If you read this post, you may have extrapolated the fact that my husband is black and I’m white. Which makes our children half-black and half-white, aka “mixed.” True story, when Al first started hinting around to me about marriage, the first thing I said was, “But Al! What if we have a daughter? I won’t know what to do with her hair!”
And I was SO RIGHT. My daughter has this amazing head of thick blonde spiral curls that pretty much blows any hair I’ve ever seen anywhere right outta the water for its sheer beauty and uniqueness. It seems to invite comment from strangers everywhere we go. In contrast, I have this fine, limp, mousy straight hair that just hangs there, so tackling Bean’s hair, which has a life of its own, has intimidated me pretty much since day one.
Still, with Al’s help and a ton of experimentation, trial and error, and way more tears than I care to recall (hers AND mine), I’ve stumbled into a decent hair care routine for Bean’s lovely curls that keeps them semi-soft, semi-controlled, and semi-un-rat’s-nest-like. But I’ve always wondered if I was doing everything I could to bring out the best in her awesome tresses and take care of them so they stay healthy until I can finally (and happily turn) them over to her.
Which is why when I heard about a hair care product line called Mixed Chicks, my ears perked right up, and I scooted myself over to their website and did a little digging around.
And fell in love. With Kim Etheredge and Wendi Levy. For their sheer brilliance, their beauty, and their honest and humorous assessment of us clueless white moms out here trying to take care of our mixed children’s curls in a way that wouldn’t make us look as totally inept as we felt. Kim and Wendi understood my quandry, but stopped short of laughin’ at me. And that just felt GOOD.
What I learned is that these two beautiful ladies have worked together to create a line of products that combines all of the right ingredients for “mixed hair.” Their first and most popular product is their Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner, and it was the one I was most excited to try. But they also very kindly sent me their Shampoo, Deep Conditioner and new Hair Silk to try as well.
Thanks to the awesome instructional videos on the MixedChicks.net website, which Bean and I viewed countless times prior to receiving our Mixed Chicks goodies, we knew just what to do when they arrived, and wasted no time in doing it.
Here’s a picture of Bean’s hair BEFORE we used our new Mixed Chicks products:
The Front
and The Back
Now, in our defense, we had just taken her hair out of a pony tail way up on the top of her head, so it was even a bit more than characteristically wild. But see how it looks kinda dry and fuzzy? That’s typical of her hair after she’s slept on it or even just played hard.
Here we are after shampooing with the yummy-smelling, build-up-removing Mixed Chick Shampoo and applying the thick, rich Deep Conditioner.
Here she is pretending she’s Wendi, in one of the videos, carefully running her fingers through her curls to get conditioner on every strand. I cracked up when she started doing this. She was also narrating, just like Wendi in the video. SO FUNNY.
After we rinsed, we got to do the best part. We carefully applied the Leave-In Conditioner to Bean’s still-very-wet hair, in four sections.
It felt so nice and clean – not heavy and oily or sticky like some of the products I’ve tried. And it was easy to work through her (nicely detangled, thanks to the Deep Conditioner and my trusty wide-tooth comb) hair from root to ends.
Now I want you to look at this, y’all. Here she is right after we got done applying the Leave-In.
The Front
And The Back
And most importantly, here’s Bean with her hair fully air-dried, AFTER A NAP.
The Front
And The Back
Do you see the improvement in the overall texture of her hair? How shiny it is, and how the curls are controlled but they look soft and lush? YES, I SAID LUSH.
And it stays that way, too. I put it up in a loose scrunchy overnight to keep the curls from getting all ratty, and down it comes in the morning, soft and shiny and pretty again. To control it between washings, I spritz it with water and reapply a dab or two of the Leave-In Conditioner.
Such great stuff. Really, really great. A godsend for this clueless white Mama!
About Melissa
I just want to say that she has the most beautiful hair that I have ever seen!
Again, your daughter had the most beautiful mixed hair I have ever seen! I am sending a link of this post to my niece who just birthed her most precious and beautiful mixed chic last month.
The thing I noticed the most was the huge smile on her face, as if there was no pulling and pain at all. I don’t have a child with ‘mixed’ hair but heck if this straight haired mama knows what she is doing with her daughter’s curly hair. I may have to see if these products will work for her.
Wow, what a difference! That must be some good stuff! Definitely brings out the natural beauty of your little girl’s curls! 🙂
Your Bean has THE most beautiful hair I’ve ever seen. Seriously!
