While I was talking wash-day routines with some of my natural friends, we found ourselves scrolling through a seemingly endless list of natural-hair gurus giving all types of product suggestions, protective-style techniques and hacks for maintaining healthy hair. After clicking on about the 12th video geared toward women and our natural-hair needs, our guy friend blurted out, “What about MY hair’s protein?!”
You see, he’s recently become interested in keeping his 4c coils healthy, and tossed around the idea of growing it out longer than his current cropped style. After rolling our eyes at his whining, we started to think about the growing number of men who care about their hair health, and how it may be difficult to find a similar community and shared knowledge geared toward their needs.
Big names in natural-hair products, like Shea Moisture, Form (from the minds behind Bevel) and Oyin, have all extended their product lines to cater to the needs of men. The natural-hair movement seems to be recognizing that there is room for the fellas, too, and the DIY culture of social media is following suit. The men are getting involved in tutorials and spreading the empowerment message that healthy, long natural hair isn’t just for the ladies—though we ladies could learn a few things from them, too.
With their entrance into the female-dominated beauty world, these perfectly coiffed hair “guy-rus” are redefining masculinity for men of color and providing much-needed tips for their female viewers as well. Hair length, hair health and hope for the perfect twist-out are not confined to any gender norms or expectations; and these men are taking on the system, one subscriber at a time.
1. Giovanni Ferrer (YouTube: Gio’s Wave)
“Length goals” doesn’t seem strong enough for how we feel looking at this unreal mane. Ferrer is a Virginia native with dreams of making it big in the modeling industry. His 3a-3b hair has gained him both a hefty social media following and access to some of our female follicle faves, like Nia Light and Bianca Renee Today, sharing hairstyle tutorials or just snapping a perfect photo for the ’gram.
But this curly boy is more than just a pretty face; he shares with his followers some of the bullying he endured as a child with long, curly hair—being teased and told he looked like a girl. One of Ferrer’s followers posted a picture of her young son, explaining that he was being teased for his long hair and had been asking to cut it until seeing Ferrer’s page and videos. The golden-hearted guru confirmed that was exactly the reason he started his social media pages: to inspire other young boys to love themselves and ignore the negativity.
2. Winstonee (YouTube: Winstonee)
Winstonee brings healthy hair habits and style techniques to the gentleman who isn’t looking to grow his strands to the ground. His channel is packed with videos addressing everything from the benefits of apple-cider vinegar to issues with hair growth—and giveaways! He brings a very down-to-earth, approachable style to his tutorials, all while convincing you that he knows his way around a wash-and-go.
Sprinkling in some fashion and lifestyle content, Winstonee is on his grind, posting new videos twice a week. This is the perfect guru for men looking to maintain healthy hair and try out new products or styles, all while keeping their coils cropped—and for the ladies who love them.
3. Cam Williams (YouTube: CamTV)
With a full crown of curls and on-trend undercuts, Williams is another newbie to the beauty vlog world, posting his first hair video just 10 months ago. But Williams is refreshingly himself on his growing social media platforms. Tackling flat twists, product reviews and hair breakage, this guru-in-training has already offered good insight to men looking to grow and maintain healthy natural hair. We’re definitely keeping our eye on this one, since only a few months in, he is already gaining popularity and showcasing the changing norms of an evolving culture.
4. Dawan Pearson (YouTube: Curly Guy)
From product suggestions to tips on recovering your strands from heat damage, Pearson is all about promoting a healthy hair journey. This rising beauty-vlog star has been growing his fan base since 2011 and was recently featured as a guru fave by Allure magazine.
Pearson has shared his transition journey from relaxed to natural hair with his followers, using chemicals to straighten his hair for cornrows and braided styles and regretting the damage it did to his hair. He wants to remove the gender headers from beauty and promote the message that black hair is good hair, however we choose to wear it. “Hair does not have a gender, and neither should the products,” Pearson commented. “I let my hair speak for itself. When most people watch my videos, they don’t really concern themselves with my gender. What they see first is my mane of healthy hair—healthy black hair, at that!”
5. Graham’s Natural Curls (YouTube: GrahamsNaturalCurls)
This multiracial (Puerto Rican, African American and white) bilingual beauty (his videos appear in both English and German) is sharing all of his coil tips with his growing subscribers straight from Germany.
In an interview with Naturally Curly, Graham shared great advice for men pursuing their journey to healthy natural hair. “Hair is not just a girly thing. Men can also have long curly hair. Don’t be ashamed to buy a deep conditioner and a satin scarf, and if someone asks what you want with that ... tell them you are on a healthy hair journey.” This talented content creator recently made the leap to entrepreneur with the release of his own hair-extension line, promoting from his Instagram page. Graham pineapples; he reviews products; he rocks protective styles. We’re in!
6. Troy Barnes Jr. (YouTube: Rebel Boy Troy)
Originally starting his channel to document his locs journey, Barnes is very new to the vlogging world, posting his first video only 10 months ago. An Atlanta-based fitness enthusiast, Barnes is honest about his struggle to live for himself and go after his purpose regardless of any public opinion. With videos on twist-out and stretching techniques posted already, this gentleman is off to a great start in helping men with their questions about grooming and hair care.
In a recent video, Barnes leaves his followers with an ever important reminder about loving and living for yourself: “If we’re always wondering and worried about what other people may think about us, we will never move forward in life and progress.” We hope to see more of this positive personality as he becomes more comfortable sharing his journey.
7. Will Humphrey (YouTube: WillOnAWhim)
What I love the most about Humphrey’s page is that he takes men’s hair way past the wash-and-go styles we’ve come to expect—trying box braids, Bantu knots and beaded cornrows. With a hilarious personality and “instant bestie” vibe, Will brings his followers hairstyle tutorials, product suggestions and routine rundowns. He’s also included content around travel, beauty routines and what he calls “shenanigans,” dropping a little something for everyone on his channel.
In the midst of all the loose-textured, “curls with just water” vloggers, it’s a breath of fresh air to see tutorials and product reviews targeting kinky coil textures. The best advice we got from Humphrey’s page? “Dead ends are like fake friends ... cut them off.” Life and hair goals unite!
8. Terell McDonald (YouTube: Terell McDonald)
Before we even got to McDonald’s hair tutorials, we wanted to know every single tip this man has about brows. Thankfully, he heard our cry and gave a detailed walkthrough of his shape, cut and clean routine for his full brows as the very first video posted to his channel.
Since then, McDonald has brought followers along for the ride as he started college, got played by Tinder dates and shared his roommate horror stories. After two years of his life and hair updates (including video cameos with his siblings), we feel as if we’re officially part of the McDonald family. To call this rising star a natural-hair guru seems a bit limiting, since his channel definitely tackles more than just hair tutorials. But we’re glad to see another young voice setting his own standards for beauty and style for men.
9. Sheldon (YouTube: kxdsheldy)
Camera-shy, Sheldon is not. Just a short scroll down his feed shows that this fella knows his way around a beauty shot and isn’t new to the “flip and smize” game. This strand star recognizes the dedication (and arm strength) it takes to maintain healthy hair and take on the task of twist-outs and curl techniques.
He also brings a great young perspective to the natural-hair community, using new-gen rappers like Lil Yachty and Travis Scott for hairstyle inspo. In a recent video on his page, while blowing out his hair for box braids, Sheldon joked, “Y’all ask me about my workout routine—this is it.”
We feel you, Sheldon; wash day and arm day go hand-in-hand around here.