Tabitha Tongoi: Authenticity matters
[bctt tweet=”Write from personal experience has helped @CravingYellow remain consistent” via=”no”] When a post on your blog clocks about 40,000 views in under 24 hours, I think it’s safe to call you a highly successful blogger. Tabitha Tongoi creator and owner of the Craving Yellow blog, still gets astounded to know that she reaches that many people with her effervescent nature and views on life’s ups and downs. The 26-year-old Kenyan, natural hair enthusiast and lover of all things yellow has been blogging for over two years now. Tabitha touches on everything hair, beauty, lifestyle and of course, finding yellow i.e. finding joy in life’s simple pleasures. She has lived, worked and studied in four continents, her current home being Melbourne, Australia. Tabitha is currently on holiday in Nairobi and SLA contributor Diana Odera caught up with her to get to know more about life as an African blogger in the diaspora. Who is Tabitha outside of the craving yellow moniker? Personally, I feel like I’m a thinker and I’m a writer. In my free time, I’m always thinking of new ideas, researching on creative projects etc. I love the mind space. I’m always engaging with my mind so I guess I’m a bit of an introvert; I spend a lot of time observing the world and people. When it comes to my extended life – I’m the last born of 3, I have an older sister and an older brother who just got married last year. Career wise – I am getting into the blogging space, I studied Political Science, which was never meant to bring me here but here I am. I’m a bit of a nerd, I love to read and study, I‘ve always loved school. I also love to give and I love to encourage others and see them succeed. How did the Craving Yellow movement begin? It started when I was in my last year of uni. I had just come back from England, which was an amazing experience that made me grow into myself, learn how to formulate my own ideas and be confident in myself. Once I was back in the US with that mindset, I took a class on the power of documentary photography in telling new stories that are untold. I had just finished reading Americanah and I was so inspired so I decided to turn the camera on myself and tell my story because I felt there weren’t enough women in the diaspora who’s stories were being told, if any. So I started off on that premise, I knew I loved hair and people would talk to me about hair so that was a constant conversation starter. Hair was the hook but I also wanted to talk about other things e.g. who are you? When you go home what type of conversations are you having with yourself as a young African woman living abroad? It gradually took on a life of its own from there on. I saw a lot of my friends get into depression, addiction and just losing themselves so it was also about touching on these types of conversations and experiences that women face. [bctt tweet=”I was so inspired so I decided to turn the camera on myself and tell my story” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Your blog focuses on your natural hair journey as well as beauty and lifestyle topics. How do you go about creating great content that is relatable and consistent? The premise has always been my hair because that is what I can teach people about as a skill I have. I haven’t been as regimented as I’d like to be because I have a full-time job and run the blog on the side. On average I make sure to release 2-3 youtube videos, mostly on hair and hair reviews. On the blog, I put out two posts a month on hair and for lifestyle topics. I think that because I write from my own personal experience, the type of content stays consistent. I don’t write what everyone else is writing about so it just comes to me naturally. When I’m not able to write, I don’t force myself at all just to appear like I’m writing. At any point, have you felt the pressure from trolls online or any negative feedback that you may get on your blog – pressure to make you change from your premise? In terms of hair care, in Kenya as compared to abroad, I have only felt pressured when I’m compared to fashion bloggers who have a very different production process and different content. Sometimes people blur the two. By default, because the hair blogging field here is very small, it’s easy to be compared to others. But I think in terms of my own journey, one thing I really appreciate is having lived abroad and having had to be in my own mind space and create this blog with no outside interruptions. I admire what people do but I’m very clear in what my message is and what my premise is, I’ve never been threatened or intimidated. Having lived in four continents, how have these diverse environments contributed to your personal growth, your professional and academic career? I’ve really had to learn who I am and to be fine with that. I always stand out everywhere I go, so I’ve been forced to really look into myself and ask myself internally – who am I and what do I stand for, what are my passions, what drives me? etc. As a whole, it’s allowed me to have a very clear vision of who I am as a young person, more than I would have if I had stayed in Kenya. I’ve learnt to be my own island. Adaptability has been another strength I’ve gained, great work ethic as well. What keeps you motivated? I think about young girls out there who are probably struggling with a lot and need just a bit to encourage them to push on and
4 African beauty bloggers bringing something extra
Before I put fingers to keyboard for this article, I wasn’t sure how I was going to go about this beauty police work. I’m not a total novice to all things beauty but let’s just say I’ll rather watch Crime and Investigation than Style Network. Thanks to man’s new best friend, I was able to get the word for who is hot and who is not in the beauty blogging atmosphere. Some names rang a bell, a few I follow on social media but they were a lot of others I never heard of. After feeding off cyber world, I narrowed down four beauty bloggers I felt had something extra to bring to the table. Ezine Alfa (Nigerian) There is a reason this name came up in most articles and I totally agree with those writers. Anyone who is ready to show me how to do flawless make up, give me details on where to buy them and even the price in my local currency definitely will get me hooked! I put her on my list because she absolutely got the 411 on everything beauty in Lagos, which by the way is the name of her blog. Clare Oparo (Ugandan) What strikes me about Clare is her attention to the details other beauty bloggers don’t usually focus on. The Wolf & Moroko blogger talks about make up ingredients and how it affects different skin tones and textures. I think this is so important because my skin reacts to some make-up brands and i don’t know why this happens. I’m so excited I discovered this beauty with the brains; I can now get useful tips on brands to avoid for my type of skin. What does it profit a girl to wear all this nice makeup, only to get acne or some kind of awful skin reaction the following morning? Simone Stephens (South African) I am a sucker for inspirational women. So, it’s no surprise that this South African lady is on my list. Even as she hands out beauty tips, she motivates and inspires the average woman, lady or girl to boost her confidence and self-image. I also like that she samples very affordable products, so if you don’t want to break the bank just to look good, she’s the blogger for you. Go check her out on Canvas Fashions by Simone Jennie Jenkins (Nigerian) I’m going to be straight with you guys, Jennie is on my list because she is Jennie! Yea I said it! I really like Jennie Jenkins; what intrigues me most about her is the way she transforms into different looks with her hair and makeup. I am subscribed to her YouTube channel and have been stalking following her on IG, Snapchat and Facebook. Watch her YouTube channel beautybyJJ for dashing makeup looks. So there you have it… my own version of African beauty bloggers who are killing the game, completely based on my sentiments and bias ☺