A unique dynamic happens with Black women and their hair once the weather starts to warm up: pre-planning your next few hairstyles while one is already done.
It’s a commonly shared practice that comes with the territory of having textured hair. While we might be content with the style we spent hours in the chair to get, there remains a lingering voice in the back of our heads, nudging us to spend just as much time sourcing new inspiration.
Look no further than our screenshots and Pinterest boards for proof, but can you blame us?
The range of styles that have been pioneered over the last few decades, let alone within the last couple of years, have left us spoiled for choice. With new hair innovations and trends bubbling up at every turn, the seasonal scouting for summer styles is a tradition we’ve come to embrace — and there are plenty of looks to choose from.
We know that when it comes to the summertime, the last thing you want to think about is what we’re going to do with your hair. That’s why we’re taking the load off your shoulders to provide you with the must-try protective hairstyles to add to your summer-style roster.
Zoë Kravitz Braids
We wonder if Zoë Kravitz knew the hold that this hairstyle would have on us after becoming her signature look. Zoë Kravitz's braids have quickly become synonymous with being just as effortlessly cool as she is. The look below can be achieved with human hair bundles being sewn into the back half and sides of your hair, with small micro braids being added to your “leave-out” to give a braided, wavy look.
@thehairvine #zoekravitsbraids #braids #sewin #weave
Braided Baldie
If you love a hairstyle that can double as a conversation starter, look no further than the Braided Baldie. Created by LA-based hairstylist @TOOKIEDIDIT, this style gives the illusion of one never-ending braid that wraps and swirls around your hair is the perfect look to rock during the heat of the summer. It’s one for the bold types but is sure to turn heads.
@tookiedidit_ The BRAIDED BALD HEAD🔥 FULL VIEW! #tookiedidit #fyp #labraids #labraider #braids #fy #designbraids #braidstyles #braidstutorial #blackgirlluxury #kidbraider #feedinbraids #viraltiktok #bohoknotlessbraids
Mid-Back Goddess Knotless Braids
Knotless braids will forever be seen as a go-to look for beach days, vacations, and summertime flyness. While longer braids have been the staple, many knotless lovers are opting for a midback and shoulder length for a low-maintenance alternative.
Source: @derastyles_
Finger Wave Braids
What can’t an expert braider do? This cornrow style is inspired by the finger waves of the 1920s and 1930s, which give an illusion of having waves around the perimeter of your hairline. NYC-based braider @slayedinbraids shows us below.
Knotless Bob
There’s something about a bob that can give your face the perfect framing. Experimenting with shorter braids can add an extra touch of edginess to your next style.
Source: @ne.joel
Dolly Braids
Dolly Braids, created by @chocolatemilqq, is a style that the bob-loving ladies are going to love. Think 90s-inspired braids — similar to Brandy on Moesha — with flipped ends for added fun.
@chocolatemilqq how to style your Dolly braids 💗:
Freestyle Goddess Cornrows
Want to add a little extra sass to your straightbacks? Ask your stylist to do a freestyle set on your hair and add human or synthetic hair pieces to the ends for a hot summer look.
Ryan Destiny/Instagram
Bora Bora/Tree Braids
There’s something about human hair that adds a carefree aspect to your protective style and Bora Bora or Tree braids are the hairdos to pull it off. Achieving the look is all about adding high-density human hair and adding multiple strands to your braid as leave out. Spray down with water and mousse for a wavy look, or leave as is for a natural, untamed wave. @boraluxuryhair shows us how it’s done.
@boraluxuryhair #boho #bohobraids #njbraider #njhairstylist #fyp #trending
Freestyle Cornrows
One thing’s for certain: cornrows will always be in style. But if you want to turn your crown into a creative work of art, add a few flowers, spirals, zig-zags, letters, overlapped braids, braid bangs, and more to your freestyle cornrows.
Source: @saigeandbae
Half Lemonade, Half Twists Braids
Channel your inner Beyoncé with this style that comes two-for-one. For the front half, you’ll have a set of Lemonade braids, and in the back, add your choice of twists or box braids.
Source: @thekatzeffect_
Faux Locs
If you’ve always wanted the look of locs without the commitment, faux locs could be the look for you.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Delmaine Donson/Getty Images
RELATED
While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image by Leon Bennett/WireImage
Fortunately, five simple words have simplified my dating process and ushered in clarity faster: “Would my husband do this?”
