected! ($67 value)

TruKid Sunscreen and Sunscreen Stick: Read our TruKid Review ($28.98)

Flap Happy Hat of Winner’s Choice: Read our Flap Happy Review ($16.95-21.95)

Babo Botanicals UV Conditioning Spray for Hair: Read our Babo Botanicals Review($16.00)

Prize Pack #2: Fun in the Sun ($64 value)

Pack of Kid’s Swiggies: Read our Swiggies Review ($14.95)

Gifts a GoGo Fun in the Sun Pail ($48.95)

Enter to win on the Rafflecopter form below! Giveaway open to US residents 18 and up. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to enter the grand prize giveaway sponsored by TruKid, Imperial Toy, and an amazing group of bloggers who want to make your summer a blast! You have the opportunity to win a wagon, water table, kid-friendly skincare package from TruKid, and a variety of bubble and water toys from Imperial Toy! Please note that the Grand Prize Giveaway is only open to US residents.

TruKid aims to encourage a healthy, well rounded lifestyle. By combining all natural skincare with fun and education, TruKid cultivates a relationship between healthy habits and being a kid.
Imperial Toy is the worldwide leader in the sale and manufacture of Bubbles and Novelty Toys. At Imperial, the Mission is to be First in Fun!

ENTER THE GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY HERE!

Disclosure: Untrained Hair Mom, Formula Mom, Tales From the Nursery, The Maven of Social Media, and the rest of the Summer Backyard Blast bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that fail to fulfill their prizes.

Filed Under: Giveaways, Life Outside Hair Tagged With: summer

Swiggies Review: Summer Backyard Blast Sponsor

May 31, 2012 By Brooke 6 Comments

Yesterday we mentioned how much we love the themed blog giveaway hops and told you all about the upcoming Summer Backyard Blast event and today we have another sponsor announcement…Swiggies! Who wouldn’t want an easy, convenient way to carry around a water bottle on a hot day? With the warmer temps of the summer months children are more at risk of becoming dehydrated, after all who like to stop playing to get a drink of water. Swiggies are a fun way for kids to stay hydrated while playing outside in the summer. Swiggies are water bottles that can be worn on the wrists of kids while they play. They have a spout that pulls open and easily closes back without leaking. The velcro strip makes it convenient to strap the bottle around the wrist and go. Swiggies bottles are made of the safest FDA approved, food grade, BPA-free plastic and have been tested under the strictest standards. They are also the easiest plastic to recycle, making them a “green” product.

Swiggies aren’t too big or bulky so they don’t get in the way of play, activities and exercise, each bottle can hold up to 4oz of water depending on the bottle size.

D’s loves her Swiggies, every day when she goes out to play she has been filling up her bottles and strapping them on.

Swiggies sale for $12.95 on their website.

Children and adult sizes are available, both in a variety of colors. Swiggies has agreed to be a part of the Summer Backyard Blast giveaway by providing a set of their wrist water bottles to a lucky winner. Be sure to check back so you can enter to win some great summer prizes! Also, check out Swiggies on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Life Outside Hair Tagged With: summer

Flap Happy Review: Summer Backyard Blast Sponsor

May 30, 2012 By Brooke 6 Comments

You know how we love giveaways and giveaway events around here and we especially enjoy the themed giveaway hops…and we could not pass up the opportunity to join a summer themed giveaway hop called Summer Backyard Blast! For Summer Backyard blast we will be featuring (and giving away) some fun and cute summer/outdoor items for kids! Our first feature comes from Flap Happy and our own Baby Boy. Flap Happy is a hat and clothing company created with the purpose of providing protection to our little ones from the sun.

Take a look at the adorable “Pirate Cay” protective swimwear and hats for toddlers. Both pieces are made from non chemically treated UPF50+ fabrics for added protection from the sun.

