by
Chinwe
By Chinwe of Hair and Health
MahoganyCurls, Hair Crush and Naptural85 are some of the more popular YouTubers out there with beautiful, long natural hair. Go to almost any hair care blog or forum, and it will be a difficult task to find one person who has not heard of these beauties. Also, if you frequent YouTube like me, then you are probably subscribed to all three.
Today, however, I want to introduce you to a few relatively less known naturals who are worth viewing. Maybe you can add them to your watch list …
1. xoDVF
When I posted the above photo in one of my previous articles, a lot of readers wanted to know the name of the lady in the picture. Many were admiring her hair but had never before heard of her. (I’ve been subscribed to her for quite a while.)
… Well, for those who still do not know, she goes by xoDVF on YouTube. Her channel is a great mix of holistic health (e.g., food recipes), enlightening discussions (especially in the area of culture), and hairstyle tutorials. Here is one of her discussion videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8STG55WN-0
2. Kitty51181
Kitty51181 is another natural you probably do not hear much about … if you have heard of her at all. Her channel is a chock-full of hair care information ranging from style tutorials to maintenance tips. She even has a couple of videos on “How to Grow Natural Hair LONG, STRONG, & HEALTHY (8 Tips)”. Check out the first part below:
3. Cassandre
Now some of you may say, “Wait a minute. I recognize her.” If so, it is because she has been featured on this very blog. So why am I including her on this list? Well, outside of Cassandre’s feature on BGLH, I have not heard much about her and you might not have either. For a beautiful head of long natural hair who shares great hair care advice backed by years of experience, she should have more views, in my honest opinion. Check out one of her hair care videos below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jDSJKZUCuk
4. Naturally High
Though it has been about a month since her last video, I am hoping she continues to release more in the future. Nevertheless, she is worth checking out … especially for you naturals with 4B/4C hair who are in need of growth inspiration. (If you just want to drool over her hair, that is another incentive to watch her.) Naturally High shares hair care tips and her natural hair experiences on her channel. Here is one video in which she discusses what I would call a natural hair experience you would never want to encounter:
Have you subscribed to any of these ladies?
65 Responses
Thanks for telling us about these ladies. I don’t just look at hair porn to lust after long hair but I prefer to see hair that looks like mine and showcases styles that are achievable. So while I think Mahoganycurls hair is enviable, I don’t bother watching her channel. My 4a hair is never going to look like that.
xvof thats is not her real hair is a waeve
what a desapoint
Just because you don’t see her scalp doesn’t mean it’s fake she do where wigs sometime s that s her protective style that’s how she able to retain that length I don’t part my either
Perhaps this will change your mind
xoDVF has fake hair. She needs to quit.
Yes she does! She makes sure not to get to close to her head in her videos and NEVER parts her hair to her scalp on her videos… It’s a shame how she pretends
Exactly.
And that’s really disgusting.
Nice article, however you guys overlooked African Export on youtube. She has over 900 videos on hair, make-up, thrift store finds, and various other ideas. Please check her out and add her to your favorites. Many of her suggestions have worked wonders for my hair. Plus, ol’ gurl can rock a wig like nobody’s business.
Any fine haired naturals that have long hair? My problem is that my individual strands are so fragile in that they are thin, break and knot up easily….Not the 4B/C texture of my hair, but the low tensile strength COMBINED with the tendency to knot up.
I’m a fine-haired natural approaching APL, and I’ve given up on finding a YouTube guru that fits me. Yeah, their styles look cute, but if I did that to my hair, I would find entirely too much of it on the floor!
I know that Cipriana of Urban Bush Babes is a fine haired natural, though she always wears her hair in loose twists… If you go to her sight though, she usually features other naturals with hair thickness like hers.
If you have fine hair you need to use products that make your hair thicker and provide more slip. A good option for you is the Ayurveda powders or Herbal Ayurveda Oils (especially Henna). Try http://www.KeraVada.com or AfroVeda.com
CoilyByNature.com
I like Nalia at: https://www.youtube.com/user/nalia1908.
She is a 4C, fine-haired natural with long hair (MBL, I think?). HTH! :o)
AHHH Chinwe, I love this YouTuber! I’m normally turned off by big long intros, excessive vamping, and 10+ minute long videos…Nalia doesn’t have any of that on her channel, and her tutorials get down to business. Thank you so much for the recommendation 😀
You should try the stop break shampoo from Nutress Hair (www.nutresshair.com). It’s sulfate free, great at detangling, and repairs damaged hair. Also, the instant conditioner they offer will be good for your fine hair too. Enjoy!!
Yes! My hair is dense, fine, kinky and knotty… This is why I no longer use a comb.
Fine haired lades get no love 🙁
I personally prefer watching You Tube videos of naturals with hair length closer to mine with the same texture..eg Iknowlee…I just have nothing in common with long hair naturals other then the fact we both have UNrelaxed hair!!
S/N…those You Tubers with huge followers dont interact, reply to any comments or question to their videos which is a huge turn off.
I lvoe this site but i feel like us loced girls tend to get over looked. But here are two naural loced girls with long hair too and amazing hair care tips that apply to ever hair type
Chescalocs–even has a great comedy channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/chescalocs
Jasmine rose
http://www.youtube.com/user/JazzyTe007
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2.jpg[/img]
I will check them out ASAP
I too found XoDVF in the last few months – beautiful hair, beautiful face, great insight. However, I was recently put off by her use of the word “akata” in one of her videos, and her desire not to be confused for one. Per Luvvie’s blog I read its a derogatory term used to describe black Americans as wild animals. While I love a massive ‘fro, I also must take a deeper look at what lies beneath.
That’s surprising… I’m subscribed to her channel and I’ve never heard her espouse anything negative. In fact, she’s mentioned many times that she is from Sierra Leone and has talked about the history of her country (in so much as it was settled by slaves). I’ve always regarded her as firmly pan-african and super-inclusive. Can you link to the video… have to see it to believe that.
Check out her video titled “who’s your fav african youtuber?” Not sure if this link will work but here it goes: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oYRWUMT6xtY
I didn’t want to respond, but I thought I should (since I’m Nigerian American):
I’m going to venture to say that she does not know the whole meaning behind the word, especially since she pronounced it super incorrectly. (My understanding is that it is a Yoruba word – Yoruba is one of many languages in Nigeria.)
That being said, the word “akata” can range from harmless to derogatory depending on who is using it and how. (The best English equivalent I can think of is “biatches” – I purposely spelled that wrong – or “nigga”.)
Anyway, even though I’m technically Nigerian, I’ve been called “akata” by Nigerian relatives. From them, it was more to distinguish that I am not a native Nigerian … that I am more so American. Additionally, you may hear one of these young African guys say, “Akata women are beautiful.” Again, they are just distinguishing between African American women and African women.
That being said, I want to believe that she was using it to describe those who are black who are not aware of the African culture. (Another use of the word.) She didn’t want to appear as someone who did not identify as being African or was not aware of African culture. Even in her follow-up video, she speaks positively of African Americans and others in the African diaspora who identify as being African. She appears to be all about uniting us all.
This all being said, I went to Luvvie’s blog (oddly enough, we went to the same high school, but I digress) and found this comment to resonate with my feelings on the word as someone who is both African (Nigerian) and American.
“I find myself very stuck in the middle during the “akata” conversation. On one hand it’s a word that is the result of African privilege and ignorance about the history of blacks in america, but on the other I also recognize that word as something my “fob” aunties and uncles would use to refer to my siblings and I even though neither they nor my parents taught us much about nigerian history (first time hearing about biafran war was from your twitter discussion yesterday) or bothered to teach us native languages.”
It is almost analogous to the way some people find themselves stuck in the “nigga” debate. (I can’t stand the use of the word “nigga”, whether as a “term of endearment” or not; that’s a whole other topic though.)
thanks for the explanation!
its Igbo not Yoruba….
