The Rise And Fall Of The Natural Hair Community | Camryn Elyse

See Ia: The natural hair community made me buy tons of products that I didn’t need.

lacasadelmango: I think it's important for all us to take accountability for this, too. Women with looser texture hair wouldn't have "taken over" the moment if we didn't give them views. I know when I first went natural I was always watching YouTubers with looser hair bc deep down I (at the time) wanted my hair to look like theirs. Obviously it's hard but it's really important to work on building your self esteem YOURSELF instead of looking for outside validation. If someone doesn't like your natural hair or makes comments about it or you don't attract certain types of men when you wear it natural, see that as a blessing for the type of people you don't want in your life! We have to commit to unlearning these negative ideas about our hair for OURSELVES and no one else! On the point of all the rules, I totally agree. Natural hair doesn't need to be that complicated. Everyone's hair is different.

Kinshasha Dunton: Length is also a big part of the divestiture from the "community". If you weren't growing waist length hair, then you were told you were doing it all wrong.

Kay Swiss: When I decided to go natural my mom pointed out I wouldn’t look like my friend who had loose hair. My wear my 4c hair out almost 24/7 for 9 year. I don’t define it or use any gels for personal reasons only moisturizing products and blue magic.I love my hair and I hope to inspire other young girls to love themselves also. I’ve wore my fro to weddings, and other formal events and never felt less than pretty. I represent my ancestors

Simply Andoime: Once money penetrates a movement it will change. Fact* The natural hair movement is still one of the best things that ever happened to me. Key: always sift through information (take the good, reject the bad)

xo V: Been saying this the 2010, a lot of black women went natural for the wrong reason, expecting their hair to be like most mixed girls rather than embracing their natural hair texture. Been natural since the 90s, it’s not a fad for many of us, it just is. Never was a product junkie because less products has done my hair well.

Renee Mattier: I've always thought it was insane that so many people didn't consider locs to be part of the natural hair movement. You don't get more natural than freeform locs. I've been loc'd since 1999.

Natrelle Tyson: I remember this girl walked up to me, rubbed her hands all throughout my hair and told me I needed to do something with it. I didn’t give her a whole natural hair lecture but I let her know I didn’t like that my personal space was being invaded. At this point I feel we need to leave each other alone when it comes to how we choose to present ourselves natural hair or not. Nothing is ever enough anymore!

Earth's Little Secrets: That is a statement “How black women get pushed out of their own movement.” I think this statement applies to a lot that goes on in the world.

Victoria: I exited when people became obsessed with hair typing. And then all the natural hair scientists started talking about porosity, parabens, sulfates, and whatever. It truly doesn’t have to be that hard. Then came all the complaining that our hair “takes too much time” and the rise of wigs. Hear me out. Y’all can do what y’all want. Taking care of our natural hair CAN take long if you want a high-maintenance style BUT it doesn’t have to. White folks spent plenty of time on their hair because it’s just fun to do sometimes! I had long hair practically all my life until I cut my hair a few times in college (even shaved my head lol). Everyone asked how my hair would grow back so quickly and literally the answer is by doing very little. I seldom do my edges and I’ve always done wash and go puffs even as a type 4 because these n****s were not about to tell me my hair was nappy. Whatever. Then when my hair grew out again, people were like . Keeping our hair healthy is relatively simple and can be low maintenance. But when the popular natural hair gurus became biracial with loose curls, it became a chore (because people were trying to make their look like theirs) and people started spreading the lie that our hair takes “too much time.” I’d love to see the capital “C” Community embrace our hair again because it’s beautiful and what God blessed (yes, BLESSED) us with. I really appreciate the OGs because they taught me that taking care of my natural hair was even a possibility. Then, I figured out a routine that worked for me. I hope others can get back to doing the same.

Jessica Shawnte: The looser texture girls ruined the movementhere me out now… if you notice a lot of the stuff they started hating “oh it doesn’t work it’s bad for you” does wonders for type 4 hair such as grease I love me some blue magic and Indian hemp, sulfates, certain gels everything that does my fellow type 4 sisters the type 3-below cousins lowkey demonized it another thing why are white people in this movement

Jamila S: The natural hair movement became just another thing that separates us. It’s very sad. It’s just like light skin/dark skin comments that WE still make about each other!

Amara Jones: “Black women deserve to feel beautiful” in whatever way that’s true for them... That’s what I took away from this. I choose to judge nobody, not even myself

Andrena Prestige: They all finally realized it's "Just Hair" so as long as you're happy with your hair that's all that matters.

Colouredgal: I agree the natural hair community became toxic. There would be women with 4C claiming that they have 3BC. Also women with type 3 claiming to have type 4. It became too much and I divested from natural hair content.

GirlYouAlreadyKnow: Though the movement was co-opted and dwindled into an obsession of definition and length growth it did leave it's mark. I'm seeing teenaged girls with full afros coming out of school and that was just something not easy nor socially acceptable when I was their age. I think the next step is for the black hair community to come to terms with shruken 4 type hair. Straight out the shower, no blow drying, not stretching. Getting past the fear/disgust of raw, un-manipulated shruken black hair is where the real self-acceptance lies.

Vini John: As a Indian i want to say thank you to everyone who brought up this movement because in my country majority have straight hair and having curly hair(I've 3b-c)was odd the constant teasing, bullying etc. When I saw a indian blogger who followed the C.G method I was taken aback and first time thought to love my hairs. But I agree that ppl are too obsessed with it now to a unhealthy extent and that's the reason why I don't follow strict cg anymore so thank you sisters for showing the fellow curly heads the right way.

Abigail Adeyemo: I relaxed my hair and got a pixie and haven't felt more confident. I'm tired of feeling guilty for not embracing my natural hair. No I'm not brainwashed and I believe natural hair is beautiful, but it is not by force.

Laura V.: One thing I noticed is that when people with 4c hair started getting more appreciation, there were people that would claim 4c just for the sake of clicks and views. Even though you called people natural hair police for correcting them, I do think people were right to do so because it can cause a lot of confusion and upset for people. People incorrectly labelling themselves as 4c (or type 4 in general) for views definitely put me off because it became harder to find people with similar textures to use as a reference.