In addition to sunscreen I feel that protective clothing is a must for my little ones to stay safe from the sun. I love the hat flaps and I wish I would have had one for the baby last year and one for D when she was small as well. The flaps extend down to cover the ears and the back of the neck and provide a protective barrier from the sun. I also think it is super cute to have matching hat and swim trunks. Flap Happy offers some adorable colors, prints and styles.

Baby Boy having some fun in the sun:

I love that Flap Happy has such a nice variety of swimwear and hat styles in different colors and cute patterns for boys and girls. Flap Happy is generously giving away a hat of the winners choice for the upcoming Summer Backyard Blast Giveaway Hop. Don’t forget to come by and enter to win this and more great prizes!

Connect with Flap Happy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for updates and special deals!

Filed Under: Baby Boy, Baby Products Tagged With: summer

Center Stage: Kiairah

May 28, 2012 By Brooke 4 Comments

This is Kiairah or KeKe (which she hates but I can’t help but call her from time to time!). She’s 8 (9 in April). Kiairah loves to dance (& is a competitive dancer). She’s also an avid reader! Kiairah also likes to play Wii, she takes pride in kicking butt (mostly mine & her uncle’s).
I would say that her hair type is 4b/c. Our hair care routine is pretty simple…we wash once a week (maybe every other week depending on her scalp & the style that is in) and once a month we do a hot (warm) oil treatment with EVOO.
The products we are currently using are One & Only Argon Oil (shampoo & conditioner). Kinky Kurly Knot Today (however I’m running out and it’s not widely available in Canada). Bee Mine (for moisture) and EVOO.
I would have to say that the hardest struggle when learing to care for Kiariah’s hair has been what to use on her hair and what works. I’ve been thru so many products it isn’t even funny! I am also ashamed to say that when she was younger I was too quick to listen to other people who I thought were offering me good advice and I didn’t research the products. I once put a texturizer in her hair because I thought that’s what was best for her. I later found out that it was basically like a relaxer and I was crushed! I never put it near her again, and in the summer of 2010 I took her and had all the “dead” (texturized) hair cut off. I learnt how to braid hair from watching YouTube videos. I use to take her to a salon when she was younger but she didn’t like other people touching her hair, so I finally got frustrated and decided it was time to learn to cornrow. I think my only advice is to just keep trying… There are times when I feel like Kiairah’s hair is just OK, and I’m not totally satisfied but then she will get a ton of compliments.

You can be featured on our blog, too! See Center Stage Feature, for more details!

Filed Under: All Things Hair, Center Stage

Feather Girlz Clip In Extensions Review and Giveaway

May 23, 2012 By Brooke 40 Comments

My daughter loves colored hair extensions, what can I say she comes by it honest I love different colors in my hair too, after all I’ve had pink hair, purple hair, blue, green, red…the list goes on and on. D has asked for “peek a boo” streaks in her hair on several occasions, but with her hair type she must settle for colored clip in extensions. Lately, we’ve both been wanting to check out the latest craze of colored feather hair extensions and were recently given the opportunity by Feather Girlz. Feather Girlz offers a collection of color feather clip ins, extensions and accessories. Their hair clip ins are made of all-natural, top quality feathers. Each clip in consists of 5 feathers bonded at the tip with a re-usable clip to create one extension approximately 12 inches long. These feathers can be washed, blow dried, curled and flat ironed (up for 450 degrees F) – essentially treated exactly as you would your natural hair. They have a nice variety of colors and color combo’s to choose from, we picked out the Urban Ballerina Clip In Extension, which is teal, pink, purple and black (very pretty).

You know I had to rock it

And D loved having some extra flair to her straightened hair after her trim:

The feathers in the clip in are small and add just a subtle amount of color, so if you are aren’t looking for anything too drastic, these are PERFECT!

Feather Girlz also has some cute charms, earrings, hair pins and feather nails (I had actually never heard of or seen feather nails before browsing the Feather Girlz website).

