My Go-to online resources for Black natural hair hairstyles inspiration/ideas.

Written by Fadeke Banjo.

Hey, curl, friends, Fadeke here. In today’s blog post, I will be given you some much-needed gems on where to find some great natural hairstyle inspiration. If you are new to the whole natural hair community and have recently started embracing your naturally curly hair, you may feel clueless on how to style your hair or perhaps may have recently cut your hair, in that awkward short mid-length stage of your natural hair, started your locs or simply bored on doing the same old natural hairstyles over and over again. If you’re reading this blog post and any of these situations listed apply to you, this blog post is for you. So be sure to grab a notebook and a pen or your phone. I am only joking; you really don’t have to grab a notebook. You can bookmark this blog post to refer back to.

1) YouTube

First up, the lovely world of YouTube. When I tell you how useful YouTube was when starting my natural hair journey and when I needed help navigating how to take care of my natural hair and style it, YouTube became my best friend. Check out my previous blog post on my favourite black female Natural hair YouTubers - 'My top 5 favourite Natural Hair YouTubers'. You should definitely check them out, as not only do they have some great content on how to take care of your naturally curly hair, as well as providing some great natural hairstyle styling videos to Inspire you.

Here are two styling videos to help inspire your next look:

1) TheChicNatural (2019) - '8 Quick Style Ideas for curly girls!! - natural hair tutorial'.14th June.

TheChicNatural 8 quick styles for curly hair. Source: YouTube, video credit: TheChicNatural (YouTube channel)

In this video, TheChicNatural shares 8 quick styles to wear for women with naturally curly hair to try and provides a step-by-step on how to achieve each hairstyle look. As you can see from this video, there are endless ways to style and jazz up your natural hair. Save this video for later.

2) Laila Washington- FusionofCultures - 'Simple Flat Twist Updo On Natural Hair. Quarantine but make it CUTE!'—2nd April 2020.

Laila Washington- FusionofCultures- Simple Flat Twist updo on Natural Hair. Source: YouTube, Video credit: Laila Washington, FusionsofCultures YouTube channel.

In this video, Laila shares an easy step by step tutorial on how to achieve this elegant and simple flat-twist updo on natural hair. Definitely save this video for later, whenever you need some inspiration when to come to styling your natural hair.

2) Pinterest

My second go-to online resource/place to find some great natural hairstyle inspiration is Pinterest. If you are a lover of Pinterest like me, then you already know the vibes. I love to go on Pinterest for many reasons, including looking for natural hairstyle inspirations and the latest trends in black protective hairstyles. The great thing about Pinterest is once you create an account, you can like and pin pictures from Pinterest and create a board which is very similar to creating a mood board. You can then refer to the boards you have created with different natural hairstyles when you need some inspiration to style your natural hair. You can also follow Pinterest pages created by other users dedicated to all things black natural hair. In addition, you can also follow some of your favourite black natural hair influencers on Pinterest to get some inspiration on styling your natural hair. Pinterest also has the feature for people to share how-to videos and step by step photos on different things, including creating a particular natural hairstyle. Moreover, you can use certain key terms or phrases when trying to search up for some natural hairstyle inspiration on Pinterest, include key terms such as: ‘Summer natural hairstyles’, 'Protective natural hairstyles’, ‘Easy natural hairstyles’, ‘Natural hairstyles for a wedding’, 'Natural hairstyles for short curly hair, 'hairstyles for locs/dreadlocks. As you can see, the list can go on, but these key terms and phrases can help you narrow down your search to find the sort of photos and videos you are looking for regarding your hair styling needs.

Here is a link to one of my Pinterest boards dedicated to natural hair inspiration:

- Banjoflorance - Natural-hairstyles ideas, hair, Inspiration and tips. Pinterest. Available at:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/banjoflorance/natural-hairstyles-ideashair-inspiration-and-tips-/ (Accessed:15th July 2021)

Here is a list of a couple of Pinterest boards I follow on Pinterest that showcase all things black natural hair and black hairstyles:

- The Notorious K.IA: 'Natural Hair Inspiration'.Pinterest. Avaliable at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/thenotoriouskia/natural-hair-inspiration/ (Accessed: 15th July 2021)

- Black Hair Info: 'Natural Hairstyles'. Pinterest. Avaliable at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/blackhairinfo/natural-hairstyles/ (Accessed: 15th July 2021)

