51 Best Short Natural Hairstyles for Black Women

Let’s be honest, after a while of wearing hair extensions and your weave repeatedly, your hair needs a break and what better time to do just that than in the summer when the sun is hot, and you definitely don’t want your hair in your face.

You might think that you don’t have many options when it comes to short natural hairstyles for black women but the reality is very different. Make yourself a cup of tea (or grab yourself a glass of wine) and get ready to be amazed.

51 Best Short Natural Hairstyles for Black Women

We all know that growing out your own hair is a long and tiresome process, and it’s easy to get super excited about it right at the beginning, only to realize it sucks later on when your hair isn’t growing as fast as you’d like it to, and your hair won’t style quite the way you had intended either. These designs give you the opportunity to be playful and experimental.

1. Natural Curls + Caramel Highlights

If you’re going through the motions of growing out your natural hair, why not add a vibrant splash of color? These natural curls have been cleverly livened up with some caramel highlights along the top and ends, adding a brand new dimension. It’s punk and pretty all at the same time, and at least you won’t need to worry about styling those long braids every day.

2. Natural Mohawk Haircut

If you’re going short, why not go brave and super short? This natural mohawk haircut is a brave one, but for no muss and no fuss, you can’t really beat it. The best thing about a look like this is you can literally get up and go – comb the top, make sure you keep your hair well hydrated and moisturized, and you’re pretty much good to go.

3. Short Natural Hairstyle with Shaved Sides

If you’re going back to basics and leaving your natural hair to bounce free for a while, make sure you don’t over-wash it. The main point of going au naturel is to do your hair a favor, you’re not going to be doing that by washing it every day. Try to wash it only every two to three days, encouraging the natural oils to work their magic on your scalp and follicles. Your hair will thank you for it – we’re all washing our hair too much!

4. Short Natural Tapered Cut

Dependent on how short you go, you won’t need heated styling tools to get the look you want but if you are tempted to grab the hair straighteners, don’t. If your hair is already dry and damaged, or brittle from years of heavy hair extension use, using these heated tools won’t help your hair, it’ll just hurt it. Give your hair a break – that’s the point here.

5. TWA Hairstyle (Teeny Weeny Afro)

If you don’t want hair that’s going to get int he way this summer, the TWA or teeny weeny afro is definitely one of the coolest looks! Hair that’s this short takes the most minimal of styling and maintenance, giving you plenty of free time to perfect those eyebrows and the rest of your makeup routine.

6. Super Short, Blonde Haircut

Amber Rose is a fan of this look – super short and sassy blonde too! We love it, it’s fierce, feisty and fabulous. You will need to have a good chat with your hairstylist before making a bold color change, especially if it’s an all-over color. Remember that you don’t have a lot of hair to play around with, so the color you choose will need to work well with your own skin tone.

7. Cute Natural Style

When your hair is washed, play around with styling ideas and techniques. Your hair is much easily played with when it’s in its wet stages, and you’ll find your locks will easily move, twist, braid and curl into a number of different styles. Black women often don’t realize quite how many ways there are to style their natural hair, and playing around with curls and twists while it’s wet will give you a wide range of variations when it’s dry. Perhaps it’s time to get experimental.

8. Fade Mohawk

It’s only a subtle change – an undercut with a bigger faded mohawk on the top, but the undercut has been graduated and shaved into a design to give it a little something new and exciting. You might think this is quite a scary look but the shaved areas of your hair won’t actually take that long to grow back. You’ll also need to remember that maintenance will need to be kept up to date with. Regular trims if you want to keep the look for a while, for example.

9. Long Pixie Haircut

Rihanna had a look like this for a while, alternating between wearing it naturally curly just like you can see here, and also wearing it poker straight, looking more like the ‘pixie’ cut you’re usually used to seeing. We love the way these tight curls have been left natural – you too could achieve a look like this if you leave the weave alone for a while. Perhaps it’s time for you to starting thinking about these short and natural hairstyles for yourself?

10. Short Natural Hairstyle with Color

If your hair is damaged, plus it’s been colored and dried out too, make sure you’re using the right combination of oils to keep it in good health. Before you wash your hair, add an oil treatment and leave for around half an hour before washing. Once it’s washed, towel-dry, ignore the blowdryer, add some leave-in conditioner and style to wait for it to dry.

11. Finger Coil Out Fauxhawk

There are plenty of benefits to NOT having hair extensions for a while. Firstly, think of all the time you will have freed up by NOT needing to go to the hairdressers. How long does it take for you to have your entire head done? Think of all the other things you could be doing. Short natural hairstyles for black women like these are perfect because it frees up those hours for you – you could spend them studying, working, spending time with your kids, and more. Why wouldn’t you go short every once in a while?