Feather Girlz is offering up a chance for our awesome readers to win a clip in feather extension in the color of their choice! Enter to win using the Rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: All Things Hair, Giveaways Tagged With: Hair Accessories

Natural Hair Growth and Retaining Length

May 21, 2012 By Brooke 18 Comments

Natural Hair Growth and Retaining Length

D’s hair has reached butt length! I knew it was getting longer, but had no idea it was already down to her butt when stretched. Just this past November she had her hair straightened and trimmed and her hair was several inches from being this length. Below is a collage and timeline of D’s length throughout her natural hair care journey.

You can see in November of 2009 her hair was at shoulder length, almost a year later it was just past shoulder length. October 2010 was when we first discovered and started using Bee Mine Natural Hair Care Products and really started learning about properly caring for natural hair (read more about our natural hair care journey). You can see she gained quit a bit of length from Oct 2010 to Sept 2011 and up until April 2012. So, how did we achieve this hair growth and retain the length? I credit the growth and length retention primarily to:

If you are looking for natural hair care products, I recommend the Bee Mine line, right now you can get 10% off your order by using our reader discount code, COLDUTHM, on orders over $15.

So, what are you doing to improve the health of your or your child’s hair to promote growth and retain length?

Filed Under: All Things Hair, Natural Hair Care, Natural Products Tagged With: hair growth, retaining hair length

Waxelene Safe and Natural Alternative to Petroleum Jelly

May 18, 2012 By Brooke 3 Comments

I don’t know how many times in the past 2 years I have wished for a product similar to Vaseline that was safe and didn’t contain petroleum products…too many to count, that is for sure. I used to use petroleum jelly as an eye make up remover, lip balm, around my hair line when dying my hair to prevent staining my skin, as a skin protectant for myself and my daughter and for many other things. This was all before I knew of the harmful health effects petroleum products have on us. I was so glad to learn about a safe and natural alternative, Waxelene, which is made from Organic Soy Oil, Beeswax, Organic Rosemary Oil, and Natural Vitamin E (from soybeans)…that’s it, no petroleum or artificial ingredients.

This product is an awesome replacement and it works just like Vaseline. Well, with one exception, Waxelene actually moisturizes, it doesn’t just hold existing moisture in (and/or out) like Vaseline does, so when I put it on my lips it is truly hydrating them. It’s great for dry skin and those especially rough spots. It also provides that good water-proof barrier when needed to protect skin from irritation. And the best part…I can use it on my babies without worry!

Waxlelene can be purchase online in 2oz ($6.99) and 9oz ($15.99) jars. If you are looking for a safe alternative to petroleum jelly, I recommend this! Waxelene is also on Facebook and Twitter.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Filed Under: Baby Products, Natural Products, Skin Care

EcoStore: Plant Based Hand and Body Wash

May 14, 2012 By Brooke 6 Comments

Products with naturally derived ingredients are the ones I strive to provide for my family, after all if it came from the Earth it was meant for us to utilize for any purpose that we need. ecoStore has many natural products from personal hygiene to hair care and baby, pet and household cleaners. Their products are non-toxic and the prices are great. Their new Honey Almond shampoo and conditioner for example are only $6.50 each for a 13.5oz bottle. I have not tried their shampoo and conditioner but that seems like a great price for natural shampoo and conditioner and worthy of a try. I have tried ecoSmart’s Orange & Patchouli hand wash and body wash and I was impressed.

This hand wash is lightly but freshly scented with natural orange and patchouli oils, a perfect combo for a fresh, clean scent. I like to keep this in the kids bathroom, it cleans without harsh chemicals and is moisturizing, too.

The 8.5oz size is only $3.40 per bottle.

Ingredients: Water, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Wheat Germamidopropyldimonium, Hydroxypropyl Hydrolysed Wheat Protein, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol and Caprylyl Glycol, Naturally Derived Fragrance

The Orange & Patchouli Body Wash has the same great scent mentioned above, it gently cleanses without over drying and is safe to use on my kids, although the majority of the time it is in our shower for us.

This comes in an 13.5oz size bottle for only $4.75

ecoSTORE can be found online at www.ecostoreusa.com

on Facebook and Twitter and their blog