The Naturals Exodus

Recently, I've noticed a mass exodus of former natural hair content creators, as well as common persons who are fed up with the natural hair community. To elaborate, this does not necessarily mean they no longer choose to be "natural," quite the contrary. It seems these "naturals" are choosing to no longer partake in the festivities of the natural hair community.  I, for one, can understand why.

To begin, I’ll give you a brief history of my natural hair journey. My journey began when I was in my early 20s. I decided to stop relaxing my hair because it began to thin out.  Unfortunately, I had no idea how to take care of my natural hair.  Relaxers had been a part of my life since the age of 12. Fortunately, I discovered YouTube.

YouTube became my go-to for learning how to care for my natural hair.  Back then, the YouTube natural hair community was strictly about haircare and hair maintenance. Now it seems It has gradually morphed into something else entirely.  The community no longer focuses on hair maintenance; it’s become more about what hair type you have, 3c, 4a, 4b, or 4c, and making your curls pop.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the importance of hair typing (as it pertains to products reacting with your hair); however, the obsession with curl patterns and curls popping seems to leave many naturals behind, specifically naturals with 4b and 4c hair textures. Texturism  seems to be the culprit, which can be seen as counter-intuitive to the entire movement. 

For me, the natural hair community was built to invoke a sense of pride. For too long, black women and individuals with kinky textures have been criticized and ostracized for the strands that grow naturally from their scalp. The natural hair community was a texturism-free zone once upon a time.  All naturals felt proud of their hair texture because "good hair" was/is truly healthy hair.

My desire in writing this post is to encourage the "naturals" who deal with "texturism."  I want you to know that you have a home at Bittlethings.  Our slogan is "Going Back To The Basics of Mane-Taining” because we solely focus on producing haircare essentials to save you time and deliver optimal hair health. We want all "naturals" from A to C to rock your mane proudly!  

Comment below if you are apart of the Exodus, and share your story.