So, like, is it weird that I was totally obsessed with my Mari’s hair before she was born? Seriously, I was—wanted to know if she’d come out bald or with a big ol’ afro that would stand at attention, if her African American baby hair would be straight and wispy or if it’d be thick enough for one of the sparkly pink barrettes I’d bought to match one of the many dresses I’d collected for her burgeoning baby wardrobe. Would I be able to cornrow it? Put it in twists? Ponytails, maybe? Or sweet little coiled curls like the ones my favorite doll had when I was little?
Still, even as I daydreamed about my baby’s hair and all the different ways I would style it, finding information on how to care for it proved elusive. Outside of the occasional warning not to braid her hair too tight or put tight hair bows and baubles in her hair, there was nothing/nada/zip/zero on how to properly comb, wash, condition, style and grow black baby hair. No tips on products safe enough for babies but perfect for thirsty, delicate natural African American hair. No suggestions for combing and detangling her dry, tight little curls without hurting her or damaging her locks. No info, even, on whether the typical baby products that every new mother seemed to use on her baby were actually okay for black newborn skin and hair, which simply has different needs.
Mind you, my Mari was born 12 years ago—way before you could type “how do I take care of black baby hair” into Google and a bazillion answers popped up, way before Afrobella, CurlyNikki and BlackGirlLongHair took to the internet to school black women on how to care for natural hair, way before YouTube was full of natural haircare how-to videos for kids—way before, even, black women embraced caring for, styling and rocking their hair exactly in the way it grows from their heads. Three years later, with the debut of my second daughter, born with 10 times more hair than my first and a whole ‘nother set of curly black baby hair challenges, not much had changed.
And so caring for Mari’s hair was a comedy of errors. She was born with a poof of hair at the top of her head, wisps on the sides and absolutely nothing on the back. Which means she had three different situations going on and a mother who was prepared for none of them. I washed it with the most popular baby shampoo on the market, and she ended up with cradle cap. The pediatrician prescribed a shampoo to help get rid of it, and my baby’s hair got crazy dry. As she got older and her hair grew longer, I switched to popular children’s shampoo that came in pretty packaging with fruity scents, and her hair got dry as a California forest. Her sister came along with all that hair and, good God, I was lost in a sea of three natural heads of hair (by then, I was natural, too) and clueless about what to do with them. Oh, and everybody had an opinion about what I should be doing with their hair, but nobody knew for sure and some of it made absolutely no sense (Kiddie perms? Old school hair products like Dax and Afro Sheen on little girl hair? Vaseline and baby oil? Seriously?)
I promise you, if I had a nickel for every time I or one of my African American girlfriends said there should be a natural hair care line for black babies, we’d all be able to retire to and live well in a mansion on a tropical island.
Luckily, African American moms have Google, YouTube, natural hair care websites like Happy Girl Hair and Beads, Braids Beyond and, miraculously, hair care products designed specifically with black babies in mind. And today, MyBrownBaby is proud to feature and offer one of the best on the market—CARA B Naturally.
CARA B Naturally is an all-natural line of personal care products formulated specifically for ethnically diverse babies, children and their families. The first and only NPA Certified Natural skin and hair care line for the ethnic market, CARA B Naturally enhances the natural beauty of babies and children with varying skin types and hair textures while avoiding the use of synthetic chemicals that can harm delicate skin and hair. The CARA B Naturally shampoo/body wash, leave-in conditioner/daily moisturizer, body lotion, moisturizing hair mist and baby soap are all made with only natural plant-based ingredients and contains no artificial colors, fragrances, parabens, petrolatum, sulfates, mineral oil or other crazy chemicals that do damage to our baby’s tender hair and skin. And with shea butter, jojoba oil and sweet almond oil, aloe and Vitamin E making star appearances in the products, each leaves baby’s hair smelling delicious, feeling soft and looking healthy—naturally.