Claire Haire: *Yes, I agree ☝️ I think I had length guilt , I felt like I owed ppl inches bc I’ve been natural for 8 yrs. I’ve had a lot of changes in a decade, great video.*

InvisibleRen: I always asked “Why can’t I just have my hair growing out of my scalp like white people do?” Even after I got arthritis and so shaved it off every 3-4 months, my dad would make comments about it not being “clean” and edged up. Like ffs, I can’t even have a shaved head without the beauty police telling me my black hair ain’t right as it is. Leave Black people’s heads alone

zheahra: Firstly, I want to thank The Natural Hair Community for a movement that included black women with coarse hair. I'm glad we have a lot of hair products intended for our stands at the drug, grocery, and retail stores. The Community helped us with the language and terms to use for describing our hair and the products we use. I can't think of a more inclusive community. Racism roots will sprout up everytime. Yes! It will among black ppl. While we are not a monolith, we must acknowledge the "beauty" standards set by this oppressive system was established to undermine and suppress us. This is why I'm not for every community being inclusive. Let's get something straight about everybody jumping on the "bandwagon". If it were not for the socal media Natural Hair Communty, the Curly Girl movement would not exist. The curl type 3c wouldn't be all the rage without 4c hair. It's the self unawareness for me. Ppl were joining (high jacking) the movement for ulterior motives. This caused a lot of naturals to feel disenchanted and ostracized in a movement made for them. How are folk going to come into a Communty their never wanted to be a part of (before all of the sensationalism) and critique it for not being about them? The Natural Community hasn't gone anywhere. The ppl who didn't belong there have exited the Community. Thank you.

L F: As someone who has NEVER straightened my hair in my 30 + years on earth, this being a fad or a movement seems odd to me. My hair is just my best feature, that is part of my "tumbao" which means African sexiness in my Afro Latin culture. I think this is being over thought. Our hair is gorgeous, end of story. No controversy there.

Shemika Sandy: I think what happened is we focused more on texture rather than the science of hair,like porosity, density, thickness of your strands. Many companies caught on to that creating unnecessary products. Also, influencing us to be product junkies as we looked for products that worked for our curl pattern over what works for each individual based on their hair composition or needs. Furthermore, thinking heat, grease, sulfates, silicones, or washing you hair more frequently with shampoo would be damaging. Once I started looking at my hair scientifically I went back to mainstream products versus ones geared solely towards natural hair and went back to an old school routine. My hair has been thriving.

Fanisizing: I love all the new info, “protective styling isn’t really protective”, “no raw oils and butters”, etc. Even though we’re 10+ years into the natural movement, it’s still a young movement. I think something we still overlook is the mindset we have of particularly tight coiled hair. Are we just having fun with wigs, weaves and relaxers or are we only outwardly dealing with inner turmoil?

Lefenyo Botshelo: My issue with the natural hair community started with the “taking the stupid out of natural hair” movement. The no oils and butters trends, then no protective styling trend. Like leave people to do what they want with their hair ‍♀️

Anika. C: The only thing i dont like with the natural hair community is where uneducated/people without qualifications want to speak in absolutes despite they have no scientifc background. It took one person to say grease is bad then everyone says it. It took one person to say low porosity hair should stay away from protein then everyone says it and the list goes on. Then the crazy hennas and clay masks and so many steps that we're told we should do if we want healthy hair. Somehow people without credentials became experts in dictating what we should do and shouldn't do and i was one who blindly followed. Now this is not to throw everyone under the bus but I just wish those influencers, if you're sooo passionate about hair, why not actually study so that you're credible and knowledgeable in what you're saying instead of saying what the next person said.

juliemangotrini: I think the fall of the natural hair community was necessary for a lot of people outside of YouTube to realize that what the 'natural hair gurus' were doing, wasn't the status quo. At some point they couldn't even kept up with it

JessieBanana: As someone who grew up natural, long before it was popular, and tried relaxing my hair once in college , I think the problems with the community come down to trading one out of reach Eurocentric beauty standard for another out of reach less Eurocentric beauty standard. Instead of just embracing and loving our hair. Personally I can’t stand when people are so hyper focused on length.

mizz Kris: I'm one of the "looser hair girls" and I use grease, oils, and butters. I believe in do what works for you. I tried following the "natural hair rules" but just started making my own products and stuck to my own routine. I don’t think the movement failed, we as a people failed. What was supposed to bring us together tore us apart. So girls with type 4 hair please love your hair because I would love to have a fro i didn't have to manipulate into one. I cant do wash n goes cause it'll end up a big, tangled mess. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, lol. Oh and I agree with the be aware where u stand .

Christana Fagbile: This is so much bigger than hair type. Even if you have 4c hair, it’s still looked on favorably if it’s long and full. I have thin short 4C hair and I had hard time finding creators with similar hair. I divested from the natural hair movement because I was tired of being inundated with videos of people with full and long hair and the pressure/expectation to have hair that looked like that. They were all selling the idea that if you did xyz, your hair would grow like their hair. Meanwhile, genetically some ppl are just predisposed to have thicker longer hair. Even 4c gurus like Naptural85 and Halfrican Beaute made me feel like I was lacking. I came to the conclusion that it was genetically impossible for my hair to look like Halfrican Beaute’s and started putting my hair away in wigs and protective styles. Another reason was content creators doing more sponsorsed videos vs just sharing products they liked.

