hey friends! today we're having a conversation about the current state of the natural hair community and its downfall... yes downfall. I've been noticing a trend of "I hate my natural hair", "I'm tired of my natural hair", "Exposing the natural hair community" and my favorite "Divesting from the natural hair community". Sooo whats really going on? Personally I think its a mixture of colorism, youtube's algorithm SUCKS, the obsession with loose hair textures.... but watch the video and let me know your thoughts on everything! Love you all ❤️ this video was inspired by these beautiful black content creators who always keep it 100%@nappyheadedjojoba @eVaniwithaV @Thee Mademoiselle @SheRea DelSol @Natural Academia @iknowlee
That's crazy that people say people click on the women with a looser curl patten and I do the opposite. I gravitate more so to the people hair that's similar to mine.
I feel you. I came late to the "natural hair" youtube and realized that the content was super gimmicky and not really helpful I felt like the majority of the creators were making "natural" hair too hard by using a thousand different products and pushing them. After that deva curl thing I lost all trust in "natural hair" youtube.
I have to admit that I've really stopped watching hair videos. I've been natural since 2012 and don't feel like I really need to be sold a product anymore because I know what works for my hair. Plus I kind of got discouraged at so many natural hair people wearing wigs.
Im from puerto rico and im light but i have 3c hair with high porosity. Thanks to the afroamerican and tutorials. I learn a lot about hair, accept , love and embrace my hair. So thank you a lot ❤️❤️❤️.
I'm the worst natural ever. Even I'm natural, I was never welcomed in the natural hair community because I wore wigs mostly and never actually did my hair. I tried but I realized that my hair is healthier when I don't mess with it
☹️☹️☹️ girl, it is heartbreaking I can’t blame you at all....I have never seen such a DIP in viewership for one niche, I doooo believe tho since many people stopped there is room for new people so its a double edge sword.
I feel like the natural hair hype was between 2015-2018 tbh I remember RU-vid back in 2010-2014 and it was all about sew ins just saying... I think people are heavily into silk presses right now and microlinks and frontal wigs...
Eh...... I’ll disagree . As someone who started their natural journey in 2011 man that was the natural hair hype time and that was HONESTLY the best time to look at natural hair videos !!! My hair was thriving but after a year I stop watching and didn’t need the videos anymore cause my hair was healthy and it seemed like it literally had as growing overnight . I miss those times. Back then protective styles were with your own hair .
@@laurenlocd3180 I agree with you. That’s when I started my journey as well, and those were the days of KinmyTube (Kim Love), African Export, Long Hair Dont Care, Rustic Beauty, and all the OG 4C girls who started this whole thing before the 3Cs and down took over the scene. By 2015, all those 4C girls were all but gone and overshadowed. By then, I had plenty of information on how to take care of my hair, so I never did gravitate towards the 3Cs and down anyway
I disagree I discovered natural hair in 2009 and it was through RU-vid. But over time I saw RU-vid makes natural hair more complicated than what it is. I’m not going back to perms either way but it’s like people are trending to perm this shows that everyone wants follows other people and dont have their own mind. Even society will influence you to straighten your hair but I refuse. Everyone can wear their own hair why can’t we ???? Why can’t we wear our own hair in its natural state without it being a problem ?
I agree with you! When these brands try to be inclusive they get a lighter skinned female with a looser curl pattern. Those women also get more views. It’s a fact!
I went natural in 2010 and I turned to RU-vid for hair ideas and tips. I also noticed the discrepancy with viewership in fair skin women with loose curls vs deep complexions and tighter curls. Basically if you didn't pass the paper bag test, you didn't get any views. If your hair wasn't down your back, no one paid attention to you. Somewhere along the line it became less about uplifting and embracing each other and more about looking down and degrading someone who wasn't natural. I would see RU-vidrs post videos about relaxing their hair and they'd be flooded with the most hateful comments ever. When I started seeing that trend, I was done.
I used to watch creators with loose short hair when I first did the big chop at 18, because I had no idea what my hair was like. And every image I saw was looser curls from what everyone hypes up to what youtube will show you first when you search curly hair. Even when I figured out I was 4c, I still struggled to find people with hair similar to mine (porosity, density, etc) bc I didnt know anything about my hair. Soooooo much times following tutorials that didn’t work! Buying so many products without them working! There were so many ppl mistyping themselves too to get views from women w 4c hair, which was a huge discussion like a year ago I think. I understand my hair now, but it took me like four years. Everyone else was embracing their hair and being embraced and praised for looser hair. Yet I still see so many 4c comments in the videos I watch saying our hair is SO difficult. I don’t think it is, but it was so difficult to find reliable sources and to stop trying to do my hair like it’s a different texture. Now I see this burnout in the community from the viewers this community was made to uplift. I hate that other 4c women have to struggle to find products and techniques and too many leave still hating their hair.