Wow! You have such a beautiful daughter and her hair is AMAZING! I am the niece that Karen refered to in her above comment. I just birthed my beautiful “mixed chic” 8 weeks ago today. I have to say that when I found out I was pregnant with a girl, my husband and I were terribly concerned about what I would do with her hair. I, like you, am a white female with the straightest, thinnest, limpest hair on earth (My hair wont hold a curl for ANYTHING!!!). The only thing my hair does is lay limp against my head or go into a slick-straight ponytail, so the thought of having to handle a head full of curls was VERY intimidating. Well, my angel was born with straight black hair and I felt a little relief (and a little disappointment that she would have to deal with my BORING hair!). But, as the weeks go on, her hair is getting a little more curly around the edges. I am not sure how curly it will get. Was your Bean’s hair this curly when she was born, or did it come with age?
Thank you so much for passing this info on, there are probably alot of us straight haired white women out there who dont know what to do with our babies beautiful curls. I will keep these products in mind!!!!
Wow! Her hair looks just gorgeous with a tremendous difference after using the product!!
Bean is the most beautiful girl I know (barring my own girl of course hehe)
she should be the Mixed Chicks poster girl 😉
I am in awe of her hair! I wish I had some of those beautiful ringlets.
It looks so soft and shiny and just plain angelic framing her precious little face!!!!
I know my girl’s hair is not CURLY like Beans, but it is curly and my favorite picture of Bean is that last one. Seems that Ava always has one sweet little ringlet hanging down longer than the rest. I love ringlets and I love that our girls BOTH have them!!!
Dude. That is one gorgeous girl!! Would that product be too much for a plain white girl with naturally curly hair?
Wow! She has the most amazing hair! I love it! The color variation is wonderful. I’m so happy you found product that will work and doesn’t require a lot of time . Now, if only I could do the same for my hair (which is definitely not as beautiful as hers).
Oh.My.Word. People pay mucho, mucho dinero for hair like that. The color and curls are amazing! She is one beautiful kiddo!
I’ve always thought Bean had the most gorgeous hair ever. I can see this product is wonderful. Now you need to find something for people with hair like ours – I bet mine is finer and limper than yours!
A lot of times I think hair products are overrated, but you really can see the difference in her hair. Which is gorgeous of course.
Oh my gosh, Megan, your daughter is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a little model there with that big smile and those eyes…Oh yes, and her hair was beautiful too. I agree that seeing that smiles says a lot to the products because I know from my own little girl hair experience there are often tears and frowns when we are combing the hair. Great post!!
She is absolutly beautiful!!!! I have mixed kids myself and my oldest has more textured hair. He has decided he wants to grow his hair long so i will definatly be trying these products soon. I am also going to recomend it to my sister who has mixed kids also. Her daughter just turned 4 and has hair just like Bean, very curl, and normally very fuzzy. She has tried a lot of stuff and never can get a nice non greasy look. Thanks for the review and how too pics.
Wow, that seems to be a very effective product. Bean is adorable and her hair is beautiful. I have a similiar problem with my own hair, no mixed ancestors either but uncontrolled fizzy hair that I have been told is called “beaded” difficult to style, hard to comb, etc, I may give this a try Thanks N
She has the best hair!! And that smile? Gorgeous!
I’m a woman of mixed race (Asian and Latina). I am fortunate to not have any hair issues but I just wanted to comment on how adorable you’re little girl is and how wonderfully beautiful I believe mixed children to be! What a blessing. Have a great holiday season!
Oh my gosh. She is BEAUTIFUL. And that stuff works wonders. WOW!
What an adorable daughter you have! Glad you found something that worked for you. That is such a good feeling.
Merry Christmas!
Wow. Those are some GREAT colors in her hair.
Hubs and I are just starting our second adoption (fourth child) and there’s a high possibility this girl (hubs INSISTS on a girl) will be black or biracial. Honestly, the hair issue is what freaks us out the most. I’m a white Mama w/ an Asian daughter (very thin, straight hair) and who knows what’s next? Oh, the excitement.
She is absolutely adorable (with or without the hair products)! But, WOW! Her hair turned out amazing! I’m so jealous — what I wouldn’t give for hair like that! I’ve got the fine, limp, mousy hair and, unfortunately, so do my kids. The only way we see a curl in these parts is if we happen to sleep on our hair wrong. 🙂
Cute kid. Great hair. I may try these products on my daughter who is not mixed, but has a similar grade of hair.
