Official Press Kit For
MAHOGANYCURLS™ “natural hair with flair!”
MAHOGANYCURLS™ Early Years Jessica Lewis, best known as MahoganyCurls™, is a native of Macon, GA, born into a family hair care professionals and with a natural gift for hair care. As far back as she can remember Jessica has looked up to and desired to follow in the steps of the hair care professionals in her family. While spending many days in salons, she watched, listened and learned, even when others may not have known she was. Jessica was taking note of hair care do’s and don’ts with the hope of helping others to care for their hair someday.
The Natural Hair Journey After being inspired to embrace her own natural hair, in March of 2009, Jessica underwent the “big chop” and began vlogging, inviting a growing YouTube audience to follow her along the way, and MahoganyCurls™ was born. By demonstrating the steps to achieving a variety of natural hairstyles, including sharing her experiences with a multitude of hair care products, MahoganyCurls™ demystifies the fear of “the natural hair movement”. Today, with over 10 million total channel views and a collective social media audience totaling more than 350,000, MahoganyCurls enjoys inspiring others and is continuously invited for guest appearances at natural hair events around the world. “It takes a lot of confidence to wear your natural hair and you must be prepared for feedback from your friends and family, good or bad. Seek out women that have also transitioned to natural hair, and share your thoughts about your journey with like-minded women. Be inspired to wear your natural hair with flair!” - MahoganyCurls™
FOLLOWING AND SOCIAL MEDIA REACH*
Facebook: 123,025 Avg. Monthly Views – United States: 657,630 United Kingdom: 31,547 Canada: 22,344 France: 15,858 Netherlands: 8,980 Germany: 5,171
YouTube: Subscribers: 175,680 Total Views: 8 Million
Instagram: 61,800 *As of November 19, 2013. Social Media audience increases by approximately 1,000 daily
Media and Events
Essence Magazine Digital Essence.com, May 2013
Ebony Magazine Digital Ebony.com, September 2013
Black Hair Kitchen Event Washington, D.C. July 2013
Sponsored by such industry notables as Shea Moisture, Koils by Nature and Karen’s Body Beautiful, MahoganyCurls™ was a highly anticipated invited guest vlogger to the “Black Hair Kitchen Hair Expo” in Washington, DC. Attendees were treated to meet and greet, photo opportunities, words of natural hair inspiration and hair consultations.
Captured Curls: JESS AKA MAHOGANY CURLS By Alex February, 2012
Please, introduce yourself! Hello Everyone! My name is Jessica and I am 25 years old, some of you may know me as MahoganyCurls from YouTube. How did you fall into making YT videos and becoming a “guru?” I decided to go natural in late 2008 and did the big chop in 2009. Hair care has always been a passion of mine. Learning how to care for natural hair just came to me naturally :). I decided to make YouTube videos to document my natural hair journey. I wanted to share my trials and errors with the natural hair community. What is your current hair care regimen? My current hair care regimen is a wash n go or "wet n go" depending on the time of the month. I cowash once a month with DevaCurl No Poo, apply my leave in of choice either DevaCurl One Condition or Tresemme Naturals, detangle my hair, and allow it to air-dry. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I rewet my hair in the shower, allow the water to saturate my hair, massage my scalp a little and apply more conditioner, detangle, and go. That is why I call it wet and go! :) Every Thursday night I deep condition my hair and rinse it out the next morning. This makes detangling the next day a breeze! Let’s talk hair type! A lot of naturals are against the hair typing system. Do you think learning your hair type can be beneficial during someone’s natural hair journey? I am one of those naturals that do not care for the hair typing system. In the beginning of my natural hair journey, I wanted to know my hair type too. I even posted a video asking others what it was and tried to figure it out on certain hair boards. It was very confusing and in my opinion, it is misleading. It almost became an obsession. You know? Always trying to figure out what type I had. That did not last long. I told myself that it did not matter what my hair type is, I just want it to be healthy. Therefore, to answer your question, I am not sure, but I can speak for myself and say that it really did not help me. I just knew my hair was dry, it needed moisture, and I wanted it to be healthy. What reaction did you get from friends and family when you first decided to go natural? The reaction was mixed. Some family members were supportive and others were not. My husband actually did my big chop for me. Shaved my hair and everything! The same goes with my friends; I had many people tell me I was "bold." I did not care, I loved my TWA. Since my big chop, many family members and friends decided to go natural too!