The natural hair movement is a bit wired to me because many don’t consider locs to be natural. But my hair locks if I am not combing it 24/7. I would be bald head if I tried to remove every single knot everyday. I believe shrunken Afros and locs is the most natural form for us with 4c hair but the natural hair community frowns on both those hair styles
Should make you realize what they’re actually about. They’re not proud of their heritage but into reverse cultural appropriation (passing their hair off as what it’s not...lol)
Honestly a great decision. I think we need a new community for truly naturals who KNOW themselves and love themselves enough to remain true to their nature despite what the media is trying to hypnotize them to think 🥰
People like us are still watching. We are just tired of the fake and eye catching and lies some of our natural hair youtubers post. We just need transparency and more realistic things so we can be able to relate and for the information to be beneficial to our hair.
I agree 100% bc now everybody knows how to do everything so it’s lowkey hard to get actual views, etc. It’s hard especially when you’re just starting out. I just started earlier this year and I’m starting to change my mind bc like you, I’m focusing on only natural hair so I need to broaden the things I do 😭 cuz I JUST started and I already feel stuck bc everyone has already done what I want to do. And you’re so pretty btw 🥰
I hate that my beautiful sisters are feeling this way. There are still plenty of us out here looking for simple, non-gimicky videos on how to care for our natural hair without the fads and trends.
Oh, and Green Beauty is a BOMB dark skinned "4C" channel loose natural (yeah, the labels are so limiting. I admit her hair is long) but she is AMAZING and so educational.
People commenting on these trends are not wrong, but changing ingrained ideas about what's beautiful takes time and patience and kindness and is a very slow process. It took a long time to get to where we are, finding some people more visually appealing than others. If something is subconscious, the tone in bringing up could be a little less accusatory ("people gravitate towards what they wish they looked like") across the board, from many of those announcing their departure from the community. You may not be envious, but as human beings, we are weak and flawed, and some struggle with feelings of envy. This is reality - perceptions of beauty take a long time to uproot or broaden. I'm 40 now and enjoy the way I look. When I was 4, growing up in the household of a proud Afro-Cuban icon, I told a friend of my mom's that when I grew up my skin would fall off and I would be white. Be tender and patient with people- changing consciousness takes time to seep down through the head/heart barrier into the emotions. I'll play devil's advocate on another point: the content creators, the many, many different ones posting demos of the same techniques, speak to many, many different people, and they have revived the love affairs of many women with their hair and caring for it. Natural hair is not a fad; there are RU-vidrs who have been at this for over a decade, before the concept of "content creators" was fully formed, and sure, they have been getting views, but also providing a service, without worrying about the inconvenience because they felt called to do this. "Only" 2000 people isn't nobody. Nowadays, hits and reach seem to be more important than having an impact on one's little corner of the world. That's how a lot of the big names started! 4C videos labeled as such are definitely on the rise! I think sharing what you love on here, setting aside the high expectations, and letting the result be what it is, though full of inconvenience, could lead somewhere good. Thanks for your honesty and heartfelt message!
@@anne853 You're so welcome, Anne. To keep myself humble, even now, I have to remember that I was a very judgmental, sanctimonious youth once, high on my sense of moral superiority, and it was a long, rocky road from the harsh judgment of youth to the broken and made-whole compassion of a later, less foolish age. I'm most thankful to be on this side of it, and compassion is what we all need as human beings, literally, as the Latin etymology of the word (cum=with, passio=suffering) means, to suffer with one another. On a related note, I saw a very important, brilliantly and beautifully conveyed message to this effect, about how hard it is to get to self-acceptance from where many of us started, from StarPuppy, a brilliant RU-vidr who posts videos about her hair and the much bigger and deeper issues that Black women, especially those of a particular hair type, face: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xlah8nfNGLo.html Love, peace, and blessings to you!
I get that changing societal norms takes time. I just hope you understand that you're asking a lot, when you say people need to be patient with ignorance. That waiting comes with consistent denigration in regards to skin color, hair texture, etc. People deserve to be free of that today. Waiting until the ignorance turns 40 is not really a solution.
They're also pimping other products too. But you don't see too much dedicated content to just only natural hair so I understand where you're coming from
Waigumo did you miss where I said it was just a fun experiment I wasn’t expecting to get any views... and I was 15 so I would loveee to act like it didn’t happen 😩😂
When you think about it just about everyone manipulates their hair in some shape or form for a different look. People with straight hair want curly hair, colored hair, longer hair one day, and shorter hair another day. The same goes for those with curly hair. People like to change their look up sometimes.
It's sad, we need to support all our sistas and women leaders n the whole. I love watching all hair types. This natural hai community need to stop, it's stupid and ridiculous. You are beautiful, don't stop.
