Why is Black hair seen as problem ?

Does hair have to be socially acceptable

Curly or “nappy” hair being socially unacceptable is no more, Alyssa Forever’s YouTube channel inspires natural woman to embrace what they have and feeling more confident as a whole. Alyssa’s fame started on YouTube but has spread to multiple platforms making her all the more intriguing. Alyssa wasn’t famous “forever” she started as a young teen struggling with criticism about her not having braces on her crooked teeth. Alyssa is a living example of the power of social media, which according to Kovariks source of information diagram says individual’s produce and control all information.

Alyssa first caught the world by surprise with her YouTube video on how to get perfect Bantu knot outs on June 12,2013. Websites such as Video ink immediately started to recognize her as a top beauty creator. For example, they say “She is expected to close the deal with beauty haul by the end of the month, the deal could value the company north of $200 million if certain performance requirements are met”.

Then Alyssa gained more than 350,000 subscribers just by being part of a movement where multiple women are switching from perms to natural. Buzz feed is also apart of this movement with their video 13 things girls with natural hair are tired of hearing. On channel meter.cm between September 21,2015 and October 20,2015 Alyssa forever YouTube channel has gained over 903 new subscribers.

In a article by B Brown it states, Ebony writer LaParis Hawkins states, “With all the progress of hair companies catering to our ‘natural needs,’ we can also thank the various naturlistas online for creating a space of accessibility to informative tips, reviews and styles, leading us all to gorgeous natural locks” (Hawkins, 2013).

The presence and popularity of this community points to a change in the ways that African American women are wearing their hair and a change in the attitudes that African American women have about beauty, femininity, and cultural politics (White, 2005). Her YouTube channel was created June 10,2013 and she has 67 uploads, 30,633,832 views, 501,388 subscribers and has earned the 3,400 subscriber ranking. Needless to say she has touched many “hair-ts”.

Aside from hair Alyssa was a sensation for getting her braces and sharing her journey with her fellow YouTube followers as well. The Natural Hair Academy recently did an article on her called Teeth are not everything.

In 2013 memes saying that teeth are everything and having a picture of Alyssa shown clearly not having perfect teeth were a slue to try and take this you tuber down. With over 6,000 re tweets over the course of 2 day the natural hair academy and Alyssa came to defense. Alyssa made a YouTube video called come with me to get my braces off. This video had 887,217 views and 1,246 comments. You tubers told her that her teeth were beautiful and thanked her for encouraging them to deal with haters, quoting Alyssa saying, “If you can hate, you can donate”.

Alyssa Wallace is on a continual up rise with her career, she was named 2014 Allure Beauty Blogger of the Year. Allure has over 105,634 subscribers with a median household income of $56,057.00.

On the Living Aveda website Alyssa along with other top YouTube bloggers are put in a video to test a new product to make their hair straight without any harsh chemicals before flat ironing. This was a marketing strategy because with over 3 million views the product naturally straight sells have skyrocketed. From Wikipedia we learn Aveda sells products ranging from skincare to hair care, which are as organic as possible.

Aveda also maintains a variety of partnerships with salons and spas that use their products. Many of these locations also offer treatments certified by Aveda. Aveda offers training to employees of its affiliated salons and spas. They also run many institutes for cosmetology education. The sales of relaxers has significantly increased specifically decreasing the market for “creamy crack city” Atlanta, Georgia. In a recent from Atlanta black star.com we it is stated, “While there aren’t many statistics on the natural hair business, other research suggests that the natural hair movement is real, and it shows in market sales.

Market research firm, Mintel, estimated that the Black hair business is worth $774 million and relaxer sales are aimed to decrease 45 percent before 2019. This decrease in demand for relaxers suggests an increase in products to replace them. While we could assume these replacements are products for natural hair, there aren’t statistics available for this specifically. Instead, we can confirm relaxer sales are decreasing — and will continue to.” This article was posted July 29,2015. Alyssa love is not only a YouTube blogger but also a trendsetter of the Internet selling confidence!