Highly Textured

Last week I featured a pretty fly and funky style from AmberMag.com -- sideswept curls adorned with a rhinestone pin.

The consenus was that the style was, in fact, pretty fierce. Some of the commenters said they were looking forward to trying it... but only when their hair had grown long enough.

My question... why wait?!

The beauty of natural hairstyles is that they're open to interpretation. There's no rule that says you have to have shoulder length curls to do a sideswept 'do. There's no law that says you can only wear headbands with a TWA. So don't limit yourself or your hair!

If you see a style you like, find a way to put your own spin on it. Even if you have a little 'fro, you can recreate the side-swept look with cornrows or flat twists on one side of the head, while letting the rest of coils spring free. If you hair is medium-length, keep the twists going so they fall over the side (like my friend Talia did here).

I like to adapt styles on the regular! For instance, I've always loved the look of roller-set locs, but I clearly don't have locs of my own. But no matter, I wanted to try the look -- so I did two-strand twists and put those babies on Flexirods. The next day I was greeted at work with rave reviews.

Point is... there's not pre-requisite for being creative. Your hair doesn't have to be a certain length, color or texture to pull off something fly. So don't be afraid to try out and adapt styles. All it takes is a little creativity and inventiveness, and before your know it, you'll have a signature fly style to call your own.