DIY natural African-American hair styles for Barbie. Plus: The Roundup

I've written before about my struggle with my own hair. It's super-curly (kinky-curly, really), and very long—when straightened, it falls almost to my waist. My daughter inherited her father's African-American hair; though it's never been cut in her entire 7-year-long life, it barely reaches her shoulders. I keep it in sleek, two-strand twists, with beads on the ends to give them that swingy weight she loves.


A generation ago, older women would have touched her twists and lamented over the "bad hair." Even now, people reach for my youngest son's bouncy curls and marvel at how "good" his hair is. Look at most of the brown-skinned dolls on the mainstream market, and you'll see this same idea reinforced: Disney's Princess Tiana and other fashion-forward dolls have classic Barbie hair, long and glossy and straight. Even Addy Walker, the African-American American Girl Doll who escaped from slavery in the 1860s, has
longer-than-waist-length, barely wavy hair.


If you want to give your girl a doll that's rocking a pair of puffs, twist-outs, or braids, you'll probably have re-style it yourself—and that's where this awesome post from Black Girls with Long Hair, by NikG of Beads, Braids, and Beyond, comes in. She takes a couple of standard Barbies—the "So In Style"Grace and Chandra dolls—and sets about transforming their long, straight tresses into bouncy, kinky, curls.

I've written about it over at Yahoo! Shine, but basically Grace went from the standard look (above), to this:





Comb out the curls, and you end up with an awesome Afro or Halo. Read the post at Shine ("A Barbie with natural-looking African-American hair") to find out how to do it yourself.


And now, The Roundup:

On Yahoo! Shine:

• Certain birth-control pills pose a greater health risk to women. Is yours on the list?
• Heinz offers foodies a fancier ketchup spiked with balsamic vinegar
• A Barbie with natural-looking African-American hair: How to make it yourself
• Obama moves to ease student-loan debt, but will the new measures really help?
• What would you ask Michelle Obama or Jill Biden? We're bringing your questions to the White House
• HPV vaccine now recommended for boys. Would you have your son get the shot?
• Does your guy suffer from the Man Flu?

On Work It, Mom!:

• How often do you undermine yourself?

On 4 Kids or More:

• Confessions of a clutter queen