Zaria Austin: The natural hair community’s obsession with waist length hair is so toxic! And everrrryonnnneeeee swears by different growth oils that they swear are the reason for their waist length hair. The amount of money I wasted on products I thought were gonna be a holy grail for long hair is embarrassing

M. Jessica: The first big wave of the modern natural hair movement was actually more than 20 years ago, way earlier than you mentioned and before this current age of social media. Go back and look at some of the dates and history of the forums I'll mention here. YouTube didn't even exist, it was pretty much just websites and forums. I was in my early 20's then, and it was 2001. The Neo-soul movement, music, fashion, headwraps and style was in its infancy. I did my first big chop that year. I stood out. At the time, approximately 92% of Black women relaxed their hair. Now, it's about half that. Almost no products were available save for a few brands at the health food store. We had to make most of our products from scratch in our kitchens and bathrooms, and that was the early days of Carol's Daughter. We had Black Hair Media and a few other places. A group of us that were on the Multicultural Hair board of the predominantly white forum of the Long Hair Lover's community online left after they tried to charge us to stay. Fun Fact-The hairtyping system that everyone uses now was created by Andre Walker (Oprah's stylist in the 90's) and expanded by a member on that board called Fia. We bounced on private boards, sending each other links until I asked my sorority sister who had a background in tech to create a home just for us. So was born the Long Hair Care Forum. My name was MSCHICHI. I was a moderator there back in the day until I left a few years after life got busy and I learned and contributed a wealth of info. We had to learn and research everything on our own about our natural hair and how to do it because there was barely any info out there. We spoke about the near gang activity of naturals v/s relaxed ladies even back then. It's been crazy to see how far things have come and the whole industry now. Much love to all the old heads and trailblazers, and all the newcomers carrying the torch. Like Maya Angelou once said, if it's on your head, it's good hair.

Ysabeau99: This conversation was very interesting. I decided to go natural because I saw a video where a lady had gotten a relaxer and had burns so severe she lost the ability to grow her hair back!! So I transitioned not because of a movement, I just did not want to go bald. Never did I place so much emphasis on my hair decision. I’m 4C or tight textured and once I learned how to care for my hair l fell in love with her.

Honey Braswell: The "Natural Hair Movement" for Black Women has come and gone a bunch of times in the Modern Age (early 1900s+). The most recent wave began gained momentum circa 2006/2007. I really think stars such as Tracy Ellis Ross, Rachel True and who can forget Kelis with "3b/3c" hair wore their hair big/bold curly, unapologetically and many women felt they could rock with it. Racial relations in the country had cooled by then and less Black women/people were worried about what white people thought about their hair. Also, Andre Walker, Oprah's Hairstylist came out with his book "Andre Talks Hair in 1997", which revolutionized the way folks with textured hair think, manage and categorize our hair. Anthropologically speaking, he was the Linneaus of the "Hair Industry". 25 years later we've added 3c as a hair type but not much else. Anyway, all of the people I named are Biracial Americans with type 3 curls. Before Andre's book and before Tracee E. Ross & Rachel True. Other natural curly folks of color on tv were Karyn Parsons (Hillary from Fresh Prince), Cree Summer & Jasmine Guy. Although you could argue. Tatiana Ali, Chili from TLC, Rozanda Lewis (MTV). The main take away is that for a long time Authentically looking Black women with type 4 hair weren't rocking their natural hair like that. However, I am going to highlight the OG's: Angie Stone, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Macy Gray and most notably Free from 106 & Park. 106 & Park was a popular show on the early 2000s and both hosts Free & AJ had what appeared to be natural looking hairstyles and they rocked them with incredible style & influence on the 13-25 cohort. Free was rocking Afros in a new way & we were there for it wanting to know, what is she going to wear next. She was bold, beautiful, stylish and showing everyone that Black was all of that. Later on they replaced her with biracial/Latina female co hosts, but you know they had to keep the guy Black, but that's another story. The Natural Hair Movement has evolved over the last 25 years for sure. Before 2006 there were very few products/media outlets that we could use to figure out how to really do our hair. Then came YouTube and then around 2012 the rise of the YouTube/Instagram stars who built their brands, other brands and communities. However, I think most people only really seemed interested in seeing 2c-3c hair videos and maybe 4a, with the ideal hair type being 3b for many people. Basically, we were supposed to be embracing our hair & relating to each other, but things got real exclusionary and featurist. The girls with 4b and 4c hair, often darker women felt more inferior than ever before. Brands they helped make household names like *cough* Shea Moisture did entire ad campaigns excluding them. So many Black women got fed up and when Nicki Minaj's styling team revolutionized the wig game, lace front wigs became the go to for many naturalists who A) wanted more versatility B) Got tired of failed/old wash & go's, twist outs and C) Got tired of buying and applying a shit ton of products only to discover it's never going to give us the hair we thought it should of gave for amount of time, money & energy we spent. Natural Hair isn't toxic. People are toxic and if you don't truly love yourself, you'll consume the poison and infect other people with that BS. What's inside your head truly matters more than what sits on top.

OsCiriah Press: The whole typing of curly hair seems to be another huge part of the problem honestly. It’s another way to create division among the curly girls. And tbh a lot of people type their hair incorrectly (based on the original typing system). This was a black girl movement that got white washed. If it had stayed where it was intended to stay, we’d be all good. But no. #WeCantHaveNothing

Marcella Munhos: Honestly, the community made me feel poor. I watched videos from USA and my country and, all they have in common is "oh try this expensive product or your hair won't be healthy". I'm learning to filter the information and adapt to what fit my bank account at the moment, and now i can say I'm happy with my hair, it isn't 100% but is pretty close to what i want

Rukky Mamman: The internet did not make me go natural. After 10 years of relaxer, thinning, breakage I did a big chop myself and then I discovered the natural hair community and it supported me through my dry tough 4c-d high porosity hair journey. And I’m thankful for that. It’s left for us to do our research and find out what works for us. No one forced anything on anyone

JessieBanana: I will say, I still the the curly girl movement in general (that includes people of other races) was still helpful for those of us who are more type 3c/4a. I wasn’t told I had bad hair, but I was told I needed to do something with it. People seemed personally offended that I wore it in a puff everyday. I didn’t really know how to wear it down and every makeover movie in the 90s had some girl with frizzy wavy or curly getting their hair straightened in the after. And it’s what I always did for special occasions, a press and curl. It was a better space for me in a lot of ways than the Black natural hair community.

ChocoLex: I kinda feel like the amount of natural hair content on social media also contributed to the "fall" of the natural hair community too because it was so hard to stick to just one routine/brand/content creator. Once natural hair became the "in" thing, there was an influx of natural hair content. (In addition to the fact that social media really started popping off around the same time too). Plus, more and more brands were popping up on the shelves. These brands were working with content creators and the content creators were making their money by working with these brands. It was like a never-ending cycle. I started making natural hair content because there weren't enough creators on YouTube who had hair like mine ( I have more than one curl pattern). Unfortunately, it was hard for me to grow my platform because at the time I started, everyone already had their favs. I also noticed most of the well known creators either had looser textured hair or their hair was super long and these were things that people wanted which contributed to why their platforms were growing. and now all the natural YouTube girlies have transitioned to lifestyle creators and barely even post anymore.

