Now that winter is on its way out and spring is about to bring smiles to our faces, what is happening in the world of Ethnic hair? Well, as usual, African women all over the world are doing as they please with their hair. But looking for a new and fresh hairstyle that is in line with the new season can be hard. Here are a few ideas, that have been inspired by celebrities, for you to mull over when you decide it is time for a new hair style.

Beyoncé from long hair to pixie to bob

Beyoncé has always donned long hair, whether it was long and straight, long and wavy or long and curly. But earlier this August, she decided it was time to take out the weave and chop her hair into a cute pixie cut. Which we loved!

This is an easy to achieve look – with the help of an experienced hairstylist, of course, and it is also very easy to maintain. You can colour your hair blonde, as she has, leave it as it’s natural colour or even go auburn if you want to.

However, a few weeks after having this short hairstyle, Beyoncé decided to go back to her days of the weave, but instead of the long one, she settled for a cute, but sophisticated bob.

This is a fantastic hairstyle as it is also easy to achieve and to maintain. You can have the best of both the long hair and short hair world with this lovely cut.

Oprah’s biiig big ‘fro!

When it comes to hair, Oprah has kept it sleek and sophisticated in recent years, but on the cover of the new O Magazine – September 2013 issue, she went extreme with a big afro.

Obviously, that was a wig, but she decided to continue with the Afro theme and has been enjoying big hair since then.

Afros are a great way of embracing your natural hair texture and are generally easy to maintain. There are a lot of great products currently available to help make detangling and combing afros easier as well as some cute hair accessories to help keep it looking fresh and so, you really do not have an excuse not to rock your own afro this spring.

Rihanna’s grey hair

Rihanna is one who has never been afraid of colour. She has done it all – blonde, black and fiery red. But now she has decided to give her take on the latest hair colour trend – Grey Hair!

She got her hair coloured a dark grey that does not make her look like an old lady. Obviously, if you are going to give this colour a try, you would have to be careful about how you style this type of hair colour so that you do not come across looking like a witch. If you are daring enough, why not give it a try. You’ll certainly turn heads with this look!

Ashanti’s Burgundy Ombre

Ombre hair looks like it is here to stay and many are doing their best to give it a personal touch. Instead of going for the popular dark to blonde look, you could do as Ashanti has with a burgundy ombre hairstyle.

It is sleek but fun at the same time. If your natural hair is long enough, you could achieve this look with it, otherwise, you can get a lovely long weave and have that coloured instead.

Jada’s braided Mohawk

This is a fun take on the Mohawk without the commitment of shaving your hair to achieve the look. Jada Pinkett-Smith styled her braids into a Mohawk to give a fun but sophisticated and neat look.

You can also achieve this look with very long braids. It is a great way to wear your braids in an unusual but exciting way.

Jennifer Hudson’s Milkmaid Braid

Another look we are loving is the milkmaid braid. It is simple, but still very interesting. Jennifer Hudson combined both a knotted headband and side braid in one.

If you want a clean look for an evening out or even for the office, this would be perfect. You can achieve this braided hairstyle with a weave long weave as Jennifer had done here, or with braids.

We absolutely love these trends, especially because they can be achieved with our African hair easily. You can even personalise the trends by having the pixie cut with ombre colours, for example. So, pick your favourite or try them all over the next few months, we know you’ll look great!

Article by Sharon Kariwo