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Nederlands Natural black hair men: hair care and hair styles
Natural hair is usually used to describe the particular texture of hair for Black people with an African background. Other words that are sometimes used are kinky or nappy hair, but these are controversial, so we stick to natural (black) hair, afro textured hair and coily hair[1].
What is natural or coily hair?
You could describe coily hair as the curliest hair type. Generally speaking, there are three different hair types: straight, wavy, and curly hair. Coily or natural black hair is a version of curly hair and usually people from African descend have this hair type. That is why it is also called afro textured hair.
When you have this hair type, then you have many tiny curls that stack on top of each other. These ringlets have a lot of air between them and create a large mass. That is why natural hair can be quite big and then you can get a nice afro hairstyle.
It is possible to make coily hair straight but then you will have to use chemical products or use heat stylers, like a flat iron. If you want to keep it straight you will have to straighten it occasionally, but it can damage your natural hair, especially when it is already colour treated. Do not straighten your hair more than about once a month.
In this blog post I will mention a few great hairstyles for men with natural hair, so forget about that flat iron and just embrace your natural hair type. It is always easier to work with your hair than going against it.
Taking care of natural or coily hair
Before I will talk about some cool hairstyles, I would like to talk about hair care. Considering most natural hairstyles will require the same kind of hair care it is best to get that out of the way first. Then we do not have to go over that for each individual coily hairstyle.
Wash your hair twice per week
I would recommend washing your natural hair about twice per week. You do not want to wash it too often because then your hair will lose its natural oils. Especially coily hair and afro textured hair benefit from these natural oils because these hair types tend to be dry or frizzy faster compared to other hair types. Hydration and oils are important.
Hydrate your natural black hair
So, use a (mild) shampoo that is meant for curly hair and wash it about twice per week with a shampoo. Always use a conditioner afterwards to replenish moisture and hydrate your hair with natural ingredients. Also, in this case it is recommended to use a conditioner for curly hair types.
When you notice that your natural hair is still a bit dry after you applied a conditioner, then you can apply a hair oil in dry hair. These oils contain olive oil or argan oil to nourish your hair with natural ingredients and help replenish coily hair with moisture.
You can also apply a leave-in conditioner in your afro textured hair and not wash it out. That is why a leave-in conditioner provides more hydration compared to a regular one. Combined with hair oil you will be able to achieve the most hydration for your natural hair, but it is not always necessary.
Drying your natural hair
You can blow-dry your hair, but you should be careful about it. Coily hair and natural hair can be quite dry by itself, so air drying is always best. But if you want to use a blow-dryer now and then you should apply a heat protectant spray to prevent damage to your natural hair as much as possible.
Detangle natural black hair
You want to prevent your natural hair from becoming to coily so you might want to detangle it from time to time. You can do this with your hands, but you can also use a hair brush or comb. It is important to choose a wide-tooth comb or a brush with the tips further apart.
When you cannot move the brush or comb naturally through your hair it can get uncomfortable or even get stuck.
Coily hairstyle 1: afro hair
The first hairstyle to consider is afro hair. Afro textured hair is great, and you can just grow your hair out naturally. Embrace your natural hair texture. This hairstyle will not go out of style and is extremely popular. It could be nice to make sure that all sides have an equal length for some symmetry.
Styling an afro hairstyle
It probably works best to use a hair cream to provide your afro hair with some hold and especially a healthy shine. Good creams will contain nourishing ingredients to keep your afro textured hair hydrated and help to have it stay shaped.
There are multiple hair creams formulated for curly hair and those can often be an excellent choice for men with coily hair or natural hair.
Coily hairstyle 2: undercut
Another beautiful hairstyle to choose for your natural hair as a man is an undercut. An undercut means you keep the sides and back shorter and the hair on top stays longer. You can create very tight and cool hairstyles with this, and natural black hair is no exception to this.
On top you leave your hair longer and you can leave it a bit more messy as well, especially if you keep the sides and back short and tight. But you can also choose to keep your afro textured hair on top more groomed when you go for a more angular look.
There are so many variations to choose from when you go for a natural hair undercut. You can shave in some lines as a motive on the side or back. You can create a fade, so the hair around your ears is short but it gets longer when you go up. You can also pick how long you want your coily hair to be on top. The choice is yours!
Styling a natural black hair undercut
When you go for an under cut you might want some more hold, so you could take a look at a light to medium hold hair wax with some shine. It is not recommended to choose matte styling products in coily hair because it will make it look dull and dry. You can better pick products that contains more nourishing and healthy ingredients.
You can also choose for a hair cream with slightly less volume and some more hydration.
Coily hairstyle 3: dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, or sometimes called locs (beause there is nothing dreadful about them), are also a possibility to create a unique hairstyle. You can go for short locs or go for longer locs. This hairstyle is basically a thicker kind of braid, and you can create it or have it occurred naturally.
When you choose to have locs form naturally they are semi-permanent. You cannot just remove them from your hair. Natural locs are called Rastas because the Rastafari often had this kind of style of locs.
When you do not brush or comb natural hair for a few days then the locs start to occur naturally because your hair starts to get tangled more.
Coily hairstyle 4: short afro textured hair
When you are going for fast and easy you might to keep your hair short. You can go for a buzz cut or you can leave your hair a few centimetres long. These shorter natural hairstyles just take less maintenance and are neat looking.
The biggest variety that you can play with when picking a shorter natural black hairstyle is the length of the sides and back. Just as with the aforementioned undercut you can have it stand out compared to other shorter coily hairstyles.
Styling short natural hair
When you have short natural black hair, you do not need an extremely high hold. A light wax or hair cream is plenty to make your hair look awesome. Hair care is almost always more important than hair styling because you want to prevent your hair from looking dull, dry, or frizzy.
It is smart to pick shiny hair styling products because they are less dry and contain more natural hair care and nourishing ingredients. Avoid dry waxes, clays and pastes as well as water-based pomades. They only will make your coily hair dry.
Conclusion
In this blog post I mentioned a few hairstyles for coily or afro textured hair but there are many more options of course. These are just a few popular ones and that is why you see these more often.
When it comes to the styling of natural hair, it is more important to go for nourishing products than strong and high hold products. That is why you do not want to wash your natural black hair too often and use a conditioner to prevent any drying or damage. Hydration is the keyword.
And the better your natural hair is cared for, the easier it is to style. Choose lighter styling products like a light wax with shine, hair creams or hair mousses. If you want to know the difference between all the different hair styling products, then you can read this blog post!
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