ParalegalNfashion: I was done when I was staring at nearly $800 worth of products at the bottom of my sink hot off the heels of being told to "go see a doctor" on a natural hair board because my 4b hair wasn't past my shoulders after 3 years of being natural. I mean, who goes 3 years without seeing a doctor? I started looking at my aunties with they're healthy hair and 4 products (Soft N Sheen, Blue Magic, Queen Helene Cholestorol, and Cream of nature shampoo) and my hair flourished.

Toni S: They lost me at the wash n go. THAT WAS A LIE Then I only ever achieved ONE decent twist out. I eventually locked my hair and am happy over here.

Romaine Wright: I remember first hearing women w/ natural hair referred to as a “community” and thinking it was weird back then. At the heart of being natural is gaining a sense of confidence and comfort in being yourself and owning it. How you do that is and should always be your choice and feeling connected bc you can relate to others should be a perk, not a rule.

Ola L: I had a full thick 4c hair when I started the natural hair hype. Spraying water on my hair, cowash, oils, no sulphates etc turned my hair to light dead strands. Now I'm back to grease, sulphate shampoo and conditioner, no spraying water and my hair is thick and strong again, mid back. 4c hair is a different mood.

maya: as a mixed/afrolatina person, i’ve barely faced scrutiny for my texture. before i knew how to care for and style my hair, i was bullied for having “messy” matted hair. my mom has 4a/4b hair and was never taught how to take care of it, so she never took care of my 2c-3b hair. for me (and other girls with a similar texture) the curly hair movement taught me how to take care of my hair. many mixed kids don’t have parents with knowledge on curly hair. not being able to wear cute hairstyles while dealing with mats and frizz can be painful and isolating for young girls, no matter how curly their hair is.

Nechelle: I don't want to be this guy - but some of these women are a little too young to understand that essentially ALL black women had relaxers until around 2008-2010 when this movement picked up. If your parents weren't "woke" you rocked a perm PERIOD. None of us knew what to do with our hair! I could always count on 1 hand who was natural in my entire school. Our parents didn't know what to do with natural hair as we got older and neither did we. Texture didn't matter, even the type 3 girls had perms.

Truth Inchocolate: I relaxed my natural hair because I wanted to wear it out without a ton of manipulation. The manipulation was causing breakage especially twist outs. I pretty much wear protective styles or straight. I can't waste my whole life washing & conditioning my hair.

Sharron King: Well why do we need a defined community... I stopped putting chemicals in my hair because I wanted to, not for anyone else. I pride myself in my hair and tighter curl pattern.

Angelina Riley: I feel like we gotta also take into account the impacts of capitalism in the rise/decline of the natural hair community. Not faulting content creators because I know sponsorships are necessary for them to make a living. I know that there was a point in time where audiences started to get overstimulated because of the over saturation of new products being advertised to them to achieve a specific style. I think this contributed to a shift in the hair industry as a whole. Now Beauty supply stores had to compete with big chain stores, online stores, etc. The industrialization of natural hair lead to creators feeling burnt out because of the nature of business in a capitalist economy being more competitive. This also meant. Like some of the folks in the video said, the rise of natural hair went hand in hand with the rise of wigs, which is also an industry under the “black hair umbrella”. With all these different views on which products are best and which products suck and the debate around different protective styles, came the “natural hair police”. And so on and so on

Marcella Dupree: We should accept black women and their hair choices that work for them! Natural or relaxed. I know a lot of my friends were natural but then started making more money by having multiple jobs or opening business and didn’t have time it took for wash days ect. Ladies do what works for you! We need to embrace all of our hair journeys.

Maloyo: When I decided to finally go natural after watching videos for three years, I said I'd be okay with the 1970s 'fro look, if that was what I ended up with. Curling cream, which I'd never heard of before looking in to this (I go to hair stylists about once every two decades) saved me from going back to the 1970s, but I knew from the start that I was never going to spend hours twisting or rolling my hair or having a "wash day." I have "wash 10 minutes in the shower." I'm fine with the way it looks and when it gets too wild or I don't want to be bothered with even minimal styling efforts, I put it up in a puff on top of my head or a top knot. My hair can be frizzy; that's the way it is and it has "shrinkage." I do not do the baby hair thing. I don't try to "stretch" it. If I wanted it straightened, I'd straighten it. I do think some influencers make it too hard, but they did help a lot at first. We each have to travel our own path.

NeeNee K.: I remember when my hair basically turned to straw from doing these protein/rice water treatments. Had to start all over. I also remember the moment I took the advice of a professional natural hair stylist who said we need to use actual shampoo to cleanse our hair and not just “co wash”. My scalp isn’t getting clean and that’s why it was so sore, not that I was just tender headed. Shampooed my hair for the first time in over a year and the “tender headedness” completely disappeared. Fast forward - I’m 5 months loc’d now and finally free.

Virginia Montaldo: I think white women overtaking the natural hair movement was just shameful - there was already a 'white girl hair movement', the curly girl method. But if the natural hair movement had been called the natural Afro/black/'something black-specific' movement, then maybe the overtaking wouldn't have happened so easily. 'Natural' is just too generic and can apply to any hair type (yes I know it refers mostly to type 4 hair, but it's not spelled out and thus can be used as a shield).

