The true downfall of Oh Knotty appears to have occurred in late 2021 through 2022. Several factors coalesced into a perfect storm:

By March 2022, their Instagram comments were restricted. Their TikTok account stopped posting consistently. When they did post, the comments sections were flooded with "Where is my order?" and "SCAM."

In an era where "clean girl" aesthetics and hair health were trending, Oh Knotty hit the zeitgeist perfectly. They leveraged TikTok micro-influencers to demonstrate the product: a quick flick of the wrist to create a high bun, held effortlessly by a scrunchie that looked like a florist’s rose.

A comeback would require a massive "mea culpa" campaign, admitting the previous failures, and shipping thousands of free units to influencers to rebuild the narrative. That requires capital—which is precisely what Oh Knotty no longer seems to have. So, what happened to Oh Knotty?

You cannot go from 1,000 orders a month to 100,000 orders a month using the same warehouse staff and support team. Oh Knotty grew too fast to build the scaffolding necessary to support their weight.

By 2020, the brand had exploded. They reported selling over 500,000 units and generating over $10 million in annual revenue. They secured a deal with Urban Outfitters. It looked like a fairy tale. As with many hyper-growth DTC brands, the seams began to show as early as late 2020. While the "For You" pages were flooded with positive reviews, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot pages told a different story.

As a small-to-medium business, Oh Knotty was crushed by the global shipping container crisis. Their supply chain (likely sourced from overseas manufacturers) choked. Inventory that should have taken 30 days to arrive took 120 days.