Hairstyles for Long Curly Hair

Does it annoy anyone else that when you search for hairstyle ideas for curly hair, the vast majority of hairstyle photos that pop up are hairstyles for straight hair that has been curled?

Curled hair =/= Curly hair

Now that we have that straight, I thought I'd show you a couple of the styles I've done on my sister and cousin this summer. We live in a tropical climate, so the vast majority of these styles are of the "up" variety, because walking around covered in a thick blanket of hair is generally not comfortable. Most of these hairstyles can be done on straight hair as well, but I've found that most photos of hairstyles show styles done on straight hair or curled hair, so I wanted to provide a resource of hairstyles that look great while allowing the hair to keep its natural texture.

These two have very different hair types. Shannon has distinct, fairly tight coils, and her hair is very fine as well as thin. She has a lot of natural body, but her hair itself is not very bulky. She has long layers in her hair to help it lay better.

Anna has looser curls, and very coarse, very thick hair. She has dramatic layers to help remove some of the bulk of her hair, and wears bangs as well, which she straightens everyday. All of these hairstyles are no-heat hairstyles, except for Anna's straightened bangs.

Grown-up Topsy Tail
 

No special tool required, flipping ponytails is pretty easy! This is a great all-day, no product style for their texture of hair because their hair doesn't slip and fall out of ponytails the way that straight hair does.

Braided Updo

It's three braids at the nape of the next, twisted into a balanced, chignon-esque shape and pinned into place. Again, no product. Hairspray would help tame the frizz that is endemic to curly hair, but this family doesn't own hairspray.

Classic Chignon

A little bit of teasing for extra volume in the crown. Sides are rolled and pinned, all hair is gathered into a low ponytail, then rolled upwards, shaped and pinned to keep secure. Again, her hair has enough texture to hold this style without hairspray, which is pretty cool!

Side {Fishtail} Braid

I gathered the hair loosely to give her just a little more volume on the top and sides. With her hair texture, that's often the best strategy if you don't want the hair slicked flat on the scalp. I would not recommend teasing fine, tightly curled hair like this, unless you want to spend a long time with a pick and gobs of conditioner trying to get the snarls out later.

Rockin' Ponytail

Inverse braid on each side, ends wound around the base of a high ponytail. If you're working with hair that can safely be teased, you can create a poof in the front.

Inverted Side Braid to Bun

Exactly what the title says. She's got the perfect texture and length of hair for this--it's about a 5 minute hairstyle that can be done on wet or dry hair. From the smoothness that you can see in these photos, you can tell that I did this early in the morning while her hair was still wet.

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So those are just a few styles to consider! Not all updos require blowdried, roundbrushed hair that's been set in hot rollers--and you're not limited to ponytails, either! Sometimes a couple of braids and pins are all you need to make your curls look gorgeous!

P.S. Styling hair is not hard. Remembering to take pictures of hairstyles that you've done...really hard. This post could have been three times longer if I were as good with a camera as I am at saying, "Hey, wanna let me do your hair?"