NaturallyCurly: When did you start embracing your curls?
Emily: I have always worn my hair curly, but I started liking and embracing my curls a lot more in the last year or two. I love having wavy hair because it’s different from everyone else and I usually get quite a few compliments on it. You can always make wavy hair straight, but you can’t make straight hair look naturally curly, so I really like it. The reason I embrace my natural waves is because it’s a lot easier, and it doesn’t damage your hair. Also, I really do just love wavy/curly hair. Although, to be honest, I haven’t been embracing my natural hair lately, I’ve been trying out different looks with looser waves, however, I’m going to start embracing my natural waves again once summer finally hits.
Do people pressure you to straighten your hair?
Emily: No, people don’t really pressure me to straighten it. People may say, “Oh you should wear your hair straight sometime. I want to see what it looks like!” type of thing. Whenever I wear it natural, people always compliment me and it literally makes my day, especially because it’s my natural hair! Everyone cannot make their hair look naturally wavy or curly, so it’s really nice to have different hair than most people.
What’s your daily hair routine?
Emily: I change it up quite frequently, but as of now, I’ve been wearing looser waves rather than my naturally curly hair. When I wear it in loose waves, I shower at night & blow-dry my hair while brushing it to get it somewhat straighter. Then, in the morning I curl it with a 1-1.5in curling iron. However, when I do wear my hair more naturally curly, I like to scrunch it with a mousse or gel like Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam or Redken Ringlet 07 and then I let it air dry. Once it’s dry, I touch it up with a smaller curling iron. I try to use a wand about the size of my curls, so the curled hair blends in with my natural hair. Sometimes, I sleep with my hair in a braid & just touch it up with a curling iron the next day if I’m really lazy. It just depends, but I usually do one of those three.
What’s your nighttime routine?
Emily: During the school year, I like to shower at nighttime so I don’t have to get up quite as early. For shampoo & conditioner, I’ve been using the Kenra Moisturizing Shampoo & Kenra Moisturizing Conditioner. It’s not particularly for curly hair, but I think it works great with my natural waves. After I shower, I use the Healthy Sexy Hair Sexy Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-in Conditioner & then brush my hair out with a wide tooth comb or brush. Next, I apply a small amount of Moroccan Oil Hair Treatment to the ends of my hair and work it up to the middle-lower part of my hair. Then, I blow-dry it while combing & brushing it; this is what I do when I plan to wear my hair in loose waves, which are most nights. Sometimes, I will French braid my hair after that, other times, I just leave it like that.
If I plan on wearing my hair more curly and on the natural side, then I have to start from wet hair in the morning, so I don’t really do much with it at night since I will just have to shower & start from scratch the next morning.
What are your go-to styles?
Emily: If I want to actually style it, I love putting it in a French braid. I also like to wear it in a high ponytail (only if it is second day hair & already partly curled and styled”> or a messy bun. I don’t wear it in a messy bun very often though, because it takes too much time to get all my little flyaways into one lump of hair, and I don’t really like the way it looks on me. I prefer to just wear my hair down on most days.
What are your favorite products?
Emily: If I want to wear my hair curly, I absolutely love the Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam! It’s my all time favorite. I’ve used it for at least five years, if not more. I also love the Redken Ringlet 07. Another favorite is the Moroccan Oil Hair Treatment. I use this all the time, regardless of how I am going to wear my hair. Not only does it protect and nourish my hair, it also makes my hair smell great!
How do you prevent heat damage when straightening your hair?
Emily: I don’t straighten my hair very often. I try really hard to not do it often, but when I do, I always apply a heat protectant. The first thing I use is the Moroccan Oil Hair Treatment & sometimes I add a Redken heat protectant along with that. I also try to go as long as I can before washing it. I only touch up the pieces that really need help & if it’s a tad wavy, that’s okay.
How do the seasons affect your regimen?
Emily: If it rains (or snows”> even just a little bit my hair goes crazy & frizzy. If I choose to wear my hair in loose waves that day, then the top layer will look really frizzy and straggly while the bottom will have crazy, frizzy curls. The back & bottom layers get the most crazy & the top layer just gets scraggly and loses all of its curl. If it’s humid, my hair just goes crazy. It gets super curly and frizz. There’s nothing I can do about it.
What inspired you to start a vlog?
Emily: As I was starting to get really into makeup and beauty, my friend showed me Juicystar07/ Blair’s videos and I was hooked. I just thought it was so cool that people would make videos teaching other girls how to do makeup and hair and I really wanted to make videos of my own. I also love iheartmakeup92! She was such an inspiration to my channel & me. Freshman year of high school, I talked with my parents & friends, and they helped me decide to go ahead and do it, and I did!
How did you become a successful vlogger?
Emily: Honestly, I’m not really sure. It means so much to me to even be considered a successful vlogger. It’s so surreal because it’s always been a dream & it’s crazy that it’s actually coming true. I just try my best to always be myself and to be honest with my subscribers. I want them to know me for who I really am. I want them to feel like they’re my best friend & know me personally. I also try not to take things too seriously. Although, I want to be professional, I try to be relatable as well, I guess. When I first started my channel, I wanted it to be beauty & only beauty, but now it’s kind of turned into what I like to call a “comedy-based beauty” channel.
What do you like most about vlogging?
Emily: I love having a group of people who support me. They are always there for me and appreciate the same things as I do. I can always just get on YouTube and have a group of people to talk to about the latest beauty things. I also absolutely love making friends through YouTube, and meeting people that live in other parts of the world. It’s so interesting! I also love doing makeup and being in front of a camera. When I started, I knew nothing about filming/editing but now that I’ve been doing it for a little while, I discovered that I love it! I can’t really pick just one thing that I like the most, like it’s all so great!
What do you want to do beyond YouTube?
Emily: I haven’t quite decided yet, but I would love to do something in either the film or beauty industry. I would love to work with makeup, but I don’t know if it’s really something I could pursue & I can’t just pick one thing in the beauty industry to do forever! My dream is to be a makeup artist.
Do you have any advice for other teen vloggers?
Emily: Don’t worry about what other people think of you. Obviously, it’s really scary to put yourself out there, not knowing what’s going to come out of it, and who’s going to see it. Don’t let other people stop you from doing what you want to do. Also, just be original and be yourself. I think that’s the key to success. If you aren’t being yourself, it’s going to show. A lot of people try to be someone else but they would be better off just being themselves. Always be yourself, there’s no one better. (Kind of cheesy, but I really do believe it!”>
What is your number one piece of advice for teens with wavy hair?
Emily: Wear your hair how you like it. If you like it natural, wear it natural and embrace your hair. If you don’t like it natural, and you like to style it, wear it that way. You should wear it the way you like it. As long as you feel confident and it makes you happy, go for it. It’s your hair, so do what you like. However, don’t ever be afraid to embrace your natural hair. You would be surprised how many people would love to have it!
You can find Emily online here: