While women of color have always rocked their curly, coiled, or kinky hair, now is a great time to be natural. Whether done to make a political statement or out of pure curiosity about one’s hair texture, more women have chosen to forgo the chemicals and wear their hair au natural. The number of Black women that have decided to do away with chemical straighteners jumped to 36% in 2011, according to market research firm Mintel. Â But with the transition came an honest need to re-discover how to care for their natural hair.
Enter the hundreds of natural hair bloggers across the web. This tribe of loyal content producers has provided their fellow naturalistas with innumerable posts on products, styling tips and tress-jooging tools, to name a few essentials. (Raise your hand if you’ve perfected your rod set thanks to your favorite natural blogger/vlogger? I’m including myself in the count.) The natural hair movement has expanded in part due to the digital space and the communities formed online. Those online communities have ignited meetups and hair events that have spanned the globe.
Last weekend, Brock Beauty Inc.’s Hairfinity held a natural hair care event that brought thousands of stylists, bloggers and curlistas to SIR Stage 37 in New York City. Created by Candace Kelley, the expo’s workshops, vendors and networking opportunities made the event the place to be for East Coast hair enthusiasts. Let Your Hair Down Expo participants included actress and comedienne Kim Coles, Jessica Andrews of The Glamazons Blog, Julee Wilson, style and beauty editor at The HuffingtonPost, and Black Blogger Month awardee Ty Alexander of Gorgeous in Grey.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with LYHD expo hosts Jenell Stewart of KinkyCurlyCoilyMe! and Black Blogger Month awardee and LoveBrownSugar founder Christina Brown on standing out in the blogosphere, supporting the natural hair movement and how they’ve grown their audience.