At one time African Americans were stuck with any hairstyle that their particular hair would easily adjust to. There was not much versatility when it came to black hairstyles but it certainly was not from lack of trying. In the beginning, there were crude hair straighteners that hit the market. These were a chemical base solution and played havoc on the hair.
Now there are multiple products on the market to afford the women of color virtually any hairstyle they would like. It can be super curly with no frizz, semi curly or just plain straight. This has opened the door for not only a larger choice of black hairstyles with length as well.
Many of the products that used now for the black hairstyles are not simply products that are applied but equipment as well. Take for example the straightening iron. This has not become just the friend of the afro American woman but for women of many ethnic groups regardless of hair textures.
Where women of color used to be limited in their black hairstyles choices, they now have the best of both worlds. They can still choose to wear their hair as their own ethnic styles dictate or to go with something they could not have before.
Probably the style that many women of color will opt for is the straight hairstyles. This is usually achieved now with the hair iron. Chemical straighteners are still used for a more long-lasting purpose but now they are far less damaging to the hair.
Most often, when straightening is the choice it is usually combined with the longer hairstyles. Women of color who have chosen to wear their hair long with have it straighten or straighten it themselves and will wear it in an upswept style for a more formal look and casually down for a more casual look.
It is not too often that you will see afro American women with exceptionally long black hairstyles. Probably the most common when it comes to length would be should length or just below.
It has now become the habit to straighten the hair out completely with the hair iron then recurl it gently into a soft curl style that they have chosen.
One of the things that must be guarded against is women of color overusing these various products and equipment to achieve new black hairstyles. Although they have many options now with some great products and tools they can be damaging to the black hair if over used. This includes choosing black hairstyles that require a lot of pulling to them as this can break the hair as well. Eventually this will lead to a big problem.
A great advantage of the hair iron for afro American women is that it will give volume to their hair as well. No one wants to straighten their hair just to have it lay flat and limp. So this one piece of equipment itself has allowed for many new looks for the women of color.
The best part of these new options for women of color to be able to utilize these for the various black hairstyles is that they are applicable for any age group.