A couple of years ago, I met an entertainment lawyer who was tonguing down a twenty-something-year-old woman for breakfast while I slurped my green smoothie and chomped on a flatbread sandwich. Okay, Black love, I grinned and thought as I sauntered out of the Joe & The Juice. As soon as I stepped down from the front door, a torrential downpour of Miami summer rain cascaded and throttled me back inside to wait out the storm.
I grabbed a hot green tea and vacillated between peering out the wet door and anxiously checking my watch. My lengthy agenda started with attending the Tabitha Brown and Chance Brown’s “Black Love” panel, and I was already late. That’s when the lawyer introduced himself to me, after he made a joke about neither one of us wanting to get soaked by the rain. His female companion had braved the storm, leaving us to find our commonalities.
We both lived in L.A. and had traveled to the American Black Film Festival to expand our network. He represented various artists, including entertainment writers, while I was working as a writer/creative producer in Hollywood.
While there is no shortage of internet advice on how to strategically meet a prominent man at conferences, if I spend my hard-earned funds on career growth, I have tunnel vision, and that doesn’t include finding Mr. Right. So, I stowed his contact details away as strictly professional.
Keep It Cute Love And Hip Hop GIFGiphyAs the humidity and mosquitoes were rising around L.A., two months later, another suitor-turned-terrible match cooled off after three unimpressive dates and a bevy of red flags. I posted what some of my friends called a thirst trap, but it was really me wearing a black freakum jumpsuit with a plunging neckline to my friend’s 35th birthday soiree despite feeling oh, so unsexy and bloated on my cycle.
I’d been waiting to post a sassy caption and finally had the perfect picture to match: “You not asking for too much, you just asking the wrong MF.”
That’s when the entertainment lawyer swooped into my DMs and asked me to dinner. I was quite confused. Is he asking me on a date? Or is this professional? Common sense would’ve picked the former. Once it clicked that this would in fact be a date, I told my mentor, who’s been happily married for over twenty years and has often been a guiding light and has steered me away from the wrong men.
Upon telling him about how we met, he emphatically stated, “He ain’t it.” He followed up with a simple question, "You have to ask yourself: Would my husband do this? Would you tell others that you met your husband, tonguing down another woman, and later married him?"
Aint It No Way GIF by UFCGiphyOuch. The thought-provoking question cleared any haze. Prior to going out with the lawyer, the first thing I inquired about was the woman.
“You saw that?” He said, taken aback that I’d witnessed his steamy PDA. Surely, anyone with two open eyes peeped him caressing her backside as he kissed her in the middle of the coffee shop.
He brushed her off as a casual someone he’d gone on a couple of dates with but had since stopped talking to. He said he hadn’t been in a serious relationship in over three years. Though I was still doubtful, dating in L.A. is treacherous and ephemeral. Making it past three months is considered a rarity.
With my antennae alert, I dined with him at a cozy beachside steakhouse restaurant where we were serenaded by a live jazz band. I’d emphasized forming a platonic friendship first.
Break Up Friendship GIF by TLCGiphy“I’ll come to you,” he obliged. I liked that he had made me a priority by driving over 50 miles to see me. I also liked the effort he made to check in with me daily. But I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he initiated on a professional pretense and then alley hooped through the back door on a romantic venture, which bombarded me with confusion.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my dating life, God is not the author of confusion; any man who brings confusion, rather than clarity, is simply not The One. It doesn’t matter how many boxes he checks–eventually, that confusion will manifest itself into bigger problems, in time.
After diving into deeper conversations on the phone, post our first dinner date, I quickly realized this man was indeed not The One for me. But I’m grateful for the valuable lesson I learned.
I don’t expect some unattainable fairytale of a husband; we all have our own flaws and conflict is inevitable, but after dating for two decades, through failure and success, I’ve realized that the person I ultimately marry must mirror the values I exert into the world. He must reciprocate kindness, patience, and respect. He must be quick to listen and slow to respond. He needs to be forgiving and trustworthy, practice healthy communication, and be a man of his word at the bare minimum.
If I’d had “Would my husband do this?” in my toolbox when I was dating and floundering in stagnant relationships, in my twenties, it would’ve saved me a lot of precious time. But now that I’m equipped with the reminder, it’s allowed me to ground myself in my non-negotiables and set/maintain the standard for the special person, I’ll one day say, “I do,” to.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by stockbusters/Getty Images