I’ve been using the leave-in conditioner and moisturizing hair mist in Lila’s hair to give her twists a daily boost and shine, and we’ve all been fighting over the body lotion, which smells yummy and leaves our skin feeling baby soft. I’m actually kinda kicking myself right now for not buying CARA B Naturally sooner, but I had my reasons: I don’t tend to buy hair and beauty products online and we live in the middle-of-nowhere Georgia, easily an hour away from the specialty stores like Whole Foods that sell CARA B Naturally products.
But, I have extra great news: CARA B Naturally will now be sold in Target and CVS! The North Carolina-based company, founded by MyBrownBaby moms Kristi Booker and Landra Booker Johnson, rolled out their products in Target last month and this month, you’ll find it in CVS locations all throughout the U.S.! Which means I—and you!—can get these incredible CARA B Naturally products just down the street. Plus, for a limited time, CVS will be running a Buy One, Get One 50% Off on all CARA B Naturally products. Score!
Win, Win, WIN one of two Cara B Naturally gift baskets with all of the line’s products,
plus a $125 gift card to either Target or CVS!
To celebrate CARA B Naturally’s entry into Target and CVS, MyBrownBaby and CARA B Naturally have put together a fun “i-Spy”-styled contest for MyBrownBaby readers. To enter, go to the CARA B Naturally CVS store locator at http://www.mycarab.com/cvs.asp or the Target store locator at http://www.mycarab.com/target.
Easy as pie!
TWO lucky winners will be chosen a week from today, so get over to the website and shout out #ILoveCARABNaturally and the store selling CARA B. Naturally. Good luck!
{NOTE: Official entry is via Rafflecopter below; follow the directions for additional entries and to see official contest rules}
Denene Millner
Mom. NY Times bestselling author. Pop culture ninja. Unapologetic lover of shoes, bacon and babies. Nice with the verbs. Founder of the top black parenting website, MyBrownBaby.
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I am so glad I found your blog/site. I am a white mom with an african american baby girl, she is 4 and half months old with a TON of hair! I’ve been given so much advice on what to do with it (including the baby oil/vaseline mess), I’m at a loss. I will go look for these products now….and look forward to following your blog!
Thank you so much for this information. As a new mom, filtering through the wealth of advise and information to find a natural hair care solution has been difficult and at times overwhelming. Your personal insight has been so helpful. I’m excited about finding a recommended product that has ingredients that I recognize as beneficial for my baby’s hair.
Thank you so much for your blog!
Thank you so much for the info. My daughter is now 2 years old going on 3 in Dec. And I’ve tried everything the hair store has to offer for African American babies yet, nothing works. I grease her hair in the morning before school and by the middle of the day its dry and frizzy again. She has very scrunchy hair so it starts out long but draws up really fast. Its even come to a stop in growth. I’d lost hope. Now, after reading this story which I’d do similar to mine. I can’t wait to tell my husband so we can stop by our local target or CVS tho purchase the whole line of CARA B naturally. my daughter also suffers from severe eczema and doctors have yet to find anything that works. I’m trusting this would be the end to our nightmare.
My daughter hair is short and seems like it doesnt want to grow n its reallyreally dry ive tried everything from baby dnt be bald it doesnt work shes one and it seem like it jus dnt grow soo Im goner go and find this and I pray that it worksssi will keep u updated on how it turnes out
OMG!! U have no idea how happy I am that I ran across your website and read this post. I have a 4-month old daughter with tight, coily, dry hair and nothing I have in my house works for her (even my own natural hair products do nothing for her tresses) I am excited to hear about Cara B and I will surely be running thru Target looking for it!
I read about ur product and am glad I google ur site, I want to be a distributor of CARA B Natural baby product, pls I need a contact on how to go about it.
Can I get this product in Canada too? I need it badly
I am so thankful for this assistance! My son and only child is 4 months old. He and I have about the same length of hair (I committed the “big chop” about a month before his birth) only his curls are not as tight as mine. The only time his hair is managable is when it is soaking wet. We (his father & I) have decided to lock his hair when he becomes a toddler so mantaining it’s length and health are paramount. We’re going to give the CARA B Naturally skincare products a try as well. Baby has really bad dry skin patches on his arms. Can’t wait to see the after!
I can do all the styles to my 1 year old but its getting her to sit and do her hair is my issue. Help.
