I recently took a trip across the pond to visit Europe for my birthday. During my travels, I encountered so much beauty in the different foods, cultures, languages, accents, fashion, people, and, of course, the hairstyles. In the U.S., we have quite a bit of diversity in our curly world and the same is true abroad. I met some beautiful people during my visit to Amsterdam, Paris, and London, and I’m sharing some of the most popular styles that I loved!
My first stop was Amsterdam, a cool trendy city in the Netherlands. While trying out a popular french fry spot, Vleminckx, I noticed a couple of fashionable friends eating at a table nearby. Amahle and Zama were visiting from South Africa. Zama sported bright white long braids that were not only eye-catching but perfect for low-maintenance hair care while traveling. Amahle wore her brown locs, which complimented her skin tone.
I met Stephanie, Michelle, Sasha, and Charlene, who were in town from London or the Buju Banton concert. I noticed that each friend had a different hairstyle. Stephanie rocked Sisterlocks, the others had cornrows, traditional locs, and straightened hair. I loved the diversity of hairstyles within their friend group, and I also ran into them again at the Buju concert! I noticed many creative braided styles during my travels, some with additional hair in different colors and textures and others combining cornrows and loose hair.
The temperature in Amsterdam was a bit lower than the other cities I visited, so it was while in Paris and London that I noticed many women rocking their natural curls. The temperature was sometimes as high as 98 degrees, so wash-and-go styles, like Gigi’s and Shaniqua’s, were abundant.
Image Source: @honeyblondegigi
Image Source: @thecurlyhairnetwork
I also noticed lots of protective styles like Eloho’s faux locs, braids, and twists, like Jennifer’s. Hot temperatures can make styling our hair seem like the hardest job ever but protective styles make it easy to get up and go with a ponytail, bun, or a couple of hairpins.
Image Source: @sisterfrouk
What did I do with my hair? I also decided to keep things low-maintenance by doing braid outs. On most nights, I would dampen my hair with water, divide it into 4 sections, and braid two plaits into each section. In the morning, I kept my waves fresh and hydrated by spraying and squeezing leave-in conditioner into my locs. I completed my morning hair routine by spritzing the amazing-smelling Eva NYC Mane Magic 10-in-1 Primer on my unbraided waves.
Image Source:@padjemisme
The primer protected my hair from the sun as I walked around the city for hours during the day (the sun did not set in Amsterdam until around 10 PM”>, and it came in a convenient travel size bottle that I could easily pack with my toiletries.
I had such a great time meeting new people, seeing new styles, and getting lots of great ideas for how I can style my own hair for the rest of the summer. What other hair trends have you seen around the world? Share them in the comments