I can understand your confusion, but I would caution against assuming that the word you heard in the video is the same “akata” word you’ve seen floating around the ‘net. I’m Nigerian (Igbo) also and some of the definitions I’ve seen attributed to the word akata are very different from the ones I know. Also, her pronunciation was nothing like the word I know, so it’s entirely plausible that it is a different word altogether with different intonation and different etymology. So to the extent that people/ languages/ cultures have different understandings of it, I wouldn’t suggest relying on one definition that you’ve seen in the blogshpere.
Thanks for the heads up. I guess I will wait to hear from her about her perspective on akata. If no explanation is offered, I understand that too, but will keep my views limited to other sites and recommend that others do the same. ‘African privilege’ (or ANY other type of privilege, for that matter) should never come at the expense of another group (ANY group).
@naturallyhairobsessed
thank you for this. i saw that video too where she said something about akata and if you don’t know what that is or weren’t paying attention, you would have missed her saying that. she said it so quickly.
it was said in the context of her wanting to connect with other african youtubers and i think get more cultural not become an “akata”.
i’m glad i wasn’t the only person who caught that.
black americans shouldn’t promote africans who espouse this crap. i wish her face and info could be removed from this posting.
I feel very honoured to have been featured in this article. Many thanks! I shall try to upload more frequently and produce more succinct videos.
kikicouture10 also has great and informative videos on YT.
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/kikicouture10.png[/img]
ppl like Nap85 and Mahoganycurls were also some of the early hair youtubers, when it was easier to get fans on the subject. Now, its not so special if you’re a newer youtuber because many of us have already learned what you’re teaching from someone else. If you’re lucky we’ll watch some of your videos for the hair porn only.
What I’ve noticed ppl doing to survive now is what ShamelessMaya does(and now Mahoganycurls and others). They’re more than just hair, thyey’re life. Life advice, health tips, makeup tips(makeup has always been far more popular than hair, check out the # of subs a makeup youtuber has…eye popping!). Hair youtubers are adapting their focus and becoming much more well rounded to stay relevant. Anyone newer needs to be smart enough to see that and adapt.
Thank you so much for including me on this fantastic list!
The kinkier the less popular they are
Nah not always. I love my fellow 4Cs but a lot of YT 4Cs lack the kind of presentation that Cacey was talking about above. I’ve switched off many 4c videos for bad lighting, rambling, poor sound quality, taking an age to get to the hair demonstration etc etc.
I will also add that although I don’t watch the popular looser haired naturals, again it is 4Cs who get called out for predominantly supporting these girls before someone like Jouelzy, just saying….
I’m subscribed to all of these lovely ladies and I like their content.
Hello!
I’m thrilled to hear you’re a subscriber! 🙂
XoDVF hair is fake. She needs to stop lying – it’s disgusting and classless.
I actually like her hair. Videos are ok too although I ‘ve seen two on yt? Not the first time I heard that comment. How do you know it’s fake? I can’t tell.
People are saying her hair is fake because you can’t see her scalp.
I have a dream.
That one day black women can walk around with long hair without being “weave checked”, interrogated forced to “show us you scalp or it ain’t real”. And several other nonsense.
Someone said it best in her comment section, with her hair type and it’s thickness you can’t see scalp anyway, she doesn’t do neat parts either. My hair is not that full and I parted it once and I just saw a thin line imagine hair that actually thick?
It’s not about me needing to change mind set. They are lots of other dark skin women with long hair that I don’t question but her hair is fake. Trust me I know, I know her and her family very very well. It’s nothing to do with her skin color and having that length. She goes to great length to hide the truth. I too have a dream, a dream where black women will love their own natural hair no matter the length, one where black women wouldn’t add weave and extensions to their hair and lie about it being their natural hair.
She’s already been exposed on a popular site and it has ZERO to do with her being dark, GMFAB. Let’s use some common sense here, who the hell shoots videos with the top of their head cut off? I mean really???? Lol. How are you going to do a tutorial on a twist out with almost half of your head out of the frame and with no scalp showing?
There are plenty dark skinned women with type 4 lovely hair this fraud is simply not one of them.
