Internet search statistics yield valuable insights into the things people are thinking about, and the questions they most want answered. I recently posted a blog about female celebrities with the most Googled hair in the world. The winner was Lady GaGa, with 40,500 global monthly searches.
Next, I thought it might be interesting to check out the global monthly search stats on the hairstyles of black celebrities, to see whose was the most popular. The top ten list is a diverse group, consisting of seven recording artists, two actresses, one television presenter, one supermodel and one First Lady; (you can guess who). The list is almost exclusively African American, with just two black Brits -- Leona Lewis and Naomi Campbell -- in the top ten. Overall, two names dominate the table -- Rihanna and Beyoncé -- whose rankings are as much to do with their overall popularity as singing stars as it is to do with the particulars of their hair choices. The top ten also yields a few surprises -- Michelle Obama's hair is more popular than Naomi Campbell's for example, while Halle Berry's short crop beats Nicki Minaj's restless plethora of multi-coloured weaves. In the battle of the television personalities, Tyra Banks is in at number five, while Oprah doesn't make the list at all.
Check out the full listing to see who scores highest:
Black Beauty: The History of Black and African American Hair and Beauty by Ben Arogundade is out now.
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Now don't get me wrong it's awesome that Black women have so much choice for their hair...but it's not reflected here amongst the biracial beauties and wigs/weaves.
Not one natural non-mixed woman on this list! (Well except the great FLOW)
I went out once au naturel and I nearly killed a man walking a dog. Never again.
I let it go natural at home, but keep the blinds closed, lest the meter man sees me (AND I walk around naked sometimes) and has a heart attack. Yes, you might say I have black hair sometimes.
I get it that black women have been told that "good" hair is hair that is straight. That is sad.
it's great to have really versatile hair with which you can achieve a lot of "looks," like we see with Mrs. Obama, but it is disheartening when someone feels the need to replace their true hair with something that isn't them. What message does this send to little girls?