12. Fade Haircut

You don’t just free up valuable time when you opt for natural hair – it’ll save you a small fortune in all those appointments, hair extensions, and treatments necessary to keep them looking great. You could spend more money on your closet! Or makeup. Or vacations… The possibilities are endless. Now you’ve seen how many ways there are to wear these adorable short styles, aren’t you a little tempted yourself?

13. Short, Gray Curls

Gray has been a massive color over the last few seasons, and everyone has been rocking it. From light silvers to gun-metal grays, there is a shade for everyone and one we’re loving right now is this one – short, gray curls on the top. It’s a look that is cool and modern, but still cute with those spiral curls. If you’re going for the chop and you’ve never played around with color before, it might be time to try.

14. Short, Copper Hairstyle

Red and orange like a sunset, we might just call this one sunset hair! It’s beautiful, that’s for sure, and if you were looking for cool short natural hairstyles for black women, this is one that should go right to the top of the list. These fiery shades are bold and brave – are you up for the challenge?

15. Cute & Easy Style

If you’re going super, super short, just let your hair do it’s own damn thing. Why wouldn’t you? With hair like this style, all you need to do when you wake up in the morning is add some wax (if at all) and on your way you go. It’s simple, easy and to the point – no muss, no fuss and definitely no hassle.

16. Caramel Curls

A massive number of high profile celeb lovelies have opted for short natural hairstyles for black women such as these to give their scalp a well deserved rest. Heaving around those heavy lengths can give you a headache, especially if the tension isn’t right, and with repeated use, could even lead to damage and hair loss. Follow in the footsteps of Jada Pinkett Smith and go for something short, sharp and super! We love this look. What about you?

17. Beautiful Tapered Haircut

Solange Knowles, Queen Bee’s sister, is another hot celeb who has been seen wearing both long weaves and short, natural styles, and after shaving her head in 2009, decided to grow things out naturally. It’s a brave choice for some but we kinda love it. If you’ve had long hair for too long and fancy a change, perhaps this is the look you should go for.

18. Pop of Blonde

For those days when you’re not brave to go totally blonde, go a little bit blonde. We love this pop of blonde look – perfect for summer we say! Blonde might not be for everyone so don’t be afraid to play around with different shades. We’ve seen copper, caramel and even bright blonde pops of color in this list, along with some other bright and wonderful shades too, but if you have something in mind, don’t be afraid to mention it to your stylist. you might just come up with this season’s hottest new trend.

19. Short Haircut for Bold Women

A simple shaved line in your design can make the world of difference, as you can see from this short haircut for bold women. It’s a simple addition, just a little extra touch, but one that certainly transforms your look. The addition of this one simple shaved ‘pattern’ or design in the look has changed it from being pretty generic to something funky and edgy.

20. Big Chop Haircut

Raven Symone is another celeb favorite who underwent the short hair treatment, although she didn’t go quite as short as this number one all over style. A brave and bold look for sure, it’s one that literally resets a world of damage to your hair. you’re giving your scalp a chance to breathe, and the hair to grow naturally and gradually again. That’s one way to deal with a dry and frizzy hair problem!

21. Short Cut with Shaved Sides

This one combines a couple of styles in one, although the length has been kept relatively long with just the subtlest amount of shaving on the sides. If you don’t want fully shaved sides, that doesn’t mean you can’t shave at all. Only the smallest sections have been sheared on this look, but it still looks great and modern nevertheless.

22. Natural Hair Mohawk with Caramel Highlights

Here we give you proof that caramel highlights are the perfect accompaniment for these short natural hairstyles for black women. We’re in love with this look and we can’t rave about it enough. The sides are short, leaving all the length on top, and with those curls and chocolate / caramel highlights running through, the style looks good enough to eat!

23. Gorgeous TWA Cut

We’re back to the teeny-weeny afro again, this time incorporated into a gradual cut across the sides and back, giving it a neat and tidy look that Halle Berry has been known to rock from time to time. Let’s face it, if it’s good enough for one of the most famous and beautiful black actresses of all time, it’s good enough for us. Plus it looks super cool so, of course, we love it.

24. Golden Blonde Curls + Side Shave Design

Another bold and bright look, this time the short on top and shaved sides have been mixed with a wonderful blonde tone, just perfect for those summer nights you hope to have lots of fun on! Why not look at intricate shaving designs? These are simply lines cut into the short hair but the way they have been cut just adds a little something new to the look. If it’s not something you’ve thought about before, perhaps now is the time to start?

25. Colorful, Short Afro

For those days when you can’t decide which color you want, throw them all in! This look would be perfect for the end of summer, towards the fall months, when all the leaves on the trees are turning this exact russet shade. Individually curled spirals are blended so that you can’t see where one shade begins and the others end, and if it’s bright you want, this is perfect!

26. Beautiful Natural Hair with Shaved Sides

You can care for your own natural hair a lot better than you can with synthetic hair, and you often need various chemicals to process and install them, and then to wash them with afterwards. By going back to short natural hairstyles for black women just like this one, you’re eliminating the chemical presence, taking care of your hair and your head!

27. Perfect Cut for Summer!

After three or so days of wearing the same style, you may find that the look starts to look a little frizzy and you might think it’s time to wash it again. Rather than running straight for the shower, try a different approach instead. Add some of your favorite hair oils to your hair after that three or four day point, when your hair starts to look a little less-than-perfect and you think about giving it a rinse. The oils (or wax if you prefer) can help bring the look back to life and give you another couple of days before you need to worry about styling or washing it again.

28. TWA with Shaved Sides

When going back to basics and opting for these short natural hairstyles for black women, make sure you have a chat with a good stylist. You’re going to want a cut that will accentuate your looks, not overcome it. Your face shape, skin tone and state / style of your natural hair will all need to be taken into account before you can decide on a definitive new look.

29. Short Natural Cut with a Side Part

When you have short hair, you might think that you don’t have many options but that’s not the case. Even when you have relatively short locks, you can still plait and braid if you wanted to, they’ll just be much shorter … Obviously. Partings, and other hair features, can still be used in these short natural hairstyles for black women. If you want an easy way to push those natural curls back out your face, don’t be afraid to throw some teeny-tiny corn-rows into the mix, or add a parting to help style.

30. Perfect Short Haircut

When adding products to your hair, or oils to moisturize, make sure you’re splitting the hair into sections before you do to ensure that everything is evenly coated. It’s easy to flick some oil around your roots, but unless you’re doing the job all over, your hair won’t be any better off for it – you’ll just have patches of un-cared-for hair!

31. Two-Tone Natural Hair

If you want well-defined curls on your short natural hairstyles for black women, learn to shampoo your hair in the shower. Do you know why…? When you’re in the shower, your hair falls downwards because of gravity. When you wash your hair over the tub or at the salon, you’re not always in that position. The water runs down the length of the hair, helping to condition every strand, and because you’re not flicking it back up and down all over the place, frizziness will be kept to a minimum.

32. Simple and Stylish Shaved Style

If you are looking for a short hairstyle that is stylish and easy to wear, then this could be it. This is a simple shaved cut with a cool pattern on the side. It is looks effortlessly trendy and it will look amazing on anyone. You can recreate a similar look or change the pattern. If the pattern is not your thing then you can leave it out too.

33. Blonde Curly Hairstyle

Next, we have a stunning curly hairstyle to show you. This hair idea features a short cut around the sides with longer hair on the top of the head. The hair on top is super curly too. This hairstyle would be great as it is but the style game has been stepped up by choosing a blonde color. Blonde looks gorgeous with this haircut and it will instantly make you stylish. You can choose any blonde shade warm or cold.

34. Bold Blue and Purple Hair

Looking for a bold and statement making hair idea? Then check this out! This short cut is a vibrant blue shade. The blue looks amazing and bright colors like this will lift the hair and show the world your unique and fun sense of style. Go for a blue shade like this or be daring and go for a lighter or darker tone. You would think this look was created at the hair salon, but actually Kendra created it at home and shared the process on her YouTube channel. You can watch the tutorial here.

35. Short Cut + Trendsetting Twists

Its not just curls that look great with short hair but other styles too. This hairstyle features shaved hair around the sides with longer hair on top. The longer has been styled into two strand twists resulting in a trendsetting look. This is the perfect style for the ladies who like to look edgy and be noticed.

36. Short Natural Frohawk

Make your short style unique to you by adding in accessories. Here is a stylish way to do it. This short cut has been styled with beautiful purple hair cuffs. The cuffs really jazz up the hair and make the hairstyle stand out from the rest. You can use any color accessories so have fun and experiment with different looks. See the full tutorial on Queen Teshna’s YouTube channel.

