Coily and kinky hair
Tight coils and zigzags, often called afro-textured hair. 28 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
AfroCoily hair grown out and shaped round
CornrowsBraided flat to the scalp
Box braidsFree-hanging protective braids
DreadlocksCoily hair locks readily
Hair twistsTwo-strand twists and twist-outs
WavesShort coily hair brushed into ripplesSilk pressA heat straightening for coily hair
Hi-top fadeA tall flat top over a fadeFurther reading
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
- Cornrows: Rod Waddington, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Afro: Jason Melcher, CC BY 2.0, source
- Box braids: Randen Pederson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hi-top fade: Kct02, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Waves: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hair twists: Vox Efx, CC BY 2.0, source