Sculpt it. Slick It. Spike It: How To Maintain Short Hairstyles for Black Women

Short and sweet, doesn’t have to mean perfectly neat and boring. If neat and boring describes how you’ve been wearing your short ‘do lately, then read this article carefully. It’s your time to look like your favorite fashion-forward celebs.

The first step is getting a healthy dose of confidence and saying this affirmation until you believe it – “messy isn’t a dirty word.” Unfortunately, many stylists have conditioned us into thinking that having no strand out of place before leaving the salon or home is the way you should always look. I believe differently. The key: to know how to maintain short hairstyle for Black women.

Have fun with your hair and jazz it up with some of these cool hair products make the masses ask as you walk by, “I wonder who does her hair?”

You not only expose you’re fierce makeup skills and vivacious personality when you go short, but if your hairstyle reads conservative, it looks as if you’re taking yourself way too seriously.

Show less restraint and a lot more funk with Cynthia Bailey’s style with products like American Crew Molding Clay & got2b inplay Sculpting Paste ($6.29, cvs.com). American Crew is a line of products for men that works wonderfully with coarse hair. The latter is a fantastic molding paste for all textures of women’s hair and you’ll love the pleasant smell. Get her spikey look and create definition by using a dime-size of product and roughing up your entire head until you get the shape you want.  Use very little to get the wispy pieces that appear throughout Nicole Ari Parker’s or to just define the front of your hair like Nia Long’s. Note: What all three styles have in common is a good, essential cut. You need this first before you try to create texture.

What’s interesting about Redken Rewind 06 ($19.99, target.com) is that it works on damp hair and creates strong shapes and versatile styles. Even after it’s been applied, Rewind stays moist and flexible so you can change the style again if you so choose. The formula is super light and won’t weigh your hair down.

Beyonce’s hairstylist, Kim Kimble knows exactly what a black woman needs to tame those unwanted fly-aways especially around the nape of your neck – it’s called Kimble Wax Stick ($9.99, target.com). Just slick it on and keep it movin’.

The moral of the story is to turn heads with your new look, let the self-consciousness go, and get the stares you want.

Hue Knew It? I did.