Be it extensions or au naturel, Black women slay in every and any hairstyle. 2016 was a reminder of that, as we saw so many beauties rocking looks that we would gladly carry into the New Year. Above all: this display of mane moments is a reminder that hairstyling remains one of the greatest forms of self expression. From bantu knots to goddess braids and faux locs, take a look back at the hairstyles we loved this year.
Goddess braids trended throughout the year and real women showed us that there a million in one ways to take on the regal style. From vibrant hair color (above)….
To different size variations…
…and of course, gold accessories. We love them all!
Plenty of our favorite celebrities rocked the edgy look, too, including Toya Wright.
We’ve seen every color on the Interwebs, but none have trended as frequently as purple.
We also saw a lot of Black beauties blending the vibrant tone with other colors.
And whenever we saw purple on top of a voluminous afro, we screamed “yaaas!”
Purple hair is a part of Justine Skye’s signature look and she shows no signs of switching it up in 2017.
There’s nothing dreadful about this hairstyle, which everyone seemed to be rocking in 2016.
And that includes sisterlocks!
Women wearing authentic locs is always a beautiful sight to see.
The pain-free styling technique continued to flourish in 2016, too. Beautiful Black women everywhere have worn a spectrum of head turning looks, including cute coils….
…larger than life fros, like this goddess…
And pinned to the side. We loved seeing the versatility of this go-to look in 2016.
This easy do is definitely one of the more versatile looks in the bunch.
We loved seeing them styled into half up, half down looks.
And of course, Black women continued to slay in the most beautiful wigs.
And they were worn in many fabulous ways, from sleek and straight to big and curly.
Yea, we’ll never grow tired of faux fabulous manes!
We’ve seen this style appropriated countless times, but no one rocks bantu knots like us!
They looked even more fab in technicolor!
This list certainly isn’t complete without the women who decided to flaunt their natural tresses year-round.
We loved seeing glorious 4c manes on our timeline!
Beautiful afros were not in short supply.
Naomi Campbell realness was achieved by countless women who rocked waist length hair.
From beach waves…
…to cute curls; long hair is the trend that will never die.
Plenty of us were about that cut life in 2016, wearing short hairstyles in a number of different ways.
And they weren’t afraid to embrace vibrant colors, too!
Short coifs are forever chic.
Lastly, beautiful Black women slayed every kind of braid (as usual), like braided updos.
And sky high ponytails…
And teeny side swept ones. No matter the style, we loved it!
Celebs continuously slay the braid game, but our 2016 favorite is Erykah Badu, who wore epic shoestring sized braids while hosting the Soul Train Awards.
