Meet the “real world” celebrities of the curly community blogosphere. These Texture influencers are recognized as experts and impact readers’ lives and opinions on what’s hot, what's not, what works and what’s next.
Gina HAIRSPIRATION (UK)
hairspiration.blogspot.com
Gina of Hairspiration has been blogging since 2008. She blogs about natural hair, beauty and lifestyle. She is an advocate of green brands and small business and is currently in the process of “cleaning up” her makeup bag. Gina has been featured on numerous websites, including Essence.com, Ebony.com, Fashion Bomb Daily, Style Pantry, BGLH and Ebony Glam, as well as in Pride, Marie Claire, Grazia, Jones and Blackhair. Based in the UK, Gina has a background in fine arts and has spent the past nine years working at Aveda and other high-end hair salons, where she has gained useful knowledge in hair care, beauty and trends. By day, Gina is currently working as a freelance PR consultant and sometimes columnist.
Sarah WATERLILY716
youtube.com/user/waterlily716
Sarah started her channel to provide education about curly hair basics and to help others learn how to care for and love their natural curls. A-soon-to-be teacher and self-proclaimed hair junkie, Sarah realized several years ago that there weren’t a lot of girls with her looser-curl hair type making videos or sharing advice. From that concept, her channel evolved into what it is today.
Jessica Lewis MAHOGANYCURLS
Jessica started vlogging on YouTube in March 2009, sharing her natural hair journey with women around the world in hopes of inspiring them to love and embrace their hair. Jessica has been featured on LA Talk Live radio, CurlyNikki.com, NaturallyCurly.com and many other social media platforms and is currently a natural hair blogger for Essence.com. Over the years, Jessica has drawn the attention of many women worldwide.
Shanti and Antoinette AROUND THE WAY CURLS
aroundthewaycurls.com
Shanti and Atoinette are the best-friend duo behind Around the Way Curls. The two created a community for women to connect, encourage and inspire one another. Around the Way Curls is an online publication that infuses pop culture and issues of women’s interest with an emphasis on the beauty, originality and spirit of naturally kinky, curly hair. With hair as the catalyst, Shanti and Antoinette work to redefine beauty and to recondition women not only to embrace their natural state of being but to value their individual uniqueness and overall worth.
Francheska HEYFRANHEY
heyfranhey.com
Francheska of HeyFranHey started her Tumblr after being diagnosed with a health condition. It was her journey to become a healthier person inside and out that propelled her to speak about beauty from a holistic approach. After healing her body through nutrition, fitness and natural/organic products, she wanted to share her knowledge with those willing to listen. In addition to making her posts relatable and easy to incorporate in everyday life, Francheska attributes her success to speaking from an honest place and solving a problem. Her advice for people interested in YouTubing is to find out what’s missing in the marketplace and determining: how you can contribute to that open space.
Nora SHALIMARCAT
youtube.com/user/shalimarcat
A medical student and model with a passion for beauty, fitness and health, Nora of Shalimarcat made the decision to embrace her natural texture six years ago after two years of relaxing, blow drying and straightening. Nora was inspired to create her first video when she entered a giveaway on Naptural85’s channel, at the time her favorite YouTuber. Filming was so much fun that she thought, why not create her own channel for wavy hair? At the time, the majority of the channels were geared toward women with tighter texture patterns.
Jenell Stewart KINKYCURLYCOILYME
kinkycurlycoilyme.com
After a big chopping in March 2010, Jenell Stewart of KinkyCurlyCoilyMe decided to embrace her natural hair. With no friends or family members who were natural, Stewart found joy in blogging about her journey and created KinkyCurlyCoilyMe as a way to track her progress and share it with others. The actual name of the website is a derivative of the textures that appear in her own hair. Within the first two years of blogging, Jenell transitioned her blog into a natural haircare site for women in need of hair education and support. Stewart has been featured in Essence and on BlackEnterprise.com, VibeVixen.com, SoloDovePR, CurvyMagazine.com, Essence.com, BlackHairMedia.com, RollingOut.com, JuicyMagOnline.com, NewsDay.com, Examiner.com, TribeCalledCurl.com and CurlyNikki.com. Stewart has also contributed to NaturallyCurly.com.
Whitney NAPTURAL85.com
youtube.com/user/naptural85
Whitney, known as Naptural85 on YouTube, is a graphic designer, vlogger and blogger. Whitney started her YouTube channel in August 2009 with an upload of her “Natural Hair Journey”—her transition from relaxed to natural hair— which was intended to thank the YouTubers who’d given her the inspiration to go natural. But people told her that they were inspired by her story and encouraged her to upload more. The rest is history! Five years later, Whitney is still sharing her journey and has expanded her channel with daily vlogging videos that chronicle her life as a wife and new mom.
Alison MODERN MRS. HUXTABLE
youtube.com/user/modernmrshuxtable
In 2013, Alison got her start on YouTube with her channel Modern Mrs. Huxtable, aimed at advocating for positive female role models as well as educating women on the secrets to healthy, long hair. She is dedicated to sharing her results with others and using her background as a university instructor to inform and educate other women on how to reach their personal hair goals. Alison spearheads an initiative to share female empowerment messages and encourage positive, well-rounded depictions of women like that of the iconic Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show. Alison focuses on uplifting women in areas such as self-esteem development, finding purpose and creating sound value systems.
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