Starting to do your daughter’s hair and wondering what products are actually worth buying? Skip the overwhelm and discover the must-have items that can make doing hair faster with fewer tears!
You would think that we would all find doing our little girl’s hair easy and intuitive. We do, after all, all have hair as mothers. We do our own hair each day (or most days). But doing the hair of others is not the same as doing our own.
I loved doing my doll’s hair when I was a girl. Super loved it. There was a time period that I had three real-live heads of hair to do each day. I really enjoyed doing their hair each day. There are some products I used that made the process much easier. These tools can make that hair-do time faster, easier, and less painful (literally). This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
Post Contents
Detangling Brush
I swear the whole time I have had daughters, there has been some “it” gadget brush for getting out tangles. We have had the Wet Brush, the Knot Genie. I do like the Wet Brush better than the Knot Genie simply because it is easier for me to hold and use. I don’t think one is better than the other at doing the intended job. The Wet Brush will NOT get every tangle out. I have a process for getting the tangles out. My girls all have long hair. Even Brinley’s at age 4 was close to touching her bottom. That means lots of snarls. The Wet Brush helps, it is a great tool, but you cannot end there.
The Tangle Teezer is a popular one right now. This works on wet or dry hair.
IF YOU HAVE A CHILD WITH VERY SNARLY HAIR: try out the Tangles B. Gone brush! This is the one that worked very best for Brinley, who has very, very snarly hair.
To detangle hair fully, start with the detangling brush and brush out as many snarls as you can. You won’t be able to get everything on many occasions, but the detangling brush doesn’t hurt and it a good starting spot.
While we are talking snarls, you will have fewer snarls if you brush the girl’s hair out before bedtime. For younger girls, I also find putting it in a braid at night is very helpful. Young girls move around more as they sleep, so it is helpful. As they hit around age 8-9 it usually doesn’t really need it braided at night anymore. But Brinley is almost 14 and still puts her hair up in some form before bed each night.
Brush
I next move on to a bsic brush. This kit I have linked to and is pictured has the size brush I like for little girls. I use a paddle brush on myself, but I like the small brush in this kit for my girls. It is a great second step for getting out snarls. The paddle brush is too large and catches many snarls. The small one is the instrument you want for small heads.
Fine Tooth Comb
Once I can brush through the hair well, I move on to a fine tooth comb. That is the one pictured on the left. I sometimes use the other one, also, but I like the fine tooth ones best. The are more fine :). This ensures every snarl is out of the hair. This device is the instrument that will lead to a masterpiece. The hair will be snarl-free. It also is an invaluable tool in creating smooth hair for ponytails and other up-dos.
The funny thing is, the kids think the fine tooth comb doesn’t hurt as much because when I get to this step, snarls are gone. So sometimes Brinley wants me to go right to this. There is such a life-lesson there. We often don’t see that the difficulties we go through prepare us to handle things that come up later in life.
>>>Read: Help Your Daughter Figure Out Her Hair Type
Detangler Spray
If you just can’t get the snarls out, break out the detangler spray. I rarely used this. Maybe once a month total among the three girls. But it is handy when I need it. One day, I was combing through McKenna’s hair after she had been swimming in a ponytail (note to self–ponytail does not work for McKenna and swimming). Her hair was a big knot. The wet brush wouldn’t touch it. I was worried we would have to chop her hair off. This great tool saved the day.
Squirt Bottle
Once everything is all combed out, it is time to do the hair. Let’s say you know exactly what you want to do in the hair. If the hair is dry and you want to pull it up at all, squirting it with some water is super helpful. For that, you will want a tool for spritzing the hair evenly. Enter the squirt bottle. This helps keep things smooth and keeps all of those little hairs in place. I use a fine tooth comb when pulling hair up at all.
Even if you are leaving the hair down, if you squirt it some with some water and then comb through it, it helps it look smooth and fresh again. You don’t want to drench it; just a few squirts will do it.
Right now, we all like a mister better than a squirt bottle. The girls use it when using heatless curls. I use it with my natural curl. The girls also use it when pulling their hair up.
Hair Elastics
These are the elastics we use for girls with thicker hair. When the girl is younger, the hair bands I talk about next are easiest product to use. The hair is more fine and thinner with younger girls. As they get older, their heads get bigger and the hair gets thicker. I really like these elastics; they hold up very well. They don’t have any metal, so they don’t get that annoying stretch to them. They are also thick and hold the hair in place tightly.
My girls all currently really like these boho bracelet elastics. They look like bracelets, so they can wear them on their wrists and always have a hair tie if needed spontaneously.
They also like these spiral hair ties for pulling their thick hair into pony tails.
>>>Read: How To Care for Your Child’s Hair
Hair Bands
I used to purchase these from Sally Beauty Supply, but I haven’t been able to find them there for a while. I love these. I have tried these and some from Walmart and these win hands down. They have the clear as pictured, but also have various colors and black or brown. The clear break more easily, but they also slide out without pulling the hair. I used these almost exclusively on three year old Brinley. I like clear because they match anything. We did have a lot of fun with the colors at times, though, and I always had colors and clear on hand. I also used the black quite often.
We still use clear elastics today. They are great for many hairstyles. We are have been using this brand since December and we have liked it! I would buy it again.
Alligator Clips or Hair Clips
While you are doing a hair-style, it is often quite handy to have an alligator clip. They can hold sections of hair out of the way while you are working with other sections. I use these pretty much daily. A hair clip can also come in handy, but for the young, fine hair, I like the alligator clips best.
Hairspray
Once the hair is done, you will likely want to hairspray it to keep it in place. This is especially true for those girls 5 and under–the baby-fine hair just gets fly-aways like crazy. This Kenra hairspray is really great, but if the price leaves you gagging, try Aussie. That is what I usually use on my girls. I have some strong hold and some flexible hold depending on what the hair needs are that day.
Hair Accessories
There are always fun hair accessories that are in style that help with doing hair. A big one right now is these hair barrettes.
Hair Do Ideas
If you are new to doing hair of others, you might need ideas. Lucky for you, you live in the Internet age. There are SO MANY ideas out there. And not just pictures, but video tutorials for you to follow. You don’t have to start from scratch. I have a hair board on Pinterest. I also have a few couple of posts for you:
Heatless Curls
If your daughter will sleep in them, heatless curls are so great for easy hair in the morning! My girls all love their heatless curls. Make sure hair is not wet. You want it slightly damp, but just slight. Try doing it totally dry and just misting with a mister when you are done. You can also try using mousse on your hair before putting it into the heatless curls. That is what Brinley does. To elevate even more, sleep with a hair bonnet over your hair. This prevents frizz.
Braids are also great for sleeping in. Then you wake up and have wavy hair!
Patience and Practice
Just remember, practice makes perfect. I went several years before I would do fancy braids in Kaitlyn’s hair because it just looked bad. I then realized it would never get good unless I practiced. So I started doing it consistently, and now my braids look good! I can do all kinds. So just practice away and have the patience for your skills to improve.
Are you looking for some great products for your own hair? Read my Honest L’ANGE Hair Products Review here.
Related Posts
This post first appeared on this blog in June 2016
Great tips! We've got 4 girls over here so lots of hair being done. We use detangling spray every morning! But we don't brush hair at night or braid it so by morning it's a mess. But we may have to try those things.