It was the “crunch crunch crunch” heard 'round the natural world.... and hours after the web was on fire this weekend with (VERY VOCAL!!) opinions about JoAnn Robertson's natural hair video tutorials for TypeF, the new fashion and beauty platform inspired by Tyra Banks.
The videos were a topic of many discussions at the beCHIC Natural Hair Appreciation Luncheon this weekend (For pictures, check out Miss Moon's Musings on FaceBook). When we were not talking about the videos, we were rolling and shaking our heads at some of comments about the video. I myself will even admit to my own snarky comments (Sangria brings it out of me! lol).
But I agree wholeheartedly with Cassidy of Natural Selection, we shouldn't be all full blown "Mean Girls" on someone whose intentions were to do something positive. It's easy to say "Girl, bye!" and roll your eyes (I admit it, I did it too sitting at my laptop), but I think what's really needed is some constructive criticism (with an emphasis on CONSTRUCTIVE!).
I think that JoAnn (Who from viewing her website appears to be an accomplished hair stylist) perhaps is new on her own personal natural journey. She's had years of formal education on how to style hair, and is maybe having difficulty marrying her training with her own natural hair (training that no doubt got her the gig at TypeF).
But as we all know (And maybe JoAnn is newly discovering this) being a licensed Hair stylist doesn't necessarily mean you're qualified to be considered an expert at natural hair. I mean, isn't this a common complaint from the community... not enough hair stylist that know how to care for naturally textured hair? If the bulk of your professional experience came from doing a specific type of hair, I could imagine it'd be daunting to dive head first into some beautifully thick 4A or 4B hair.
I think that perhaps TypeF should re-conceptualize the videos: Having more learned naturalistas (YouTube is full of them!!) share their knowledge and have JoAnn chime in with the professional expertise on why doing [INSERT TIP HERE] would be beneficial.
And if I am correct in my belief that JoAnn is newly natural, another concept would be for her to discuss her journey and how many of the rules and applications she's been trained to put into practice do not work on her hair.
All in all, I'd love to see videos in the future of her hair becoming less dry and lusterless and slowly look more healthy and well cared for. That would be the best education, not only would they show the tools and the application technique, but also the long-term results.
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