Did you BC or transition and what made you finally take the plunge? I did the big chop. I wanted to transition for 2 years but I became impatient and decided to do the BC two months after my last relaxer. What makes you love your kinks, curls and coils? I love the fact that it is what God gave me. Our hair is our crown, and I feel that every woman has her own unique crown. Our hair is beautiful and we should embrace it. Where can we find you on the web? You can find me on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/MahoganyCurls and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahoganycurlsYT Twitter: www.twitter.com/mahoganycurls Do you have any words of encouragement for young women looking to go natural? Yes! Just do it. People may tell you that you will not look a certain way but ignore them. Do what is in your heart. Sometimes people will say discouraging things about going natural because they are afraid take that step. My little sister did the big chop and she is 16. I told her not worry about others and she is happy about her decision. We have to do things for ourselves and not others.
M e e t N a tu ra l i st a J e s s o f Ma h o ga n yC u r l s By Sunshine Malone
SunShine: Thank you so much for taking out the time to share your journey with us. SunShine: How long have you been natural and what made you start documenting your natural hair story/journey? MahoganyCurls: I have been natural since 2009. I did the big chop. One day I decided that I wanted to share my natural hair journey with the world and that is how my YouTube channel started. It was a spur of the moment thing. SunShine: What was your big chop experience like? Any pros or cons? MahoganyCurls: It was very liberating! (I know people say that a lot) it was amazing! I felt free! The pros of having short natural hair (TWA) are that I had an easy day-to-day styling session. A con that I experienced with short hair was having extremely dry hair. It was so dry! SunShine: What is your nighttime routine/regimen? MahoganyCurls: At night I just pull my hair into a high ponytail called the pineapple and sleep on my satin pillowcase. SunShine: What are your top 5 ‘must-have’ hair care products/items? Why? MahoganyCurls: I do not have five, but I do have a top 3. #1. Tresemme’ Naturals. This conditioner moisturizes my hair so much! #2 EcoStyler Gel (all colors). I love that this hair gel is very inexpensive and I can use it for various
hairstyles. #3. As I Am Coconut Cowash. This product not only smells good, but also cleanses my hair and scalp thoroughly without stripping my hair. SunShine: What other natural hair gurus are you inspired by and why? MahoganyCurls: Wes, of HoneyBrownSugar.com inspired me to go natural! I have learned so much from her. She was very supportive and encouraging when I decided to go natural. I remember emailing her while I was still relaxed and she had so many positive things to say about the natural hair community. Nikki, from CurlyNikki.com also inspired me to continue my natural hair journey. Nikki was very helpful and supportive of my natural hair journey and YouTube Channel. SunShine: What advice would you give a new, veteran, or inspiring natural? MahoganyCurls: I would say embrace your hair and do not focus on the negative energy that people may direct towards you regarding your natural hair. Your hair is your crown and you should wear it with pride. (Well said!) SunShine: Where can the SunShine’s Natural & Loving It! Community find you online? What will they find on your site/blog/Volga? MahoganyCurls: You can find me on my YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/mahoganycurls my website: www.mahoganycurlsonline.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/mahoganycurlsYT Instagram: @MahoganyCurls Twitter: @MahoganyCurls MahoganyCurls: My YouTube channel is my main social media website. I have videos discussing my hair journey along with hair tutorials and product reviews. You will find mostly hair journey photos on my twitter, instagram, and facebook along with some random photos or posts about my life outside of the natural hair community. SunShine’s Reflection: This concludes your interview Jess thank you so much for sharing your journey with us! Don’t you just love her? Such a beauty. What I love most about MahoganyCurls is her willingness to help others with their natural hair journey. The extra added bonus is that she has documented her journey from her big chopped experience to now, so she’s able to offer so much support to new, veteran, and inspiring naturals! Be sure to check out MahoganyCurls on all her social media platforms and I’ll see you guys on the next chat! xoxo
The Official
MahoganyCurls
™
Press Kit Created By Toni L. Rousell Public Relations Professional & Director of Publicity
www.tlrpubnpr.com
Direct Media Inquiries to: Email: toni@tlrpubnpr.com Phone: 504.444.5109