C M: Great video. Being natural is tough as straight is seen as better. I've come to realize I don't care what people/men think. If i like my hair natural and you don't oh well, not my problem. I've gone back to using oils and butters bc my hair likes it. Less shedding and breakage for myself and my daughter. I watch natural youtubers for entertainment only. I'm going to do what's best for me and what I like no matter what!

melodramatic7904: One thing I seem to see missing from conversation about these is how harmful relaxers are. It wasn't just about freeing ourselves from shackles. It was because relaxers kills your hair follics causing you to go bald and could potentially cause cancer and we were sick of it. Like why are we killing ourselves to fit a beauty standard that was never going to accept us no matter what we did? Edit at the 17:38 mark. I recently saw something like this where there was this website saying don't watch with cowash, don't use oils and butter,s protective styles will damage your curl pattern, but it was written by a white person and, no offence but a white person's curly hair is going to have completely different needs than my curly hair. I just ignored it and kept it pushing. I can't believe that same bs was being pushed in the natural hair community. (Also, I feel like those people, these "hair care professionals" might have been part of the wider culture of telling black people that everything they do is wrong. Like how washing chicken wasn't a topic of conversation until they found out that most black people did it. Then it was like OMG ITS WRONG!!! I think it's the same thing with curly hair routines. As soon as our methods for caring for OUR hair became mainstream it's like OMG IT'S WRONG! These people probably don't know a thing about curly hair but want to police how we treat it.) Also, I just realized that I have never been a part of the natural hair community. It's because I moved overseas the same year that I went natural. So it never made sense to me to watch any of those youtube videos because I didn't have access to any of those products. It forced me to find a routine that worked for me. Edit at 26:00. People are STARTING to explore locks? When I was in high school, it was THE style to have. Everything old becomes new again.

Aleah B.: I remember hairstylists saying we should not put “food” in our hair. People from various cultures have been using oils in their hair for centuries… these hair products weren’t around centuries ago. People used the Earth to clean and moisturize their hair.

Hammer Time: Wow! I didn’t realize that people were taking the opinions of others on social media as gospel. I just accepted as advice. I kept what worked for me and threw away the rest.

Tiff Monique: This is why I decided to loc my hair. I've been an on and off natural since I was a sophomore in high school and I'm now 36. I've grown my hair to beat strap length and had to big chop many times. I can definitely see why someone would get tired of the natural hair movement. It isn't easy.

Jerica Lowman: I went natural after relaxing my hair for 6 years, through high school and junior high (i graduated in 2009). The natural hair community helped me figure out how to maintain my hair, i didn’t have anyone in my life to help me (foster kid) so i appreciated the YouTubers i followed, even if they had different hair from me. But i definitely saw this rise of the community focusing on those with type 3 hair, especially 3a/b, but c as well. It’s frustrating to see even as someone with 3c hair. I learned from the type 4 YouTubers. And don’t even get me started with the “curly girl method” which is just yt women pretending to have curly hair

J: I started as a loose natural for years. I transitioned to wigs until one day I had enough. I wanted a permanent protective style and that’s when it dawned on me, Locs! My hair has never been happier, who knew the answer for me the whole time was not detangling and combing my hair.

silent night: Im glad the last girl acknowledged that people with her type of hair are put on a pedestal. Cause GURL, I remember like 7 years ago. I was in this Facebook natural group for 4C HAIR. And people with her hair textures kept joining the group just to post pictures of their hair. "Humble bragging". And claiming that they just didn't know what their hair texture was and that they thought it was 4c. Ain't no way you going to look at that girl's hair and say yeah it looks like 4C. That's how you know people aren't that DENSE. These girls wanted attention and praise from people with kinky hair SO BAD. They were actually searching out this group just to Post pictures of their 3B hair. It started completely dismembering and pulling back progress that was being made for women with 4C hair that started to finally love their hair. And the texturism and envy and self-hatred started to rise again. And women started to hate their hair and then praise the curly girls hair about how pretty and beautiful her hair was. Once again, wishing that their hair texture was the same as their. Checkmate. Eventually it got so out of hand, and people started to stop biting the bait and realize what was going on. That people started calling these folks out on their post. Telling them to get out and they know exactly why they're here. Because a quick Google search on the internet would have shown that obviously your hair texture is nowhere close to 4C. Plus, you mean to tell me you never heard the term good hair as a black person, nor have you as a black person never seen a black person with 4C hair in your life? No. And you know it, but you take pleasure off of seeing women insecure and wanting your good hair. Thankfully eventually the creator of the group had enough. And she put a post and a notification up to the rules that these girls were NO LONGER able to join the group, and post pictures of their hair. If they wanted to join for support reasons or to get hair care advice for a relative that had 4C hair that is fine. But do NOT join just flood women with kinky hair , with the same images that they keep being bombarded with , that was already an issue in the natural hair community. Making it look like majority of black women have just regular curly hair. Leaving The wider percentage of ones with kinky coily hair with nowhere to go because they keep making it seem as if we are the minorities. We need to take responsibility for looking at this stuff, and googling this stuff up, and getting behind it and not acknowledging it. Convincing yourself that if we get enough products our hair will look like Tracy Ellis Ross. But it's scenarios like these, where we create a safe space to do just that and make sure that we see people with our hair texture and get recommendations and tips for our hair texture. Just to have it forced into our face anyway in the group by people who have that favorable hair texture. Because they miss you fawning over them and wishing you were them. And they don't want you to go back to loving yourself. It's sad because this is the exact same behavior we kept complaining about white people doing that when black people try to do or create anything to attempt self love. Now you have other black women doing it to other black women. And acting aloof as if they don't know what they're doing wrong. That is so malicious and spiteful. A group of black women wanting black women who have stereotypical African features to keep hating themselves and in return keep loving them. Nasty. This is why I have seen some women just go as far as to just simply say. "No, anyone who is not type 4 needs to be completely removed from the natural hair community. The whole movement with natural hair was clearly for people with kinky afro textured hair. They keep trying to push us out and push themselves in. And there is malicious intent behind these girls with this so-called mixed hair. We want them out completely. This is good hair, the hair we all envy growing up. Ain't no way you going to tell me that these girls should be a part of a movement which black women are all trying to get over the fact that they don't have the good hair" And while I don't necessarily agree fully with that statement. I understand the sentiment. Because I saw some of these girls, plenty of these girls doing this crap. And you can't lie and say that obviously the statement that was said about it being for mainly women who had the typical kinky coily hair isn't true.

Kay W: My hair has always been my journey alone and I never looked to the “community” to tell me what to do. I’ve never “done my edges” and I have no desire to have hair to my neck. Been doing my own thing for about 20 years now.

