Social Media – Can it help improve your hair?

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a healthy head of kinky-coily hair. This is why it’s a journey—living with your naturally-textured hair (or your child’s) can feel so right one day, and wicked frustrating the next. When I scroll social media, I see so many looking for product recommendations to help them manage, detangle, moisturize….oh if they just had the right product everything would be alright.

Many times, these pleas for help come when the writer is at wit’s end and desperate. Then the responses ensue. Many social media recommendations can be polar opposites of each other—not enough oil, don’t use oil. Use this or that product, don’t use this or that product. It’s no wonder that seeking out advice in this way can be confusing at best and damaging for your hair at its worst.

So, what is an inquisitive Naturalista to do? Here are my thoughts about how social media can improve your experience or create disappointment.

Facebook Groups

There is a myriad of groups on Facebook that cater to the natural hair-inclined community. Some of them are businesses that have their own products. What to watch out for:

• If the site is selling a product, be skeptical about posts that are purposefully promoting it. Some posts are created as a question, so that the question can be answered by promoting the product.
• If you are searching through posts to solve a hair problem, don’t look for a product as your first solution. The key is to go back to the fundamentals of hair care as a first step. You wouldn’t paint a room without prepping the walls first, right? Applying a product on hair that is not in good condition will not help your situation or solve your problem.
• Caring for kinky-coily hair oftentimes is fraught with emotion. My black sisters and brothers have lived with this part of us that has been maligned our entire lives. It has been a source of discrimination, ridicule, and hate in many different forms. Keep this in mind as you pose your question in a public forum about how to care for our hair type. These societal sensitivities can rear their ugly head through negative, condescending, or judgmental responses. Your inquiry being an innocent question, notwithstanding.

All this said, Facebook groups have their place and value:

• Many groups provide a like-minded community that can be a tremendous source of camaraderie and support.
• It’s a great way to document your progress with photos and feel good about your natural hair lifestyle.
• You can develop relationships with others and have a forum to laugh (and cry) about your successes and failures. Because there is no natural hair journey without both.

YouTube

YouTube was literally my saving grace when I went natural. I stumbled upon a few influencers and binge-watched my way through my transition and beyond. But I have learned a few things about this platform as a learning tool, so if you are choosing this route as well, here are some tips:

• Look for influencers that match your hair’s coil size and density. You want to find influencers that have hair that resembles yours, so that you have a good starting point for products and styles. It’s no guarantee you will have the same success with those products, but you’ll probably have better luck.
• Look for channels that feature hair that is the same length as yours. The obvious reason is you want to be able to learn styles you can apply to your own hair. The not-so-obvious reason is this—if you follow someone that has what you desire (like longer hair for example), this can work against your capacity for patience and appreciation for where you currently are with your hair.
• YouTubers are often paid to promote certain hair care product lines. So be skeptical and do your homework on promoted products elsewhere before you buy.
• Remember that many YouTube videos and Reels are done with filters that can make the influencer’s hair look pretty damn perfect. Try not to compare yourself with these images. It’s not a fair fight and it’s not reality.
• The proliferation of natural hair videos is tremendous, and you can basically find any video to promote any point of view. Keep an open mind, and be cautious about opinions from just one person.

Social media resources have a place, no doubt. But the most important thing you can do is develop your ability to care for your own hair, based on your healthy haircare habits, eating right, getting physically active, and treating your tresses with love and kindness. Another important element is understanding what your hair is telling you. If it’s not happy or not performing like it used to, get curious as to what may be causing this. Chances are it is not the product, but a misstep in your maintenance.

Natural Hair Coaching

Coaching can help you save a lot of time and wrong turns. Through working with me, I can teach you how to decode what your hair is telling you it needs. Armed with this invaluable knowledge, you can avoid spending countless hours trolling for tips, and dollars on products you don’t need. I can teach you how to find what is right for YOU and your lifestyle.

There is no holy grail product, my sisters and brothers. I dare say that hair products can be overstated and are often overrated. If your hair is healthy underneath, the right product will simply accentuate what is already there.