NaturallyCurly: Launching TextureTrends(TM), the First Wave of Semi-Annual, Syndicated Hair-Care Market Intelligence

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - Sep 21, 2011) - The NaturallyCurly Network, (www.NaturallyCurlyNetwork.com), the leading social network and community for people with curly, kinky and wavy hair and those who service them, released its first TextureTrends™ report. TextureTrends™, which includes market insights from 3,800 people collected in July 2011, provides key insights into the attitudes and purchasing behavior of people with curly, kinky and wavy hair -- a market that makes up more than 60 percent of the global population. The report provides invaluable market intelligence, including:

• Purchasing behavior by product type, by hair type and by retail channel
• Brand awareness among women with curly, kinky and wavy hair
• The growing trend of women embracing their natural curls

"During the past several years, we've conducted custom community research on behalf of individual advertising partners and for business planning purposes," said Michelle Breyer, president and co-founder of the NaturallyCurly Network. "With TextureTrends, we will offer key market insights twice a year to all brands who seek to reach this lucrative, growing market. Over the past five years, the texture category has exploded with nearly every brand offering products for curls, kinks and waves.

"Brands can now subscribe to Texture Trends, and may also sponsor questions in future surveying activity by hair type and other segmentation factors," Breyer said.

For more information on TextureTrends™, contact us at advertising@naturallycurly.com or visit us at http://www.naturallycurlynetwork.com/texturetrends

Quick Facts: Among findings of the first commercially available TextureTrends™ report, focusing on "Living with Curls" and "Hair Care and Styling":

• Women are embracing their curls versus altering them: 93% believe women are more likely to embrace "going natural" today versus five years ago, and more than half of respondents (52%) who had received a chemical treatment in the past have not received one in the last 3 months.
  
  
• Conversations are happening virtually -- and they are influential: An average of 83% of respondents stated online product reviews and recommendations are very or moderately important to their hair care and styling purchase decisions and an average of 38% of respondents are purchasing products online.

About The NaturallyCurly Network

The NaturallyCurly Network is a collection of sites that informs, empowers and unites a community of people brought together by a common interest -- curly hair. The flagship brand, NaturallyCurly.com, attracts influential consumers creating user-generated content on a daily basis -- boasting more than 40,000 photos, product and stylist reviews and 30,000 monthly forum posts. The network also includes CurlStylist.com, a professional community especially for stylists servicing the curly clientele; CurlMart.com, a boutique e-commerce site showcasing more than 60 brands and 550 community-vetted products; and CurlyNikki.com, the leading natural hair expert in the blogosphere, encouraging people everywhere to share their experiences, frustrations and triumphs of being naturally glamorous. The entire network logs millions of monthly global visits, all of which have a common thread -- a curl, kink or wave -- that bonds.

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