Diane S: What’s interesting to me is that I have always wanted curly hair. Unfortunately I never knew it was buried under a relaxer. I didn’t even know there was such a movement until a coworker decided to “go natural”. She would wear twistouts and pinups mostly. I had been wanting to stop relaxing my hair for some time and finally did a big chop. Since I always had long hair that was quite shocking, nevertheless I pushed through doing finger coils and twists. One day I was rushing to get to work and woke up to flakes. I got in the shower and rinse my hair out. When I looked in the mirror I saw beautiful baby coily curls. I put noting on it and got dressed and went to work. I got a lot of compliments that day though once the water evaporated my hair was very dry. That was the day I realized I could wash and go. Since then that has been my go to style. I love my curly hair (that I always wanted) God had already provided it I just didn’t know it. I’m grateful the community was there to show me a few tips and tricks. It took me 5 years to get it right but I’m here now and am loving it.

livingdollgyaru: I miss the natural hair content we used to have when we were all trying different products, techniques, and styles. Despite all the negativity and rules it was fun to experiment

Most Of Miree: I’m so proud of you for uploading

Circe January: Without the natural hair community I would have continued straightening my hair everyday, use loads of silicones to cover the damage. Do Brazilian keratin treatment etc... Now I have learned to love and care for my hair but I feel that I have now overgrown the community and the push for more products and tools. Same with mlthe make up community.

Leshanna Bindah: I feel that the people that are divesting just went natural because of the trend of it all. If you really loved natural hair and cared about hair health and growth then why would you big chop and put on a wig when your hair didn't turn out like the trending pictures.

NaturallyLluvme: This mom of four girls with type 4 hair is forever grateful for the natural hair movement. It fills my heart every time I see a new natural hair youtuber. I am glad to see that the movement is here to stay. I am in my 11th year of loving my hair, and it is great to teach that love to my little ones by modeling it for them. Great video!

One Punch: I was categorized as someone with “good hair” (3b3c) and I was shamed by my family mostly my mother while I was learning to actually care for my natural hair. It was heat damaged, I didn’t have many products for it, and it was frizzy asl so it looked like a big Afro. It made me cry when she talked about my hair because I just wanted to have curly hair and she was putting me down. Fast forward now my mom stopped relaxing and doesn’t shame my hair. I hope my oldest sister can start to embrace her hair and grow it out.

Ruby Jackson: I'm a natural who was a product junkie up into 2019. I switched to hair grease and gel and my hair had grew so freaking fast. I packed up all that expensive junk and gave it away. I still love being natural.

Only1Adrienne: The natural hair community is not only for 4c hair. I don’t know who started that foolishness. I’m fully black but have 3c-4A coils. Why would I get upset at a women with 3a hair? Obviously that hair isn’t like mine so I wouldn’t watch her video. There’s no need to be upset when I can watch someone with my hair type for styling and growth tips. But for some black women to bash other black women because we all don’t have 4c hair is ridiculous. My little sister has 3b hair, she had no clue what to do with her hair post big chop. I told her to go to YouTube and search for her type. Why shouldn’t she be able to find other black women with that hair type?

Thai Sonkesak: Yeah dude, 2018 was such a fun year for curly & coily hair. It actually felt fun to do your hair discover new products, but I will say, there was definitely a takeover period that made me feel uneasy. We start to see the introduction of mixed women and white women getting BRAND SPONSORSHIPS. Enter the DevaCurl Era. Type 4 naturals were not getting these offers, and ultimately I blame us a people for not doing a better job at supporting Type 4 Men and Women content creators. I have type 3 hair, but I always remember watching women like, NappyFu, because of her charisma and passion for her hair. The natural hair movement, for me, was never about curl type; the natural hair movement was about seeing black people excited about their hair and showing young black kids how to accept themselves.

Cherrelle: I just removed my locs after five years before locking I was natural since 06. I just told my husband the game has changed soooo much

Ruriva: My aunt is a small part of the natural hair community, and she’s been part of it for as long as far back I can remember, so I’ve had a very positive example of wearing natural styles. Although she has similar genes to my mom and my other aunt the way my aunt managed to take care of her hair and style it let her grow out her hair super long and style it really beautifully. I realized that if I wanted to something similar was achievable, but she also told me how high maintenance it all was and helped me set reasonable expectations for the amount of time I was willing to give my hair.

DAPOETIVII: I definitely agree that the natural hair community got intense, especially if you took care of your hair in a way that wasn't popular. For example, I used to get a lot of backlash because I never used to deep condition my hair but my hair geniuely didn't need it. I think the fall of the natural hair community is what is resulting in the rise of locs. Most people are (including myself) are locing their hair because locs are lower maintenance and they give you a certain control over your hair that most black women have never experienced. One thing that has always bothered me, even when I was a loose natural, is the lack of space women with locs have in the natural hair community. There has always been a lack of representation as well as a lack of resources (i.e. products catered to locs created by popular natural hair brands).

HanscuitOmega: I am 22 years old and i have been literally doing my hair myself since I was 7 years old lmao. This natural hair community mess is TOO MUCH chile! I keep it REAL simple and have been keeping it simple for YEARS! These expensive ass products don't help your hair, the simpler the hair regimen the less you are in your hair breaking it off and hurting it! Less is More <3 <3

Naker Oats: me and my mama have 4c hair, and we had more damage from following this womans advice, turns out she lied about hr texture! We quit right then and went back to taking grandmama advice, the woman who were growing our hair before youtube

Genie Love: Be natural and mind your business. Been natural since 2012 and I never followed trends or weird influencers✌

Jasmine Dillard: I just am tired of girls with 4b hair judging others with natural hair that's 3C to 4B and then pretending that they love their hair so much but covering it 10 months out the year with weaves and wigs just to call others nappy headed. It gets annoying when I see someone with a beautiful afro get judged and told off by those who have thick 4c hair get silky straight microlinks or 3B curls fused and taped onto there hair.

Charcy Marie: I’ll never forget when my mom discovered the natural hair movement. I have 3C high porosity hair and she was trying to moisturize my hair like it was 4C low porosity. It looked terrible and felt oily and stringy every time she did it. Eventually I discovered I didn’t need NEARLY as much product as she was using

Neci newton: I started my journey in 2010. I learned to appreciate the journey, to laugh at old pics, and understand the difference between convenience and insecurity. No lie, I got high while I was on vacation one day, and took my weave out because I felt like I wasn't my complete self.....I love my natural hair. It's not loosely curled and it is NOT FUN detangling it in its shrunken state. However, it's mine. I still love the versatility of using weaves and braids and twist-outs to get a "new look" Most importantly, over these last 10+ years, I learned the difference in "hiding" behind weaves and genuinely loving the hair I was born with.

Mayousse: I remember being at the Kim Coles natural hair meetup, Taryn,s natural hair meetup (where quite a few were turned away as it got too crowded. Some came from other countries & cities. They were not happy), & a plethora of others. Those were great times. However, that hairstylist invinted the curl pattern system & threw everyone off. People were dissapointed when their hair grew back, it was coily. Others let colorism & jealousy take over. Soon even the meetups went downhill. In reality, EVERYONE has good hair, & were the only ones on the planet with coily. I walked away from the hair community a long time ago due to all the commotion. I also don't need to buy a million things now that I know I'm low porosity fine hair (most important hair info for me). Us coily hair folks have a natural crown that can't be denied. I love my crown & I hope you have a healthy happy crown. ♥️

Alesia R: I wore locs for a decade before coming to YouTube after taking my locs out around 2019 to research some natural hairstyles and products and I swear coconut oil and cantu were the holy grail that everyone was pushing. I tried them both and hated them both lol . I couldn’t do a twist out to save my life. I found wash and go’s and that worked for me. Mielle organics worked for me then people canceled Mielle and canceled all these other products and I’m like if it works for me I’m not canceling sh*t and the Kinky Curly hype was bogus AF! Spending $20 on an 8oz jar that did absolutely nothing for me. I stopped listening to the “community” because they all became “influencers” Do what works for you has always been my motto and will always be my motto.

PoetiX: Natural hair is beautiful and you just have to do what’s best for you. Our hair textures are different. So other people shouldn’t to tell you what to do with your hair

insertyourquarters: It wasn't perfect but the natural hair movement/community came at a serendipitous time for me. Not knowing how to style my hair or even how to take care of it was a big deal for me. It changed my life for the better confidence wise and transitioning from a clueless teen to a empowered 20 something. I'm loc'd now but wouldn't change the period of experimenting, documenting and feeling a part of some bigger movement with natural curls. It was exciting and the best of times.

Butter Bean: I remember my mom wanting to go natural, after giving me flack for my hair being “too short”. But by then it grew out. I remember her asking me for product names and getting mad when I couldn’t tell her “how to get curly wavy soft baby hair”—yes she says this verbatim. I had only been natural for one year and ig that wasn’t exactly the goal for me. I just wanted to take care of it without having to damage it using a flat iron over and over or using perms. I couldn’t answer it so she asked it over and over to the point where she yelled it‍️

J B: Now texturism is leeching it’s way into the loc community and it makes me so sad. To have locs become commercialized, curly ends being sought after and seeing looser texture persons with locs being propped up in the community just makes me shake my head. I locd for hair freedom and ease and move away from the issues of the natural hair community.

Danielle Mahone: I also can’t stand how the “experts” are saying that hair types (3a, 4c, etc) and porosity doesn’t even matter That’s one of the main things that has helped me not waste money on products I can be sure won’t work for me!

Ladhi Stokes: I feel like it started out with good intentions and it really did inspire alot of us to embrace our natural hair. I have a looser curl pattern(3b-3c hair) and even I was discouraged by people within the community. Even with relaxed hair, grease and oil were hoily grails and then being told that they were bad for me. Not to mention the buttload of products that were supposed to work wonders were never available where I lived(Uganda), not to mention the constant back and forth between what was right and wrong. So I eventually just did my own thing and I'm happy, my hair is healthy and I don't have to spend so much time and money on it. The movement should really just be a place where advice and support are given, it's not a one size fits all kind of thing. I really liked the video

Demetria Johnson-Hambrick: I went natural in 2007 and things were simpler. Women were just embracing their natural hair, and it wasn't till about 2012/13 that I saw a change. I remember having to order products and couldn't find what I needed in any store. Some products (simple products) that I used from the beginning is still my go to,,...except cantu LMBOOOO

K C: I have had my hair all of my life. I was one of the OGs on the hair boards back in the early, early 2000s before all of the natural hair care products came about. And that was my 2nd time going natural. I went natural for the first time in my early adult life in 1992(!) when no one was doing it. I have always taken any hair care advice from online hair "gurus" with a grain of salt. After all, 98% of them are not licensed cosmetologists. I NEVER used Cantu in my hair. The ingredients have always been trash. I would have to see a girl on YT with hair extremely similar to mine using a product successfully before deciding to purchase. Never fell for trends. I listened to MY hair and gave it what it asked. My hair has always thrived because of that.

Top Self: It’s a serious time commitment to maintain 4c natural hair on a daily basis. That’s why protective styles are the go-to.

docteddy44: I remember being in the highschool in the breakfast line seeing a girl with curly hair and i wanted to touch it. She said no. I did'nt touch it. I was amazed that she could wear her hair like that she was a 4a. My hair was permed short and breaking off since I could not do it on a consistant basis. I did not even know how to take care of it. Sometime later I chopped off my hair with scissors my mum was so mad I got a beating for cutting it off. I hated having a perm, I felt uglier with straight hair my mum made me get it at the time after I spent a year growing out a texturizer. What the community did for me when having 4c hair made my mum open her eyes. My hair was just fine.

Fereal: A friend told me to document my hair journey and I said "Nah, I'm natural, but I'm a lazy wash-and-go girl. I have absolutely nothing to add to the conversation. I'll be dragged in the comments for disrespecting my hair" Now looking back on it, I'm really glad I didn't add my voice. Although nobody liked my hair when I transitioned and it was a healing thing for me having to accept myself when even my mom told me "I looked unkept", my coils are a bit on the loose side. I realize that even though I eventually influenced many of my family members to go natural, they all had hair textures very similar to mine. We can only talk about what we know. I remember when my cousin asked me "So what is our hair type exactly?"... She asked me cause I've been natural for 10+years and I was like "Girl, I don't know the numbers?"... But I'll say this, any community has the potential for toxicity. Safe rule is... Don't tell people what to do with their hair. Ever. Compliment them or shut up! If it's not growing from you, your comment doesn't matter.