@Kinsley – most black/mixed babies are born with straight hair; usually takes about a year or two for the final texture to be revealed – sometimes not that long.
I truly think bean has the best hair in the world but my hat’s off to you…I would not want to take care of it!!
Awesome post 🙂
I so have to send this to my sister in law! Poor Dasha can never have her hair down, it is so unrully.
Wow –her beautiful hair looks awesome after using these products. Can’t wait to share this info with my daughter for my granddaughter’s hair.
It is exactly like your little girl’s hair only it’s dark brown!
Thanks for this wonderful information!!
She’s a beautiful girl. And I love her hair!
Whoa! She is so beautiful. Her hair is awesome. I’ve never seen natural highlights like that. It looks super cool! I’m excited for you to find such a great product to flatter her hair. I love mixed children. My sister married a black man, but she had all boys. They really tried for the girl but ended up having 3 boys. One of them has straight hair, one curly, and one really curly. But they look so cute. I love their tan completion. I’m excited to see what my kids come out like. 🙂
You’ve been told this many times…beautiful daughter, beautiful hair. Her hair looks amazing and I can’t wait to try the product on my own daughter, who is not mixed but has similar hair. Thank you so much for sharing with us..it really helped!
You’re daughter is beautiful! I love the color of her hair. She is going to be a knockout when she gets older. I recieved samples of Mixed Chicks from a beauty supply store yesterday. My hair is just like your Bean’s hair except my hair is black. I couldn’t believe how soft and manageable it made my hair. It took away all the frizz and left soft curls. Other products left my hair hard and crunchy but Mixed Chicks left it soft, silky, and defined. Highly recommend for any race with curly hair.
Okay. So. Again, as everyone has said you have a very Gorgeous girl.
She’s gonna be a heartbreaker so keep your eyes open. Lol.
But anyway I’m going to try those products, because I’m not mixed but my hair is curly just like hers….It’s like an exact replica except I’m older and I don’t have blonde hair (which is beautifulll) so yep. Gonna get my mom to go and buy it because I can’t use black girl products or white girl products. Neither work for me.
So, mixed chics hair products for a non-mixed chic.
Who knew?
HELP ME!!!!! I have a 14 year old daughter who is mixed with african american plus indian and white. She has hair lets put it this way Don King in the front and Dianna Ross and everywhere in the back. She also has thick hair blessed by me and her mother. when we try to help her it is at lease puffs out to the size of a 14 inch tire. She has to always wear it in a ponytail. She hates it. She wants to where it down. thick and curly but knots up easily. It is wet past her shoulders but dry it’s above her shoulders. Nothing we have tried has worked. I am at my wits end and tired of seeing her cry that she can’t do anything with it. At 14 she just wants to be a young women. can you help. Please send me some samples of the products you feel will work for her. It feels soft but very dry at the same time. PLEASE help me make being a teenager a little easier. My address is Brenda Burns at 4316 Brookmere Dr.S.E. kentwood ,MI 49512. I would be most greatful. thank you.
Brenda Burns
Your daughter is gorgeous. I just love her hair, I can’t stop looking at it.
my mom is white and my dad i s black too but I have hair nowhere near as beautiful as your daughter’s. wow, her hair is beautiful, and you are right mixed chick is great, I love it too.
i was wondering if i used mixed chicks hair products on my hair would it give my their hair. i wanted to know because they have to most beautiful curls i have ever seen not saying i dont love my natural african american hair and my relaxed hair but sometimes i would want to wear my hair like that.
I know exactly how it feels to go through this. Your daughter has beautiful hair!!
My father is black and my mother is white, and though her hair isn’t very straight, its wavy and thick in sections. my hair comes out as Thick thin, coarse curly wavey AND STRAIGHT. it drives me up the wall how many textures my hair actually CARRIES. I had no idea what to do with my hair when I decided I wanted to stop damaging it with perms and straightening techniques. It took a year to grow back long enough for a decent look, but since I’ve decided to go al naturale with mixed chics, i am so gloriously proud of my hair. the product and the ladies who created it, are literally a godsend.
nicole~
Wow. She is beautiful. I want her hair! So pretty & I just LOVE those curls & the color as well! (: