8 Professional Hairstyles for Curly Hair

There is a damaging, baseless rumor out there that curly hair is not professional. We have heard far too many first-hand accounts of women being told to straighten or fix their hair at the risk of missing out on promotions or even losing their jobs.

In fact, we polled our community and 57% of you said you had experienced natural hair discrimination in the workplace. These incidents are far too common, and we’re here to say that if women are professionals, their natural hair is also professional.

Here are eight professional hairstyles for naturally curly, coily, and wavy hair.

1. Top Knot

To reinvent the topknot, we didn’t want to pull it back into a super tight and slick J.Lo-style bun. Instead, we chose to style it more loosely so that you can still appreciate Amanda’s curls. The best part is that when she takes this bun down, she’s not left with stretched-out curls with a dent in them.

1. Start with dry hair, not wet hair. That way when you take your hair down it’s not stretched or dented.
2. Spray your hairline with a light coat of flexible hairspray such as Morrocanoil Luminous Hairspray Strong or Curlsmith Flawless Finish Hairspray. These are flexible enough that they won’t flake.
3. Rub a pomade between your hands to give your hair light control while styling it.
4. Flip your head upside down and gently gather your hair at the top of your head. Do not rake your fingers through your hair as you do this, as this will disrupt the curl. This topknot looks better when it is not pulled tightly or perfectly.
5. Tie your hair into a knot and use long bobby pins to secure it – do not use a hair tie! Tuck the ends of your hair into the knot and pin.
6. Once the top knot is secure you can go in and pull the knot into place, tucking in any hairs that are sticking out with a rat tail comb.

This knot is a more modern version of the traditional bun which involves pulling the hair tightly and using a hair tie, leaving a dent in your hair when you take it down later. This way you don’t have to wash your curls again and start over the next day.

2. Deep Side Part

We love the texture and shape of Ishia’s hair so we wanted to work with it, rather than trying to slick it back or fight it. We firmly believe that yes, of course textured hair is professional! This style flaunts your natural texture while keeping it pinned back from your face and out of your way.

1. Create a deep side part, take a small section from your part down to the top of the ear.
2. Loosely take a brush (a toothbrush, teasing brush, or boar bristle brush would work; you can get them at the beauty supply store just to smooth back the roots).
3. Divide the section into two, twist these around each other, and pin them back, leaving the ends loose. Gold bobby pins can be a fun way to dress up the look.
4. Above the other ear, take a 3-inch section and twist it up and away from the face, creating an undercut effect. Bobby pin to secure and use pomade to smooth the roots.

3. Twists

If the hair at the back of your head is a dense, tight texture like Tey’s, it can be hard to style by yourself. But as long as you have a good cut and shape you can leave the back of your hair out in a wash and go and focus your styling efforts on the hair framing your face.

We love that this style only takes 10 minutes to do in the morning.

1. Before you start, lightly coat your fingers with a gummy pomade product, this will help prevent little hairs from sticking out as you’re twisting your hair. For this texture, hairstylist Ruben Rosales recommends Davines Finishing Gum.
2. Use the pointy end of a rat tail comb or a teasing brush to create a clean part – this is essential to making this style look neat and professional.
3. Take a 3-inch section from the part of the hairline to the right behind the ear. Draw your 3-inch section in a triangle shape to prevent looking like a children’s flat twist style.
4.  Twist the section upwards towards the top of your head. To do a flat twist on yourself, bring your hands behind your head, pulling the hair back, rather than trying to twist with your hands in front of your head.  It is much easier this way!
5. Repeat the same process above the other ear – create a part on the opposite side and take a 3-inch section from the hairline to the right behind the ear. Twist this section towards the top of the head and secure with bobby pins.

4. Side Bun

Amanda typically wears her hair in a ponytail or half up. Women with long hair often tend to pull their hair up in a ponytail, so we wanted to give you a few more options.

1. Pull all hair from the right side to the left and create a loose ponytail.
2. Divide the ponytail into two sections and wrap them around each other, creating a large twist.
3. Once you get to the bottom of the twist, wrap it around into an S-shape to give it a more interesting shape than your typical bun. Pin in place with bobby pins. The less intricate, the better; just put the pins where they feel secure.

It’s important to keep the bun placed just behind the ear and lower towards the nape, rather than down at the hairline because that would look too much like a prom style. As a guideline, draw an imaginary line from the jaw line up and back to keep the bun in a position that’s flattering.  

5. Side Swept Curls

Anna says “aside from pulling my hair back I really only have one look because it’s so short. And I never straighten my hair, it’s curly 100% of the time.” We loved Anna’s volume and didn’t want to pull her hair back or overly manipulate it, so Ruben improvised by using a headband to create “hair jewelry.”

1. To keep definition with a curl pattern like Anna’s, use a styling cream or a light gel-like Raw Curls Firm Hold Gel on soaking wet hair that has been combed with a wide-tooth comb.
2. Once the hair is fully dry, spray DevaCurl Mist-er Right to set the curl and prevent frizz. If you need volume, use your fingers to lightly scrunch the curls.
3. Create a side part and pull back hair on one side of the head. Pin your headband or hair jewelry into place above the ear.

This is a red carpet that can translate to daily wear because it’s not overdone or overly manipulated. Ruben points out that “a lot of what you’re seeing on the red carpet is very simple. When my business women clients come in they want something that looks effortless, it’s still done and still polished but they want it to be similar to what Julianne Hough is doing on the red carpet – so this is a curly version of that.”

6. Modern Mohawk

Tey typically wears wigs and braids her hair down when she goes to work. She was surprised by how easy this style was to do and left our shoot looking forward to trying this out herself for work. 

1. Grab 2-inch sections of hair and pin them back, starting at the forehead and working your hair back.
2. Repeat this action, clipping all of the hair back on both sides of the head to create a mohawk effect.
3. Lightly coat the fingers with pomade to smooth the hair at the temples.
4. Gently shape the hair that is left out with your fingers, using bobby pins to pin any hair that’s sticking out.

This style does not need to be precise, in fact a softer shape is more organic and feminine and avoids the rocker-style Mohawk we’re mostly familiar with. Again this style pulls hair away from the face, while still showcasing your natural texture.

7. Half-Updo

Cassandra typically pulls her hair back, so we wanted to give her a half up option that keeps her hair pulled back and out of her way. Cassandra has multi-textured hair, which Ruben loves working with because there are so many curl patterns to accentuate. 

1. If starting on dry hair, re-mist the hair with Design Essentials Coconut & Monoi Coconut Water Curl Refresher and rub a medium hold gum between your fingers fingers.
2. Take a pencil or rat tail comb and hold it vertically at the brow’s arch to find your most flattering side part.
3. Backcomb slightly at the crown of the head to create some volume. If you have tightly coiled or fragile hair skip this step to avoid breakage.
4. Mist the hair with spray and use the side of the hairspray can to slick the hair back behind the ear – the can is smooth and won’t disrupt your curls the way your fingers can.
5. Pin the hair back behind the ear with six bobby pins, and create a pattern with the pins, leaving the flat side facing out. Pull the ends of that section of hair across the back of your head and pin it into place.
6. Pull a section of hair behind the other ear and similarly pull it across the back of your head, pinning it into place.
7. If you have bangs, leave them out.
8. Finger twirl any curls that are out of shape to touch them up.

8. Simple Updo

Tiffany typically blow dries her hair and flat irons it straight to go to work as an accountant. When she does wear her hair curly she typically pineapples it and leaves the curls loose. With this style Tiffany can skip the straightening process while still maintaining an easy-to-manage style.

1. Create a side part. Take a croc clip and clip a 3-4 inch section of hair at your side part to keep it out of the way.
2. Take a 2-inch section behind the ear and twist it away from your face, towards the back of your head. Pin it, leaving the ends out.
3. Continue twisting sections back away from your face, pinning them and leaving the ends out until you have 2-3 twists above each ear.
4. Take down the section in the Croc clip and use MIELLE ROSE MINT POMADE-OIL and above to smooth down any flyways around the hairline. Then, use Oribe Impermeable Hairspray to keep the hairline defined and prevent humidity-related frizz. We don’t want it to look slick or straighten out the curls; you still want your curl definition to show. You can use the side of the hairspray to smooth the hair down rather than brushing or disrupting the curls with your fingers.
5. Take the remaining section framing the face and divide it into two. Do a rope braid, twisting them around each other, and pin the twist behind the head.
6. You can either leave the loose ends out for a half up look, or you can twist and tuck the remaining hair into a bun.
7. If you have any flyways at the nape of the neck, smooth them down with a comb and a little more pomade. If any curls or ends are sticking out, just tuck them in with a bobby pin.

This style will likely turn out slightly different every time you do it. The point is just to twist and pin the hair back away from your face until you’re happy with it, resulting in a finished look that looks much more advanced than it really is.

We hope you found a style to try this week at work, and that you take these suggestions and make them your own!

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2010, we have updated this article based on feedback from our readers.

A very special thank you to our curly community members who agreed to model these hairstyles, curly hair stylist Ruben Rosales who styled the hair, and photographer Deleigh Hereme.