Ooh—I could write a whole post on that alone. My first daughter sat like an angel to get her hair styled—like she was a high-priced salon and spa. My second daughter? Not so much. I found that when she was little, the best way to get her hair done was to do it when she wasn’t tired (so the crankiness and crying didn’t add to the drama of hairstyling), and to sit her in front of Elmo so that she could be entertained while I did it. It helped, too, to have a snack and a drink there, plus a few toys that she could play with. Basically, any distraction you can conjure up while you’re styling is the key to your getting it done. And do quick hairstyles; that helps, too.
My daughter just turned a 1 year old and her hair has been the same since birth. She had hair on the top pf head, yet not any in the back and sides. Its filling in just a LITTLE on the sides yet not any in the back of her head. She doesn’t sleep on her back. I use her body wash Baby Aveeno that also serves as Shampoo. Its only soft after its washed. Its course and ponytails/braids aren’t cute at the end of the day. Suggestions, HELPPPPPPP!!!
I wouldn’t use aveeno in her hair. My daughter has skin problems and the first thing the dermatologist said was to take out j&j products (aveeno is made by them). The cara b is wonderful and I’ve been using for 5 months. I just started baby don’t be bald so not so sure about it yet. I only us in the back where the hair has rubbed from her being on back. Everywhere else I use a mix of olive, coconut, and water in a spray bottle. Hair is strong and not brittle/dry like it was when she had severe cradle cap.
Hope this helps!
I Can’t wait to try this out!!!
I am so excited to check this product out. I haven’t seen it at my local Target but maybe I overlooked it. I have an almost 4mo. old boy, African American, and I want to try to maintain his beautiful curls and let it stay “natural” instead of cutting it like so many do as boys get to 1, 2, 3 years old. I am white and have to wash my hair every day or I look like an oil can so I have the complete opposite issue he has. His hair is actually growing fairly fast but it gets frizzy after naps etc. and I want to keep the gorgeous definition in his curls. I haven’t read any any replys on people responding to how it worked after they tried it….anyone has after-stories?
I have a 2 month old daughter. Her hair is not thick or course,it’s straight but thick. Would this product work for her? I’ve been looking for a very good product for her hair & this sounds very good. I’m figuring it will be like mines when I was a little girl,thick,course & very long.
I have an 8 month old African American baby. His hair gets soon dry after I wash it with Johnson products. Thanks for the information. Will by the CARA B line today at CVS
Can I find Cara B products in South Africa?
That would be so great if these products are available in South Africa. If anybody knows if they are already available here there are millions of parents in South Africa that can benefit from these products.
i just had my 1st baby shes about a week old now and has beautiful hair i know lost of newborns suffer from hair lost but is there anyway around that? i herd of putting olive oil or baby oil every now and then to keep it moisturized but none of the site say what age you should do that. is she still to young for me to put oils in her hair?
Please where can I get CARA B products in Nigeria?
Hi, I’ve just cut my 5yr old daughter’s hair and she’s now left with a very short fro, too short for any protective styling. The products you’ve mentioned above dont exist in South Africa, Johannesburg and neither do any of the others mentioned on other websites for adult or children’s natural hair. So what I’d like to know is what natural options such as olive oil etc, should I use to grow and maintain her natural hair. And seeing as protective styling isn’t an option yet and combing isn’t good for hair, how do you recommend I keep my daughters 4c hair manageable. PLEASE HELP – I don’t want to relax her again but I don’t know what to do with her hair
Extra Virgin, or light virgin Coconut oil is REALLY good for that type of hair. I have 4c hair, and that, plus deep conditioning with conditioners enriched with shea butters, or cocoa butters are essential.
The process I take with my wash day is, finger combing my hair, then dividing it in 4’s, to make it easier on me. (you can do this once her hair begins to grow, but since it’s short you dont have to divide it.) Then I do a cider apple vinegar rinse on my scalp. By that I mean, get a spray bottle, do 1/3 cider apple vinegar, and the rest water, shake and spray. Keep this one her hair for a good 30 mins. I recommend getting a lined shower cap (maybe $2, and covering her hair on the water resistant side. So turn the shower cap inside out)
The whole purpose of doing the rinse is to get the hair clarified of any dirt or lingering oils or gels you’ve put in it during the month, or two weeks. It literally is like starting with a new canvas. So if you see her hair is too weighed down by product, or just needs to be revitalized begin the wash day with the cider apple vinegar rinse.
After that, rinse then wash with a good shampoo and conditioner. Now after the conditioner, put the deep conditioner in and let it sit. This can stay in for as long as 45 mins to overnight. It’s all dependent on how long you have. But this is dang near the most important step, so give it time to penetrate in the scalp. Again, when her hair gets longer when you begin the deep conditioning part its best to have her hair separated in fours, braided. Trust me it’ll be easier to manage. After that rinse it out good. If you want to put another sealant on it you can put a leave in conditioner in it and style. or omit the leave in and towel dry her hair and get that coconut oil, moisturize that scalp and style.
Here are some other tidbits.
1) When her hair starts to grow, keep her ends trimmed.
2) You do not need to do that ACV rinse every week, only when necessary. (maybe every two weeks, some even go once a month) Because it strips the hair of EVERYTHING, like pressing the reset button.
3) You do not need to use shampoo every time you wash her hair, you can do a Co-wash on her every 3-4 days, because it will retain the needed moisture for her type of hair. Co-washing is just washing the hair with conditioner. That’s it. Then you can choose to deep condition or do a leave in conditioner afterward. There are products out there now that say Co-wash conditioner on them, so that you wont be confused. But if money is tight you are alright by using her regular conditioner.
These are just the basics. Styling tips and everything else can be found on You tube and numerous other sites. I hope any of the above helps you, or anyone that comes across this. 🙂
I just received an adorable little foster baby, and was wondering what to do with her hair in the coming months. I’m glad to find your blog!
I am a white mom with 5 adopted African American children, my youngest is 4 mon. And I want to keep her hair soft so I’m definitely going to try this!:)
Hello, my daughter is 3 months old and I too have the same questions as all the mothers. My daughter sweats alot from her hair so I find myself washing her hair 2-3 xs a week sometimes. Is this a problem? Also her hair is in between straight and curly and thin. Will Cara B be benefical for her? Also does this product CHANGE the texture of babies hair?? Please respond. Be blessed.
Started with Cara B’s day one and loved it, but drifted to other stuff when I ran out. My gitl is two and has a about five six inches of hair up top and four inches in the back. Edges are three inches or less. She wont keep a silk bonnet on at night. Need more moisture and growth.I’m natural and use Shea Moisture products and love them!Thanks for the confirmation to go back to what was working!
please where can i get your products in nigeria.
Hello Fellas! Use argan oil on your baby’s hair to make it stronger and healthier. Regular shampoos use sulfates which dry out hair so try to use sulfate free shampoos instead. You can look online for a brand called Pro Natural’s and get their silicone free argan oil and their shampoo and conditioner, those made my babys curly hair really strong and healthy. 🙂
Are these suggestions good for girls and boys? I find that my 12 month old son’s hair is more dry in the back, where he sleeps more on his back. I’ve been putting lotion in it as my mother used to do my hair, but I’ve noticed this has begun to dry his hair even more over time.
Hi, my daughter is two months and six days today. She had very thick and long hair when she was born (not a single bald spot), and now it’s getting even thicker and longer!!!! I’m not complaining. It’s very beautiful. But it’s getting curlier and curlier and longer and longer as the weeks go by. People always stop to ask…LOL Maybe because she was over due…? Idk
But I want to keep her natural. I never liked the fact that my hair was relaxed at a tender age. My question is how do I take care of her hair????? A couple weeks ago I tried coconut oil and her hair didn’t like it a bit. It became very dry and nasty feeling. I tried wild growth oil, and she broke out…it just cleared up. I am afraid to put anything else besides natural shea butter, but I don’t like the smell. Is there another oil that is safer, doesnt make babies skin break out, and smell nice? Thank you.
Can I get this product in Alexandria LA