The natural hair community never appealed to me because my wash routine is 40 minutes the most and I don't do twist out etc. And use fifty-leven products so I can't relate. Watching product reviews won't do much for me because different strokes for different folks.I side eye the type 4 natural hair community because of how obsessed they are with defining their curls😒
My wash routine is that too. But some of these girls out here doing 3-5 hour wash days like what is the reason? A lot of people’s wash routine wouldn’t take all day if it wasn’t designed around making sure their hair didn’t look like what it is.
It's a lot of hard work that goes into putting a video together and posting it. And your absolutely right with what your saying ... I love your RU-vid channel...Anything that you post on your RU-vid channel I'll be watching... For me I do love your natural hair videos...But it was never all about your natural hair videos that made me stick around...It was your personality. So I'm all in for whatever changes you're making with your RU-vid channel...Thank you for sharing.
I haven't watched the video yet - but commenting because I always find it funny when I see a natural haired person say they're leaving the natural hair community (but they stay natural). It's sort of like a black person saying, I'm leaving the black community (LOL!).
Unfortunately a lot of natural hair you tubers seem to be here for the advertisements and kickbacks not for the community. Also what would happen if more natural you tubers with the privilege of less kinky hair or light skin actually addressed the inequality and even shouted out other Dark skin , 4Z you tubers with less of a platform ? If White people can be allies so can people with texture or light skin privilege 🤷🏾♀️ thank you for the video btw
Some of us have gotten locs (I have Sisterlocks™︎ now) so the community has shifted for me. It’s still natural hair, but a more specific genre of natural hair. Even though I have Sisterlocks™︎, I watch all type of locked hair content. I will still on occasion watch loose natural hair content, but definitely nothing like before. Great video, but that’s where some of us have gone.
I absolutely Love your channel. I started watching because you and my oldest daughter look just alike to me. We call you her doppelganger...lol I know you think no ones watching but we are. I just want to say thank you for allowing us to be a part of your life. Thank you for keeping us updated on all your Journeys. You have no ideas how many lives you touched your informative stories. I know it takes a lot of hard work and effort to prepare all the material. I just want to say thank you. Without you I would be lost in the sauce...lol Your hair looks amazing by the way. Are those your natural braids or did you add hair. Any who I will do my part as a loyal follower & post a few of my favorite videos on my page. Just know you are definitely appreciated. Just remember You inspire through the people you inspire.
@Nakeya Gore Yes I agree too. I just recently subscribed to learn more tips and information about what I can do to not only grow my hair, but to keep my length because I’m still learning and trying to start a good regimen for my hair type. So Thank you for sharing what you did share with us, and keep it up Queen. 👸
You welcome Love. You have a gift. You have great things ahead of you. Things get hard when blessings are about to start flowing. You are very creative. Even though it's a challenge just remember pressure creates diamonds & you my Dear are definitely a gem
Everyones natural hair is amazing and beatiful and if you dont like it remember that you are beatiful no matter what and be grateful that you even have hair some people dont even realise they are destroying there hair burning it putting bad products in it so just be happy if you just curl it every single day and dont have a proper routine then it will dry up and break so please love your hair even if its straight curly wavy just love your hair
This is disheartening. I have been natural for a few years now and just like many with 4c hair, I didn't see a lot of youtubers with my hair texture. I can't tell you the amount of times I bought a product because I was mislead and misinformed. I will admit, I am a recovering product junky and so glad to now understand my hair and have realistic expectations.
Light skin black women are still black, meaning our hair texture doesn’t differ from black people of other skin tones. The girls that are being pushed in the natural hair community are mostly mixed women with looser curls-not light skin black women. I loved your video overall
This topic of hair texture has come to mind once upon a time while i was on the gram, but never, not even once did i look at other girls and gents and think "damn, i wish my hair looked like that". In my mind texture is is just an extentsion of our diversity, having favour for one over the other is not sin, belittling and shaming other textures is a hell-able offence. Because you rising a very self consious generation.
Where is this “community” located? 😐 I really don’t understand these terms. Is there some type of forum or platform? I don’t really care about skin color. I just click on videos where their hair looks like mine, especially if I’m looking for hair routines. My hair just happens to be loose curls. Sometimes I watch 4C hair even though I’m type 3 just because I find it fascinating and something that’s unfamiliar to me. None of my family has it, so I like to look at things that are different. Maybe I can find products if the person also has high porosity hair. I don’t really watch any straight hair videos or anything like that though. No benefit to me and not really that interesting unless it’s one of those pretty elven braided hairstyle looks. Those are cute. Also I kind of disagree with what you said about that niche dying. There’s always gonna be new people becoming natural and little girls and little boys who begin to do their hair and need guidance. I’ve always had natural hair but I never took care of it cause I never knew how until recently. So these hair videos helped me a lot. But I guess fields just get saturated at times and it’s hard to climb to the top cause it’s competitive. Anyway, it’s not really the faults of the RU-vidrs who get the most views. Some people click on those videos aren’t even curly haired people. They might even have straight hair. I think it’s up to the audience to view videos that relates to them but at the same time, they can click and watch whatever they want. I can understand what you mean though.