Maryam•EMProductions 𓂀: I think social media and YouTube caused me to have a slightly unhealthy obsession with my hair. First I started with just wanting to manage and grow out my natural hair since high school, then I wanted braids then I wanted it to be waist length, then I wanted locs, I was literally being influenced I was about to cut it all off and go with a TWA but I think I am just overwhelmed with the amount of natural hair/curly hair content I’ve been consuming. I just need to accept my hair and realize it’s just hair. I started a hair page but tbh it’s kind of tiring trying to find what attracts followers and it’s difficult keeping up with trends.

Kyleen Carter: Them nazis had me completely apprehensive about my own damn flat irons! I swear, I love my fro when it’s fro time. But I also love straightened styles; I wear them equally as often as each other. It’s hard to stay nice about it when so many naturalistas hate to see a heat style and say it to your face…

Caroline A: More videos like this will steer our natural hair journey back to the right direction. People shouldn’t quit, we should speak up and take back the narrative! The next generation should have it better! I did my first big chop in 2015 and I just had my fourth big chop in February this year, just because I am still struggling to accept my 4C hair and learning to take care of it, but I am not giving up, for my daughter’s, my nieces and every little girl that gets inspired seeing me with my natural hair sake, I won’t give up (let’s not even remember my history of relaxer burns )! I have a tapered TWA Afro now and I wear it with pride ! And also, what I learnt recently is that knowing my porosity is more important than hair type when it comes to caring for my hair, which oils, butters and products to use, life changing knowledge for me after all these years ‍♀️but still, we move

Marlana Wright: I liked your perspective and honesty in this video! I think that one of the deepest issues of the natural hair movement is that it exposed a lot of our traumas and negative mindsets that we had not really dealt with until the movement. Some people went natural and were deeply disappointed in their texture. Those of us who have tighter textures faced the fact that we had been told for so long (directly and indirectly) that our hair texture is not beautiful...that somehow we are less fortunate and less beautiful than what the world considers beautiful. The natural hair movement has gotten out of hand to me because what should have been a safe space for us to experiment and encourage, turned into a place of bitterness and anger. And I think it stems from a place of not knowing how to really deal with the trauma of being made to believe that tighter textures are not beautiful. That is what the world told us and tells us and has modeled to us since forever! I think the natural hair community is for every woman of color with whatever texture of hair they have. Unfortunately, I have seen videos where women with kinky textures are ranting about people with looser textures. I feel that we all have a responsibility to deal with our own personal hair traumas and not project our insecurities onto other women. In reality, we don't know another person's story. And I am guilty of it too! I had been hearing my whole life that my hair is bad because it's kinky... and sometimes I make the comments like "girl you're so lucky cause your hair is looser" or "Whatever, she don't have to work as hard cause she has good hair". So, our community consists of a lot of people with unchecked traumas, jealousy and bitterness because of feeling not good enough, which sucks cause as humans, we want to feel valued. But how can we when a major part of who we are is rejected. It's a mess. We have to do the work and stay in our lane, but sadly some people will continue to speak out of their trauma, jealousy and bitterness...therefore making the natural hair community yet another space for people of color to tear each other down.

LYRICXL MXCHI: There's alot of unpack here when it comes to the community, and it's the reasons why I'm not part of the community anymore. I have natural hair, but im over the community itself. 1. You're right about the natural hair police. They are one of the most nosy people I probably have ever seen online. They shit on people who do their edges, who wear wigs or crochet, who want to do relaxers again, who have short hair, who doesn't care about length, who doesn't use "natural" products, who doesnt follow their advice, etc., etc. and it gets so annoying to where people just doesn't want to be associated with that behavior. 2. This whole talk about no oils and no butter or even no grease is just insane, along with preaching that wash says should be short. I feel like the community doesn't understand AT ALL is that "just because it works FOR YOU doesn't mean that it works for other people" and it's like they force feed and shove down peoples throats like people HAVE to follow their advices and no exceptions. 3. I think the community's prerogative is being told what to do and follow it and we can't learn our hair ourselves. God, if I were to say what my wash day or hair routine looks like, the natural hair police will come out of the wedlocks and probably ask for my natural hair card lol. Basically be a sheep is what they want. 4. I feel like, and this happens all the time, like the body positivity movement. Lighter women would be put on the pedestal of a community that was made for black women specifically. Idk how it happened, honestly. In the body positivity movement, it was created by fat, queer, black women, along with fat white women as well. Then it got changed to where skinny white women (with a pooch) is in the forefront when they were never denied Healthcare, housing, jobs, treatment from doctors, etc. for having the body that they have. They thought have a pooch means body positivity when it's like bruh, you body is already accepted by society, so its like....why spread the hashing when your body wasn't oppressed in the first place? Not to say that body image issues is invalid, though, but, as society see it, youre technicaly okay. Same with the natural hair community. 4c hair wasn't accepted by society and was deemed unprofessional, unclean, and unkempt. People with looser curls are, so the fact that they were put in the forefront as if they were rejected to wear their hair in workplaces, schools, etc. Is just crazy. Not to say they didn't struggle with their hair, cuz everyone does, but they weren't rejected by anything by society, like 4c hair or people with locs have. There's so much but the comment is already too long. Basically, I think many people are over the toxic behavior of the natural hair community and would rather do what's best for their hair instead of following other people, like me. Exploring, learning, and experimenting about our hair, for me, is rewarding and no one can take it away from you. It's kinda sad, in a way, but...I feel like maybe the downfall needed to happen.

healingv1sion: When i had permed damaged short hair, nobody said anything; then i started growing it out and heat training and never had a perm again, thats when all the drama started; the hair (obviously) started thriving and growing and my family went crazy, my sisters started getting jealous; women in the streets demanding weave checks; men literally saying to my face that my hair made their d hard i had a man threaten to decapitate me and scalp my hair off and put it on his head like STRANGERS!!! My point is the community is taking this hair stuff way too seriously; its like the moment a movement starts in the black comm, it just gets out of hand.