ethiopian hair & skin care

A few people have been curious about how we care for Bo's skin and hair, 

so I thought I'd share that info here for any others who may wonder. 

It's been a learning process, and I'm continuing to read adoption blogs 

and experiment every now and again with different products.

Let me also say as a caveat to readers, prior to having a child, 

I really could not have cared less about hair and skin care 

(with the exception of trying to stop my stupid mid-20s breakouts ARGH). 

I am very much a throw-it-back-in-a-pony kind of girl. 

Truly, I have had more fun figuring out Bo's hair and buying products for him -

I think he has more than I do.

Products:

- coconut oil

- olive oil

- Cantu daily oil moisturizer

- Cantu leave-in conditioner

- Johnson's baby shampoo

- Johnson's baby wash

- Johnson's creamy oil cocoa & shea butter

- petroleum jelly (not pictured)

Every Morning: 

1) I do a light mist of a mix of water and olive oil on Bo's hair (see spray bottle above) -

not trying to make it look like he's fresh out of the bath or a downpour here. 

2) Just a dab of Cantu daily moisturizer, rub it between my hands and then gently massage into his hair.
3) A little J's creamy oil when he's getting changed.

Every Evening - Skin

I always moisturize Bo with either coconut oil or Johnson's creamy oil. 

Evening - Hair

A. Bath nights. Bonsa gets a bath every other day (okay, sometimes every 2 days - so sue me). 

On weeknights, we start off putting olive oil into his dry hair while he splashes in the tub. 

I then wash his body with baby wash. He plays while I get his hair all wet. 

Before he gets out, I put in a small dollop of Cantu leave-in conditioner. 

I found out that if I use too much, his hair is crunchy and too product-laden the following day. 

I try to "blot" dry his hair with his towel, and then I just let it air dry. 

We just started using the coconut oil, and I read that it smells funky after a couple days.

So I think we'll use coconut oil on his hair on Thurs or Fri, since we shampoo Saturday.

On Sat night, I shampoo then do the leave-in conditioner again.

B. On nights that Bo doesn't get a bath, I usually just do another light spray of the oil/water mix, 

or do a tiny bit of the daily moisturizer again.

Cheeks & hands.

Bo's cheeks & hands tend to be the most dry area of his body - 

I'm guessing because that's the skin most often exposed. 

So, probably once or twice a week, I'll put a little petroleum jelly on him, 

especially if we're going outside.

So, that's our routine for now. 

Thoughts? Suggestions? 

Once we're done with Johnson's baby stuff, I'll probably look for different shampoo & wash.

Have you tried anything that you absolutely loved or hated?