I stopped watching natural hair content because I have been natural for 20 years and that this point I know how to do my hair. I mostly style my hair in wash and goes and twist outs. I don’t protective style. I wish that tightly textured hair would wear their hair in wash and goes. I love to see it. I believe that tightly textured hair rock a wash and go.
What?! The natural hair community started long before RU-vid. I can understand some of the points you made about colorism and natural hair textures. Yet, NOT ALL light skin Black naturals have type 3s as well as NOT ALL dark skinned Blacks have type 4s. #sigh In addition, not all type 3s think their better than type 4s because of a texture. There are issues among Blacks being insecure with their curl patterns due to wishing it was a looser and not knowing how to take care of it. Honestly, I don't see many type 3s being nasty or boasting about their curl pattern. This is not saying it's not any on social media or in the society. IJS. Really? I'm tired of seeing videos or comments on type 4s vs type 3s. It's ridiculers! We all share most of the same struggles by being Black, African American or African. Maybe not the same struggles of hair textures and colorism? Still.... White Supremacy doesn't see difference in us why should we?? Thanks for sharing your thoughts and video. Peace.
Normalcy. And that's a good thing. If we think in/out, hot/not -- then it's a fad. Your natural state isn't a fad. It's something we're born with. So embrace it.
Light skin biracial and dark skinned women have privilege in the natural hair community because have looser curl pattern which is just texurism and I'm so sick of this I wish I had your hair sometimes because it's easier to grow and retain length. Light skinned biracial women with looser curl patterns and racially ambiguous features do not represent and should not be the face of dark skinned beautiful black women that have kinky 4b/c hair no way.
1) I don’t know who you’re watching but A LOT of black women creators get a TON of views. In fact black women are the majority in this “natural hair” movement. 2) I realized a lot of black women want to keep every “movement” or whatever just to themselves. No, this is not only created for type 4 hair. This is for all textures hair, we all fall under the category of bleaching over using heating tools and have heat and chemical damage, trying to straighten out hair or curl it with an iron to fit the ideal. This natural hair is for everyone to love their hair texture since for centuries straight hair was the only beautiful hair. Like I was watching a video of a black women reacting to wigs installment of random girls on TikTok, where a white women said “I’m leaving my edges cause white women don’t do their edges” in sarcasm and the black women said “yes actually I never saw a white girl kay her edges and I would appreciate it if it stays between us black community”. Like it’s just HAIR! Take a chill pill. 3) can we stop always putting colorisim and racism aside? Not everything is done that way, unless someone is deeply offended of the white girls who get more views than accuse people to be colorist and all... We should stop controlling people on what they should and shouldn’t be supporting us in. I saw people being very rude to their own supporters for having another opinion about something, even as little as about hair. If we stay this way, we will push people away from us, it will make us look bad. Let’s not always put colorisim and race into every matter. PLEASE! I watch so many natural and relaxed hair gals most are BLACK and very successful. The whites aren’t as successful. The only girl that I could think of who gets lots of views and is white is India batson. But I can name a lot of successful black women natural hair creators. Unfortunately the majority is white and we are the minority, so of course you will get more people watch their own kind of hair. Also, people clicking on your videos with the ideal curls is because majority have this type of hair. Type 2 and 3 hair is alot more than type 4. Still as I said, top rated natural hair gurus are black! 4C hair with excellent views! It’s good to know everything and people are posting because we want women embrace their natural beauty and people realizing their hair types. Since a lot of us have type 2, 3 hair. Please that’s just an opinion. Please don’t be offended but the past few months I have seen enough that I started to question my own community. It can get toxic and very entitled!
I agree with this, im open to opinions but I was thinking exactly these things when she was going through the topics. I'm 100% others will get offended because thats how the community (sometimes) is, even though this is also an opinion. Theres even been cases of type 4 women gatekeeping curls. Telling white/non black women that their hair "isnt curly", multiple times ive seen across social media. It's aggravating that I see fellow black women act this way. (I too watched the lady reacting to the white lady saying she 'doesnt do her edges', which reminded me of that). I watch only black women with type 4 hair. I have no interest in people who do not look like me. I dont care what their hair looks like, because my hair will never BE theres. You understand? I dont want their hair. I even watch 4c videos even with no 4c in my hair, haha! But even if it doesnt apply to me, i know these problems do exist, especially colorism in general, because as a lighter skinned black person, I do recognize the differences in people's behavior.
I adore your video! I came across your channel and was interested. Just wanted to show some support 💖 I have a channel too. If you have a moment to check it out that would be much appreciated! 💖
