Everything many viewers have learned about natural hair I have learned from Google which showed me some various blogs that will then lead me to some pretty awesome YouTube videos. What ever the social media we use, at some point, because we are a visual people, all the natural hair tutorials that we want will mostly come from YouTube tutorials and how to’s. Whether we want to braid or twist, curl or twirl you will find the top YouTubers that have shaped the natural hair movement which has also shaped the hair industry. I am very proud to share some top influencers on YouTube that have taught us everything about our precious crowns!
It’s pretty clear that when you are a natural the first thing you would do after or before a big
TheChicNatural – 1.96M Subscribers
Kim, TheChicNatural also @thechicnatural on Instagram is an influencer and YouTuber that shares a lot of how-to natural hairstyles, braided and twisted protective styles and also shares to the world her vegan and minimalist lifestyle.
What makes her stand out is that she creates consistent content on fashion, hauls and look books. She can also rock a wig and does it so effortlessly!
The most viewed video is (funny enough) regarding a brow tutorial with a whopping 22Million views. We love beautifully done brows but since we are here for her natural hair, the most viewed is a crochet faux locs that you can have a look at here:
Recent Wash Day Routine Breakdown:
Her most recent wash day routine involves doing everything in sections (just like many naturals) but what is different is she is already prepping her hair to be stretched while the hair is in a deep conditioner. After shampooing, she deep conditions her then braids it while it’s in the deep conditioner. She then rinses the deep conditioner while it’s in braids. This is super helpful for people who live in box braids and wigs because it keeps the hair stretched and unmatted and you can easily undo the braids, style stretched.
Joined Apr 10, 2008
Naptural85 – 1.18M Subscribers
The biggest thing you can learn from Naptural85 (also known as Whitney) is how you can make all your products from your kitchen. At the time when I was natural, a lot of stores were not supplying products that were friendly for our natural hair. So she helped naturals understand how oils, essential oils, moisturizing ingredients, clays work and can make your own from the kitchen. From yogurt as a deep conditioner to a mix all, Naptural85 is the channel that supplied in depth knowledge on how to do it all.
I love the fact that she is very cautious of the content she shares to the natural hair community. She is aware that there are many products which claim things that they aren’t and she didn’t jump from review to review but takes her time to ensure that whatever she sells to her viewers is quality. Quality to the point that after so many years in the YouTube media, she has finally launched her own products called the Mellanin Hair Care brand. We will talk about that in another blog about how may naturals who have started channels and have launched hair care lines which were a huge game changer in the hair industry!
The most viewed video is her flexi rod set that she helps a lot of naturals achieve heat less curls. She uses her homemade flexseed gel to achieve the style and it came out so good! This was at a time many naturals wanted to find ways to style their hair without any heat as this (back then) posed a threat to the overall health of their curls.
Joined Aug 9, 2009
My Natural Sistas
Toni, Carmen and India are 3 sisters that help naturals with routines, out styles and mostly protective style tutorials. They started sharing their individual hair journey’s on the My Natural Hair Sisters channel to help others learn about textures and natural hair care practices. My most favorite part was sharing their growth journeys which for me was special because siblings can have the same genes and still have different textures and their hair can respond differently to products. It goes to show how unique individuals are, so the same applies with our hair textures, densities and the obvious curl patterns. For many like me, I used to think all black women have the exact same hair type and these sisters have opened my mind that this is not the case. We have to find what works for us. One sister likes color, the other loves to keep it short and so the rules of being natural are broken because we all want long luscious hair but in this case you can have natural hair whatever way you want. It’s health doesn’t have to be proven by length only.
They also shared their weight gain and loss journeys too!
Their most popular video is how to straighten natural hair without any damage. The video was uploaded in 2012 and for me at that time, I knew a lot of naturals who were too scared to use heat and yet still wanted to find methods that won’t harm their natural curls.
Joined Dec 27, 2009
Halfrican Beaute
– 782K Subscribers
Isimeme Edeko (IG handle @halfricanbeaute) actually explains in one of her posts that her father is African, hence the “halfrican” part of her known name. She comes through with relevance as far as using other social medias and trendy topics on her YouTube channel. She does a lot of Tiktok reviews, boyfriend tag and outfit hauls. As far as her natural hair is goes, it’s that thick mane and she keeps it simple. Most of the time it’s braided under a wig and other times it’s out and defying rules of gravity!
Her most famous video is returning that very same thick her that she has straighten back to curly again. She shares her method how because at some point in mid 2016 and 2017, many naturals weren’t so afraid of safely using heat although there was a bit of caution if naturals could still get their curls to pop back again.
Joined Nov 4, 2015
Curly Proverbs – 277K Subscribers
Farida Sharma also known as @curlyproverbz on both Instagram and YouTube is one for hair growth challenges! I known she is great with being consistent (something I’m terrible with) and she shares that with her followers and viewers. She properly documents her hair growth challenges. She has about 10 videos just dedicated to sharing Ayurveda or rice water challenges and showing the progress and length check.
She is one of the few naturals who go in detail to share information on Ayurveda and I’m convinced that anyone who does the same have learned from her. I known this for sure, if you keep saying the same thing over and over again then it must be true and she has stood for Ayurvedic hair methods from the moment she has found it worked for her. She has insane length checks that will make you run immediately to the store and get all that you need and hope that you are as consistent as she is!
The most popular YouTube video on her channel is a tutorial on how to make your super hair growth oil and how to use it as she identifies it’s what helped her grow her hair to the length that it is.
Joined Aug 8, 2011
Conclusion
The natural hair community has been changed and revolutionized by these influencers and many more in the YouTube Community. Their hair care journeys, product choices, routine choices have been affected by many of them. The products that they introduce and also affected the market and also many women to decide what the get to grow their hair. Many businesses too, have been started because of this and many women who also have started out in the industry have seen the move that is done by these women. It is so important to note the power that YouTube has put on many women all over the world to decide where their money is spent in order to grow and appreciate the crowns that is in their heads.