I’m confused. What gives it away as being fake? Is it because you’ve convinced yourself that someone who looks like her and has her texture can’t have hair that long?
hey im not a negative person or anything but I also kinda feel her is fake or something isn’t right because even when she shows the the product she uses she doesn’t really go in her hair and show like a step by step process of what exactly she does to her hair idk I just feel something is not right there
I think it has more to do with you than her. She does not have to prove to you that her hair is real. Do you walk up to any Indian, Spanish woman and say “Something is not right. Your hair is long, but something about the way you pack your hair makes me suspicious that your hair is not real.” Change your mindset. We see what we want to see. Clearly you want to see her hair is fake to prove your underlying notion that black women cannot grow hair.
I found this comment to be much funnier than it should be. I totally wouldn’t be surprised at all of someone did a bunch of videos with fake hair.
I did read an old comment on one of her vids that said she walks around her town with her real hair but puts on the wig for videos. No way to prove if there’s any truth to this.
Many thanks for the feature, friends. Love and light ;))
You forgot to include Chime Edwards on your list aka HairCrush on youtube. She also has a website: chimeedwards.com. She started out and gained popularity on fotki and transitioned to youtube.
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hair-crush.png[/img]
She’s in the first sentence. Lol!
one thing i love about chinwe is that she defies hair typing. Hair typing is so inadequate in knowing what our hair wants. From my own experience anyways. It’s like this kind of hair does this and that, but what if your hair does its own thing completely
@cacey I completely understand what you mean. I’ve tried watching xoDVF’s channel before but….
Is the last girl loced? To be honest, I have been concentrating on my own hair a lot more especially in the brutal winter. I no longer feel that it is productive for me to look at girls who have completely different hair or extremely long hair. Although I may think their hair looks great, I really try not to dwell on girls whose length is much longer than mine. Previously when I would watch these kind of girls, I would be wishing for the time when my hair reached that length. Now I’m concentrating on my actual hair and I feel positive about where this will take me by summer. I’m also saying I can about twist outs and other styles I would previously not have done so roll on summer 14!
No, she’s not loced. :o)
I’m with you “horton hears a (i’m guessing a who?)” about learning about your own hair.
I must say I agree. I do love looking at what other girls have achieved but I try and look for girls with the same hair length to try styles fir shorter hair. I do like seeing their earlier posts whilst on their journey too
I have heard of all of these. (Hard to believe that I am in the know.) So glad that you included Kitty51181, though. She is such a very sweet person. I hope many subscribe — I’ve been subbed for a while — she’s a really inspiration!
I haven’t heard about any of them I will check them out ASAP 🙂
wow i feel ashamed. i’ve never heard of any of them. and although this is not a criticism, it’s an observation of mine that the ones who carry numbers in their name or juxtaposition of lowercase and capitalized letters tend to attract the least amount of viewers. Idk why this should be, but i know it is easier to remember someone if they have at least a word in their name that’s “coherent”, if that makes sense (not saying these ladies fall into this criteria, but we can’t deny it’s easier to remember AfroCandy865 as opposed to N3d789fyi, for example. it boils down to marketing, when you think about it, just like the ones whose viewership is highest tends to be those who’ve made clear-cut videos with good lighting, in contrast with those whose videos are grainy, unedited and so dark you can’t see what they’re doing with their hair.). still in all, i will be checking them out. thanks for this!
Thank you for your constructive criticism; I too have noticed that trend and I will try to take your comments on board. My problem is that while I love making videos, I often feel my hair is not in a good enough state to be recorded. That, along with my university schedule result in my infrequent uploads. However, I would love to improve the quality and content of my videos and this article has inspired me to do just that.
Charisma goes a long way too as well as one’s ability to be personal to an anonymous audience. Many yt videos fail because they lack these 2 key features.
I am subscribed to xoDVF and Cassandre. I am going to check out the other ladies 🙂
me too. These ladies are well known by me.
Oh yeah! I’ve recently discovered Naturally High myself. Great bids! I will definitely be checking out these other ladies!
So glad to hear you’re a subscriber! Much love! This post has inspired me to put more videos out there…