Coily and kinky hair
Tight coils and zigzags, often called afro-textured hair. 11 hairstyles on EveryHairstyle so far.
Coily hair, also called kinky or afro-textured hair, grows in tight coils and zigzags. Typing charts call it type 4, from 4A coils to 4C, the tightest. It is the hair of most people of sub-Saharan African descent and of many others. It can shrink to a quarter of its stretched length and needs moisture and gentle handling, and it holds shape so well that it is the basis of braids, twists, locs and sculpted styles.
A hair of many styles
Because coily hair holds its shape, it can be worn as an afro or puffs, braided into cornrows and box braids, twisted, locked, threaded, knotted into Bantu knots or brushed into waves. Many of these styles are protective, keeping the ends tucked away for weeks. It can also be straightened for a while with a silk press or permanently with a relaxer. Barbers cut it into fades, hi-top fades and line-ups.
Hair and discrimination
For generations, Black people with coily hair faced pressure to straighten it, and rules at school and work that banned afros, braids and locs. The natural hair movement and campaigns against hair discrimination have changed this. In the United States the CROWN Act, first passed in California in 2019, has been adopted in more than 20 states, and similar policies have been set by schools and employers in Britain and South Africa.
Famous coily and kinky hair hairstyles
Still to be written: Hair twists, Silk press.
Further reading
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreNatural hair movement
A social and cultural campaign for wearing textured hair without chemical straightening.Natural · Coily and kinky hair · 1960
🇺🇸 United StatesDurag
Close-fitting head cloth for hair protection and style maintenance.Wrapped · Curly hair · 1960
🇸🇩 Sudan and 4 moreDreadlocks
A hairstyle of rope-like hair strands formed by matting or twisting.Natural · Coily and kinky hair · 1970
🇺🇸 United StatesAfro
A rounded style of combed-out natural hair.Natural · Coily and kinky hair · 1960
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreCornrows
Tight three-strand braids woven close to the scalp in straight or curved lines.Braid · Coily and kinky hair · 1902
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 morePolish plait
A matted hair formation viewed as both a medical condition and a folk amulet in Eastern Europe.Styled · Coily and kinky hair · 1600
🇳🇦 Namibia and 1 moreBox braids
Square-parted protective braids with synthetic extensions.Braid · Coily and kinky hair · 1990
🇺🇸 United StatesHi-top fade
Tall flat top with shaved sides from hip hop cultureCut · Coily and kinky hair · 1984
🇺🇸 United StatesConk
Chemically straightened hair popular with African-American men mid-20th century.Styled · Coily and kinky hair · 1920
WorldWaves
A ripple pattern formed by brushing short curly hair flat.Curls · Curly hair · 1900
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 4 moreFulani braids
West African braided style with beads and side strandsBraid · Coily and kinky hair
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dreadlocks: Richard Mortel, CC BY 2.0, source
- Durag: The original uploader was Calliopejen at English Wikipedia ., CC BY 2.0, source
- Cornrows: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Polish plait: Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, source
- Afro: Jason Melcher, CC BY 2.0, source
- Natural hair movement: livepict.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Box braids: Randen Pederson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Conk: NBC Television, Public domain, source
- Waves: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fulani braids: François-Edmond Fortier (1862-1928), Public domain, source
- Hi-top fade: Kct02, CC BY-SA 4.0, source