Lack of Advertisement for Black Women with Natural Hair!!!

              Just a couple of weeks ago I decided to do a documentary about African American women going natural and embracing their kinky curls. I was inspired by this topic because of my own hair journey. I used to texturize my hair, so this way it could be soft, manageable and curly. The texturize turn my 4c hair texture to a 3c texture. After the first couple of weeks after I texturize I couldn't stop rubbing my hands through my hair. I loved it so much. I received so many compliments and I felt I looked exotic with my new hair texture.  Just after three months of my hair being texturized, I noticed the breakage it started to do to my hair, and I knew that I couldn't do it anymore. I over processed my hair. My hair was no longer curly. It was practically straight.  So, I knew it was time for me to stop texturizing my hair.

             After my hair started to break off and got extremely dry. I decided to go natural. Which is something you don't hear every day from an African American man. However, you do hear it from a lot of African American women who got tired of texturizing, relaxing and perming their hair.  When I started my natural journey it a was a huge process I had to get used to and I wasn't easy. One of my problems, we're trying to find the right products for my hair. I knew I couldn't use the same products I used when I had my hair texturize. I had to a lot of researchers and spend hundreds of dollars to see what style and products work best for my hair.

 One of the huge problems with going natural is the hair products. Natural women spend a lot of time looking for what hair products work best for their hair.  If you go to a local beauty supply store in Brooklyn, New York there is a variety of natural hair products for African American women, which is great. I have gotten a lot of products over the past few months to help with my natural hair. the negative aspect of buying some of these products is the uncertainty of the products working for 4a,4b and 4c texture hair. Many African American women spend a lot of money on hair products that might not work on their hair.  The products they had purchase, might leave their hair dryer than it already was, no curl definition and no volume. What cause this problem is the lack of advertisement for black women with natural hair. According to Beauty and the Beast of Advertising by Jean Kilbourn, She states " The average adult will spend one and one years of his /her life watching television commercial". I couldn't disagree or agree with her statement, in fact, her statement might be true. However, what I do now is that in my lifespan I only have seen a few commercial for black women with natural hair.  Two of the commercial I saw were Pantene Gold series and Head n Shoulders. I also did some research on YouTube and found a natural hair product commercial from the 70's called Afro Sheen. Think about it when was the last time you have seen a commercial for women of color with natural hair? It embarrassing to say, but I only have seen three commercials in my entire adult life, that targets women of color with natural. Compare to the numbers of times I see white women flaunt their straight hair on the commercial.

Hair Types

 I have seen a lot of hair products commercials on television, that don't represent black women with 4a,4b,4c hair textures. This is a huge problem for black women.  Shea moister is a brand for people with natural hair. I love their products it works for my hair and it keeps my hair moisturize and soft. However, the brand was criticized for their commercial that came out in April 2017. The commercial targeted white women with 1a,1b, 1c textures and Latino women with 3a hair texture. The commercial excludes black women with 4a,4b, and 4c hair texture. What that tells us that black hair is not beautiful, it sad to say that but it's the subliminal message I received from the commercial. Pantene is another hair product. Pantene have a hair product line named Pantene Gold Series and it for black women with natural hair. I love the commercial for Pantene Gold Series, the commercial shows a clear representation of black hair. It shows black women with a variety of hair textures for black women. However, the verdict is still out to see if the products work for our hair. 

Pantene Gold Series Commercial( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwc4s8nVba4 )

Shea Moister Commerical (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWZWJF0cNhU)

Issa Rae in Insecure

 On the flip side television and social media are embracing the natural hair movement. On television, black women with 4c texture are being represented. One of my favorite show on television, the lead character of the show is African American women with 4b and 4c texture hair.  The show is Insecure, Issa is the main character of the show and the creator. Insecure promotes natural beauty at its finest for black women. Issa Rae character on the show wears natural and protective hairstyles on the show. Which shows black women can have their hair braided, twisted and rock an afro and still be on television.  Social media has changed the way how we see black women with natural, it is highly glorified on Instagram.  On my Instagram timeline, I see nothing but beautiful black women with natural hair because I follow varies natural hair Instagram accounts. It amazing to see the hairstyles they come up with for natural hair. in short videos on Instagram, they shared their tricks on how to create hairstyles. Most importantly the products that they used in the videos are usually shown as well. This is very important to black women, because not only do they see other black women with the same texture hair they also see the products that woman used to style or nurture their hair. The women watching the videos on Instagram could have the same results as the women in the videos.

 I realized on Instagram, that there are more advertisements for natural hair products for black women than on television. One particular account I follow on Instagram is (healthy_hair_journey) This Ig profile shares a lot of tips for women with natural hair and most importantly the products the women used in the video tutorials. I know there is a lack of hair commercials on television for black women with natural hair, however, there are more advertisements and support on social media for black women with 4a,4b,4c texture hair.