Written by Fadeke Banjo.
From ‘Show your crowns/afro to the Hey Miss Carter Curly Hair puff challenge to Natural hair Wet v.s dry trend. These trends will Amaze you.
Hey, curl friends, Fadeke here. In today’s blog, I will be discussing my favourite viral natural trend videos on TikTok created by fellow black creators. During the lockdowns here in the UK, similar to most of the population last year and this year, I have been stuck at home with a lot of free time to spare, and I was trying to find ways to fill this free time. So, I tried to entertain my boredom was to join the fun, and soon I would later find a very addictive world of TikTok. I originally thought I would not join TikTok, especially when its original target audience was and, to a certain extent, were a much younger generation than myself. Yet, I was persuaded by my younger brother that I should join this online platform to share my artwork. So, before I knew it, I entered this pandora box with no intention of leaving; with one scroll and tap after the other with the 1-to-3-minute catchy videos, I was hooked. Upon the usual videos I tend to watch on TikTok, I have come across several natural hair related videos, including a couple of viral trends circulating on TikTok. It felt good seeing other young women that look like me showcasing their natural hair to the world and seeing a new generation of young black girls embracing their natural hair (something I did not see when I was growing up). So, with this being said, whether you are lying in your bed as you read this blog or on your way to work on the train, I hope that you will be inspired and amazed by the versatility as you read this blog pots, on the beauty of black natural hair.
N.01: House full of curls use my sound to show your crown: New natural hair trend video - @jahhyrah @d.royalfam (TikTok trend)
Recently a new trend has been going around on TikTok where young black women are showcasing their afros using a sound by the TikToker @Jahhyrah. The trend originated from a recent post by the TikTok user @Jahhyrah, who has 286.6k followers on TikTok; her page mainly consists of natural hair-related content, such as natural hairstyle videos. Jahhyrah posted a video of a few young black women showcasing their afros and dancing (these young black women have their own TikTok called @d.royalfam, which she tags in this video). The video also encourages other people to use her sound to showcase their afro’s.
Below is a link to the original video by TikToker and influencer @Jahhyrah, ‘House full of curls👑 use my sound to show your crown’: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdSS678B/ (Accessed: 20th June 2021)
So far, the sound for this TikTok trend has 289 videos of mostly young black women using the sound and showcasing their afros. There have also been some young black men who have also joined this trend and showcased their afros too. I love this trend for many reasons. The first reason is that this trend shows the diversity of this iconic hairstyle, which has been used as a sign of resistance through movements like the Black Power Movement. The trend also shows young black women being joyful and represented positively on a platform like TikTok.
TikTok has been criticised for not always supporting black creators regarding issues with TikTok’s apparent racial bias. For instance, TikTok’s algorithm is apparently more favoured towards white content creators than black content creators on TikTok (Asare,2020). Furthermore, black content creators on TikTok have also experienced their videos being when speaking up against issues on racism (Mccluskey,2020; Onibada, 2021) and black content creators on TikTok not always being rightfully credited for their creative works and trends (Rosenblatt, 2021). Nevertheless, this trend also shows the different textures of black people’s naturally curly hair; not every woman or man who has participated in this trend has the same curl type; they are uniquely different. Moreover, this trend I believe can be used to show young Generation Z, who make up over 60% of TikTok users(Muliadi, 2020), in particular both young black girls and boys as well as those who are older all across the world, that their natural hair is beautiful and deserves to be celebrated as this trend showcases.
N.02: ‘Hey Miss Carter, hair puff challenge TikTok trend’ – by @hannabraids
I came across this trend randomly when I was on TikTok. I did not know that this was a trend until I looked at the sound used in the original video and saw other people following the trend. The trend essentially showcases mainly young black women and young black girls with their curly hair out, miming the words ‘Let me hear you say Hey Miss carter’ from the intro of Beyonce’s popular song Partition (from her ‘Beyonce platform edition’ album) and then proceeding to use a long shoelace to pull and tie their hair in what is known within the natural hair community as a High puff hairstyle. So you see the ladies curly hair transformation from being free and big to reducing in size and turning into a curly high puff hairstyle. The trend originated from the TikTok user @hannabraids, who has 1.2 million followers on TikTok. Hanna uploaded a video where she showed her beautiful big curly as she mimed the famous lyrics ‘’let me hear you say hey miss Carter…’’ from the iconic song Partition by singer Beyonce. As soon as the beat dropped from the song, she proceeded to tie her up into a High puff hairstyle by pulling her hair up using a long shoelace. We, as the viewers, see her big curly hair shrink up/ transform in just a matter of seconds in the video. The video currently has 9.1 million likes. I could not count each video that followed this particular trend on TikTok because this particular sound from Beyonce’s song ‘Partition’ has been used in other trends and videos on TikTok. However, I could tell that this particular trend did gain a good amount of traffic. The curly High puff hairstyle was my favourite hairstyle to wear when I first started my natural hair journey. So it was nice to see it being represented again through this video trend on TikTok.
