Daviana Mercedes started creating hair care content three years ago.
“It was just me going to the store telling people what they should use and what they shouldn’t,” said Mercedes. “Kind of telling them the do’s and don’ts, very much tutorial based.”
She started her natural hair care journey in high school when she couldn’t afford many expensive products. Mercedes quickly learned this journey would take a lot of trial and error.
“I started off with the cheap stuff and I was still trying to figure out “Ok, is this actually helping my hair?’” she said. “If it wasn’t then I wouldn’t keep using it.”
Many people have taken to TikTok to share their hair tips but recently, Brazilian hair care became a huge topic of discussion.
Mercedes is Dominican and Colombian, so she’s familiar with hair care in other countries. “I’ve heard, as a curly head, that products from other countries are better than in America, and specifically on TikTok it was Brazilian hair care,” she said.
First, she tried Skala, one of the first Brazilian products to go viral. Then she tried Lola. In her first video, she compared the ingredients of Skala and other popular American products. “I was comparing the ingredients in Skala, versus a lot of these American products and these are almost the same ingredients but for a cheaper price,’” she said.
In fact, what drew a lot of users to this product was its attainable price. She didn’t notice a huge difference in the way the products worked but really liked how Skala left her hair. “I liked the fact that it was affordable, that my hair felt soft, that it was shiny and then looking at the ingredients they weren’t horrible either,” said Mercedes.
She sees the importance of bringing awareness to products from other countries, not only because they often use better ingredients but also because the people behind the brand sometimes have a better understanding of the user.
“A lot of brands that are catered to women with natural hair don’t have people who look like us in those rooms,” she said. “I don’t want to say that in America they don’t care as much. I think the proof is in the pudding when you look at the ingredients.”
As a first gen Afro-Latina in New York, Mercedes hopes to continue to cultivate a community around her platform and inspire others like her both in their hair care journey’s and in life.
You can check her out on Instagram and TikTok and Instagram.