37. Curls with a Trendy Shaved Pattern

Our next idea is another shaved look. This hair has been shaved around the sides and has curly hair on the top. The thing we really love about this hair is the trendy pattern that has been shaved in around the sides. It is an awesome pattern and will give any short hair a stylish makeover.

38. Tapered Cut

The next hair idea is one of our favorites. For this look, the hair is naturally short and curly. It just a stunning and easy to wear hairstyle that will make you look stylish everyday. Hair like this will suit everyone. If you prefer bolder hair but like the tapered cut, then add a different color. Red would look great!

39. Super Stylish Short Hair Idea

Love the shaved looks? Then this is for you! The hair has been cut very short and is shaved around the sides. This hairstyle has been finished off with a trendy pattern that meets at the back of the head. You can try this look or even try the same pattern with longer hair on the top.

40. Short Natural Red Hair

Next, we have a statement making short hairstyle. The hair is shaved around the sides with little curls on the top. What makes this hairstyle stand out from the rest is the beautiful red color and stylish star pattern. It is such a creative and bold look. Hair like this is perfect for the women who like to show off their unique style.

41. Shaved Hairstyle with Tight Curls

Want to look glam but have a bit of an edge too? Then try a hairstyle like this one. The hair is again shaved around the sides but the hair on top has chic, tight curls. There is a stylish pattern too. A hairstyle like this looks effortlessly cool and it will give you a trendy look no matter the occasion.

42. Warm Blonde Highlights

Earlier we featured a blonde hair idea. If you liked that one you may like this one too. For this look, the hair is not all blonde. Instead there are just little highlights throughout. This is a great way to add blonde to the hair if you don’t want to change all your hair. It is a way to try the color without being too bold. This is a warm shade but you can recreate the look with a cool blonde too.

43. Glam Short Hairstyle

Glam up your look with hair like this! This hairstyle is short with elegant waves. We love this hair idea as it has a beautiful vintage look to it. Hair like this is very on trend too! Lots of women even the A-list ones are trying out cute short cuts like this one.

44. Shaved Hair with Vibrant Blue Color

Next, we have another blue hair idea. This one features long hair on the top and it is shave around the sides. The top of the hair has an ombre look as it starts black and then changes to blue. It has been finished off with a gorgeous shaved heart. This is an amazing style and it would be a trendy look for any woman.

45. Chic Curls

Our next idea is chic and super stylish. The hair is short around the sides and features curls with volume on the top. A hairstyle like this will make you feel fierce and confident every day! It is an easy to wear hairstyle that will keep you looking gorgeous for any occasion. These curls are achieved by using home made deep conditioner and argan oil, there are no defining products.

46. Stylish Red Hairstyle

Earlier we featured a stunning red hairstyle. If you love the red hair ideas, then you need to check this out. For this look the hair is very short with cute red curls. The red curls just jazz up the hairstyle and make it unique and stylish. You can recreate this red look or try a similar style in a different color too. Watch here how she achieved these super define coils.

47. Shaved Sides with Long Curls on Top

Next, we have another shaved look. The hair has been shaved around the sides and has longer curly hair on the top. We love this idea because the longer hair has been styled to one side. This just creates a trendy hairstyle that is different from the rest. Curls like these can be achieved using curl rods.

48. Trendy Patterned Short Hairstyle

The hairstyles that you can create with shaved patterns are endless. By adding shaved patterns, you make your hair unique and stylish. Here is another great example of short hair with a pattern. It has long curls on top with the pattern around the sides. This is trendy and easy to wear pattern that will suit everyone.

49. Long at the Top, Short at Sides

Looking for a short style that looks very natural and stylish? Then this is for you. This hair idea is not as short as some of the others we have featured. It is like a pixie cut with volume on the top. We love this hair idea it is so chic! Try and recreate this look or try a vibrant color. Red hair in this style would look fabulous!

50. Vibrant Orange Curls

Bored of your hair and want to jazz it up with color? Then check out this next idea. Here we have a short and curly style where the hair is vibrant orange. This is a fun and stylish idea that will brighten up your look. It is a cool color that is perfect for anyone who wants to stand out in style.

51. Bold Pink Hair

Another bold color idea that you can try is pink! Don’t just take our word for how amazing it looks, check out this next style. The hair starts off black and then it gradually turns pink. We love this hair idea it is trendy and statement making. Try a pink shade like this or try a lighter or darker tone.

What do you think? Would you be brave to go for the chop this summer? Have any of these short natural hairstyles for black women taken your fancy? Let us know which ones are your favorite – we’d love to see what colorful and crazy creations you come up with!