Straight Up Hairstyles

Straight up hairstyles refer to hairstyles that involve the hair being styled upwards, giving a voluminous look. Some examples of straight up hairstyles include pompadours, quiffs, and mohawks.

These hairstyles typically involve a combination of cutting and styling techniques, such as shaving or tapering the sides while leaving the top longer, and using products like pomade or gel to hold the hair in place.

It’s also important to note that hair should be straightened using a flat iron or chemical treatment prior to styling.

Straight up hairstyles among African women tend to usually include braids of many different styles. These can be cornrows, fishtail braids, dutch braids, french braids and tribal braids.

Below you’ll find an assortment of different South African straight up hairstyles. Be sure to let us know your favourite in the comments.

Types of Straight Up Hairstyles

Below you’ll find an example of a beautiful wavy braid pattern that culminates in a long ponytail. The quintessential African straight up hairstyle.

Why not add some colour and get a gold tint to your straight up braids. As you can see in the picture below the girls also makes used of a gold braid to wrap around her ponytail.

Below is an example of a modern African hairstyle with braids. She’s got the wavy edging on the fringe combined with a braided ponytail.

Keep it simple by throwing your braids in a bun. In this case the lady has gone for wavy braids to add a little bit of funk into the mix.

Cornrow straight up hairstyles have been really popular since the launch of Beyonce;s Lemonade Album.

Here’s another example of braids being tied up into a bun. This is a great way to control lots of very long braids.

The girls pictured below has added some colour to hairstyle by weaving in some coloured lace into some of her braids.

Add some some jewellery to your hairstyle. The girl pictured below has combined gold braids and gold jewellery with great effect.

Why not take a leap of faith by trying some blue and turquoise braids. These are not for everyone, but can work well with the right coloured dress.

The knotted braid pictured below is a great way to go straight up whilst also being able to show off your braided patterns on the side of your head.