- Ukafrolista: 'Natural Hair, Beauty, body positivity, Influencer'. Pinterest. Avaliable at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ukafrolista/_created/ (Accessed: 15th July 2021)

3) Music videos by Black artists showcasing natural hairstyles and iconic black hairstyles:

The third online resource I use to get natural hairstyle inspiration/ ideas is from music videos from black artists. Although black natural hairstyles, in particular, are not always represented in music videos, some music videos have showcased the beauty of black women and their natural hair and paying homage to popular black hairstyles and black culture. However, bear in mind that some of these natural hairstyles and black hairstyles may not be an everyday hairstyle you rock, but then again, you could. Needless to say, these are still beautiful hairstyles regardless.

Here are a couple of photos from music videos showcasing the beauty and versatility of black natural hairstyles and black hairstyles:

I choose these particular music videos because they showcased the beauty and diversity of black women's natural hair and the different ways it can be styled and showcasing popular hairstyles from the black culture. It is being recreated/revamped in a whole different way whilst paying homage to the original. So I hope you enjoy going through this gallery of photos and get inspired to try out different hairstyles on your natural hair.

Brown skin girl music video

Love interest rocks a Afro

The diversity of natural hair

Janelle's 'Wondabraid' look

Afro puff bubble pigtails look

Ari in a curly puff updo

Beyonce's Lemonade braids

Tiana Major9's box braids

Solange's Braids with beads

SZA rocks beaded braids fringe

Ari rocking a curly bob

Firey red faux locs

Box Braids & bling

Short curly Afro& red lipstick

black ladies &antebellum style

Source: YouTube, Vevo. Screenshots from different music videos showcasing black women's natural hair as well as black hairstyles. All rights to the photos are given to the musicians & all those involved in each music video.

* FYI, when you click on each photo, it will automatically direct you to the official music videos.

4) Instagram

@naturalhairloving (Instagram page)

Another go-to online resource I go to for natural hair hairstyles inspiration is Instagram. I love to follow not only my favourite black female natural hair YouTubers and influencers on Instagram, but I also follow natural hair pages that showcase black women and women of colour with diverse curl types and textures, as well as sharing styling videos on the latest natural hair hairstyle or black hairstyle which can include protective hairstyles such as braids using extensions.

Here is a list of some of the pages I follow on Instagram to get some inspiration for styling my natural hair or thinking of a protective hairstyle. So be sure to check them out and give them a follow:

- Naturalhairloving - @naturalhairloving

- Happy Healthy curls and kinks - @happyhealthycurlsandkinks

- Naturallycurly - @naturallycurly

5) TikTok is another go-to online platform I use to find the latest black natural hairstyles ideas and trends.

TikTok has also been a recent go-to place to find the latest natural hair hairstyle inspiration and black protective hairstyles to try with my hair. I have come across a couple of great TikTok creators who focus on black natural hair and providing content on how to style black Afro hair creatively. Unlike Instagram being mostly a photo-sharing app, TikTok provides short minute videos that allow me to see the step-by-step process of a video from start to finish. The TikTok user may share a short tutorial on achieving a certain natural hair hairstyle look in some cases. Once you create a TikTok account, TikTok has the feature of being able to save a video, which is very helpful as this means you can refer back to the video whenever you want as all your saved videos are available on your TikTok account. Moreover, with TikTok videos, you can pause a video that is not always the case for some videos on Instagram.

Here are 3 black natural hair TikTokers I follow on TikTok; you can check out for hairstyle inspiration for your natural hair :

- @andreawiththecurls

- @carranitac

@dhatgirlbecca

All three TikTokers mentioned have made several amazing styling videos and tutorials for young girls and women with curly can try out.

I hope this blog post was useful in helping you navigate where you can find some hairstyle inspiration when styling your natural hair. Where do you get inspiration and ideas when it comes to styling your natural hair? I would love to add it to my list.

Also, would you add any other online resources to this list? Let me know, comment down below your thoughts on this blog post, or share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtags #naturalhairinspiration #blacknaturalhairstylesinspo and #mynaturalcrownandiblog.

If you enjoyed this blog post, do give it a like, comment and share this blog post with at least one fellow curl friend. Also, make sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss any future blog posts.

Love from your fellow curl friend and mentor, Fadeke.

Bye for now!