Ten years ago, we looked to hairdressers and celebrity hairstylists for ideas on what to do with and how to care for our hair. Without them, we really were clueless. Fast-forward to today, we now turn to social media sites to learn tips and tricks from ladies who devote hours to come up with clever blog posts or interesting YouTube tutorials on how best to rock your hair, and the best way to care for it. Best of all, we can now access these people from the comfort of our homes, through our tablets and other devices.
The natural hair journey is such a personal one that finding someone who you can relate to makes all the difference on the journey. Being able to share experiences with and even ask questions makes the road, well, less lonely. Such people fall under the social media term, 'influencer'.
An influencer is any one who has been able to create a following in their industry on social media and are considered to be thought leaders who set trends. They endorse hair products and even services, such as hair salons to visit, and what they endorse are adopted by thousands ladies who follow the community. They are trusted and have the social proof that lends authority to their online presences. True influencers are people who are not just able to gain a following, but also able to drive action.
Here is a list of 10 natural hair influencers who caught my attention on social media and have made my natural hair journey an exciting one!
The natural hair journey is such a personal one that finding someone who you can relate to makes all the difference on the journey. Being able to share experiences with and even ask questions makes the road, well, less lonely. Such people fall under the social media term, 'influencer'.
An influencer is any one who has been able to create a following in their industry on social media and are considered to be thought leaders who set trends. They endorse hair products and even services, such as hair salons to visit, and what they endorse are adopted by thousands ladies who follow the community. They are trusted and have the social proof that lends authority to their online presences. True influencers are people who are not just able to gain a following, but also able to drive action.
Here is a list of 10 natural hair influencers who caught my attention on social media and have made my natural hair journey an exciting one!
1> BlackGirlLongHair I came across blackgirllonghair two years ago just in the nick of time for me to start my natural hair journey. The blog is managed by six naturalista ladies, Leila, Moesha, Rinny, Christina, Geniece and Chinwe, who upload useful content on hair care, hair styles, hair products, hair style icons to gain inspiration from and recommended salons to get your hair done. The blog has a good grasp of what the natural hair community needs. BGLH has expanded to other social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. They are able to churn out content that is relatable to women with different hair textures and of different lengths. The blog archive goes all the way back to 2009 with useful categories, so there’s plenty of articles to read!
2>Donedo. Donna, who is a Chicago based hair, makeup and photography expert, runs the Donedo brand. I came across Donna's instagram page and her hair was to die for! I had to track her down. I found out she had a youtube page with loads of tutorials on how to get your hair looking lusciously gorgeous. I then religiously started to check out her tutorials, and whilst watching her videos, I learnt how manoeuvre my newly nurtured natural hair. Donna's influence spans across various social media platforms such as Instagram, but it is her Youtube channel, with over 81k subscribers that draws people in, and she has become an online sensation with her playful yet informative tutorials and reviews.
3> Nefititi Bourne was my first hair crush, really! One word describes this vivacious Youtuber, COLOUR! I fell in love with how daring she was to try out different hair colours and what intrigued me the most was that she did most of the colouring herself! Yes, she experiments that much. Her Youtube channel with 18,000 subscribers, started in 2007, has various video tutorials that give you a step by step guide on how to get you natural hair to look great in vibrant hair colours. Nefertiti's natural brand runs across various social media networks such as instagram, Tumblr, Google+ and Flicker. Her carefree personality is so infectious that she has garnered large following from naturals who love to experiment with their hair.
4>CurlyNikki I only just came across this blog this year and I love it. The blog is run by Nikki Walton, a natural hair advocate, blogger, best selling author of Better than good hair. Her blogs structure is such that first time visitors can easily navigate their way through it to find topics which they are interested in reading about. She is a trusted source of information and an authoritative figure in the natural hair industry and has her column featured on Tyra Banks show. She regularly holds hair events called curlynikki meetups to connect with natural haired ladies and is invited to host various natural hair show events across the world.
5>Natural hair rules is a blog run by Tamara. She began her natural hair journey in 2006, and has been blogging since 2008. It is very easy to get addicted to Tamara's write up because her personality is really one that is relatable, kind of like the girl next door. You almost feel like you have always had a friend in her. Unlike other bloggers, her new post days are structured and slated for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, so you always have something to look forward to! Her brand name is consistent across all social media channels, as she runs a Youtube channel, a Twitter account, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages.
6> Sporty afros. Sporty Afro is a blog that combines both a love for natural African hair, sports and healthy living. I love this blog because I get the best of both worlds: motivation to care for my health, and to care for my hair, two areas I am passionate about. The blog is run by Alex and Whitney and the content of the blog promote healthy living for African-American women. They talk about everything from fitness to nutrition on their Youtube channel and have gained media coverage from many natural hair thought leaders including by ebony.com and essence.com.
7> Taren916. The Taren916 brand was created by Taren Guy and became live only five years ago when she launched her Youtube Channel. Since then, she has received over 18 million views and thousands of fans on her different social media platforms. Her genuine spirit and iconic fro have made her one of the most prominent figures in the natural hair community. Taren launched the international “Luv & Learn Your Hair (LLYH)” tour to encourage natural hair acceptance.
8>My natural sistas. Three biological sisters, India, Toni and Carmen, have combined their experiences to produce one interesting and diverse channel called my natural sistas.
I fell in love with the personality of the three sisters because it reminded me of my own family, since I have two sisters. Their Youtube channel is praised for the diversity of topics they cover on fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Though the topics vary, their genuine spirit and girl-next-door charm shines through in each clip, drawing in over 300,000 subscribers on their Youtube Channel.
I fell in love with the personality of the three sisters because it reminded me of my own family, since I have two sisters. Their Youtube channel is praised for the diversity of topics they cover on fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Though the topics vary, their genuine spirit and girl-next-door charm shines through in each clip, drawing in over 300,000 subscribers on their Youtube Channel.
9>NikkiMae2003. Mae, the woman behind the brand, started NaturalChica.com, her blog, in July 2009 to share her own natural hair journey with the world and has since turned her online space into a platform that encourages, inspires and motivates other women on their hair journeys. With over 150 thousand subscribers to her YouTube channel, Mae has accomplished her goal and then some!
10> Chescalocs. Is the only influencer who rocks dreadlocks on my list and her locs are to die for. I found her after Youtube crawled my system and recommended I watch one of her youtube videos, and I did! (Thanks Youtube J). The brand is run by Franchesca Ramsey and her energetic personality is so infectious. Since I hope to grow my hair long enough to have lovely dreadlocks, one day, I love to watch her Youtube videos just to see what she is doing with her hair and gain inspiration for my future locs. With over 23 million views combined on her YouTube channel, Chescalocs is an influencer you cannot ignore. Chescalocs shares her 9 year locs journey and deliver hairstyle ideas and styling advice to her devout following. A few million views later, Chescalocs is a force to be reckoned with in the natural hair community.
I'd love to update my influencer list so please feel free to comment below on anyone else you think should be on here.
Love,
onenaturalhairlover
xx
Love,
onenaturalhairlover
xx