Here is the link to the original video from TikTok user @hannabraids (no title): https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMdSXFoyG/ (Accessed:20th June 2021)
Also, here is a video compilation that shows a collection of a couple of videos from TikTok users who took part in this natural hair trend video. This was uploaded by a YouTuber user with the YouTube account name ‘ Extremely Exquisite’: ‘’Let me hear you say hey miss Carter’’ High puff Natural hair, Tik Tok Compilation. Youtuber’s channel ‘ Extremely Exquisite. 30th May. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgZICGgkguY (Accessed:20th June 2021)
N.03: Natural hair v.s when it’s wet v.s when it’s dry, TikTok trend @jasmeanbrown
There are amazing things when it comes to naturally curly hair, Including when naturally curly, kinky, coily hair is wet. This is because it goes through a process. The black natural hair community is referred to as the term ‘shrinkage’; this is when someone’s curls shrink from their original length as it dries (Richardson, 2021). So not only does it skink in length, but also curly hair may appear different when wet compared to when it is in a dry state.
Moreover, a TikTok trend earlier this year showcased this amazing transformation and process. Many TikTok users with naturally curly hair were showed viewers how their hair looks when it’s wet compared to when it’s dry. The amazing transformation their hair goes through. The trend originated from influencer Jasmine Brown also known as @jasmeanbrown, who has 415.2k followers on TikTok. Jasmine uploaded a TikTok where she shared with her Tikoker followers. The transformation of her curly hair when it is wet vs when it is dry and styled, this video has got 239.6k likes and countless shares. Jasmine also, within the video, encouraged other TikTok users to do the same in showcasing their curly hair from when it is wet to when it is dry. This becomes a new trend, with many other people joining the trend and uploading their transformation videos on TikTok.
Here is the original video by Jasmine Brown @jasmeanbrown. ‘Show your wet hair, then show your dried hair’. Available at: https://www.tiktok.com/@jasmeanbrown/video/6914734937593711878?referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2F&referer_video_id=6914734937593711878&refer=embed (Accessed: 20th June 2021)
A Buzzfeed article published earlier this year, written by Liz Richardson (2021), discussed this trend. I just wanted to give my own commentary and opinion on this trend as it’s something that I find both fascinating and something I relate to with my natural hair. I believe that black natural hair with all its beautiful textures and lengths is magical and outstanding in its own right, and this trend has proven this. As you watch the various videos related to this trend, you may find yourself gushing with excitement and your eyes beginning to get wider and wider with amazement with what you are witnessing on your phone, laptop, and tablet screens.
Often at times, I use to hate when my naturally curly and kinky textured hair would shrink when I would spray it with a bit of water or at times when I would forget to twist my hair as my hair dries after washing it and at times when I may forget to bring my umbrella or wear a scarf when I went out with my natural hair. As a result, my hair would get wet and shrink. I know I am not alone in this, as I have heard from other women with naturally curly hair who also relate to this hair struggle regarding curly hair and has often complained when their natural hair shrinks. However, black natural hair experts have shown that shrinkage is good and indicates that your curly hair is healthy and has elasticity (Bone,2016; Richardson, 2021). So, if you have naturally curly, kinky, coily hair and deal with shrinkage ever so often. Try not to resent it but rather try to embrace it because it is healthy and perfectly normal. In addition, since embracing when my natural hair would shrink up, I would sometimes decide to style my natural hair in its shrunken state if I desire for my hair to appear short for a particular hairstyle. In those circumstances, it comes in handy. Also, I would find myself being amazed when my natural hair would shrink when it was wet and beginning to dry; sometimes, I would pick a curly strand from my hair and slightly pull on it to see how long my hair is and then let it go and see how it springs back up. Black natural hair is simply incredible.
Make sure to check out this natural hair trend on TikTok from @jasminebrown’s original video, as well as many other TikTok users who also joined her wet v.s dry natural hair trend.
Also, check out the related article from Buzzfeed on this particular Natural hair TikTok trend: Richardson, Liz (2021) ‘People Are Showing What Their Natural Hair Looks Like Wet Vs. Dry, And The transformations Are stunning’. Buzzfeed. 14th January. Available at: https://www.buzzfeed.com/lizmrichardson/natural-hair-wet-vs-dry-tiktok (Accessed: 20th June 2021)
Overall, I hope this blog post and the natural hair TikTok trend videos I mentioned inspire you guys to continue to embrace your natural hair in all its glory and be creative with it. What are your top favourite natural hair TikTok trends you have come across on TikTok? Let me know, either comment down below or tweet it using the hashtags #naturalhairtrendstiktok and #mynaturalcrownandiblog. Also, be sure to tag me @mynaturalcrownandiblog.
If you’re a regular TikToker watcher like me, or you have your own TikTok account or perhaps are considering joining the TikTok world, I would suggest that perhaps you could try out any of the natural hair trends videos I have mentioned in this blog post today.
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Until then, have a great week and see you soon.
Love, Fadeke, from your fellow curl friend and mentor.
And remember, always wear your natural crown with pride! :)
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