6 Natural Hair Styles for 40+ Professionals

August 2, 2011

I am an avid watcher of the natural hair videos on YouTube. I enjoy receiving all the great information so much, that I created an account on YouTube; subscribed to my favorite channels; and receive notifications on my phone when my favorite channels have posted new videos (yes baby your iphone can do all that!). The women, who have dedicated their time and creativity to creating content on a regular basis for this outlet; have my admiration and appreciation. However; what I notice is that a majority of the YouTube natural hair community is between the ages of 18 and 35; and when viewing these videos, while I find the styles, cute for the weekend or for “going out”, there are not a lot of videos from and/or for AAW’s in midlife.

I would not wear a “fro-hawk” to my daughter’s school’s open-house; I cannot wear a head full of Bantu knots to my organizations Board meeting; and I cannot wear my air-dried afro to a stakeholder’s strategy meeting for work. I know there are a significant number of AAW’s in midlife that have chosen the natural hair route, yet I find that a lot of the hairstyles in the YouTube videos are not professional/age appropriate for AAW’s in midlife.

Now I am fully prepared for the onslaught of opinions about what is considered appropriate and professional when it comes to natural hairstyling; but also remember that this article is based on MY OPINION about what is professional and appropriate. Unfortunately, there are no statistics documenting the number of AAW’s, in midlife, in America wearing their hair in a natural state; but I can tell you, if you visit YouTube, the trend is catching on like wildfire!

Since I am lazy and have no desire to make videos demonstrating some of my favorite professional/age appropriate styles for my midlifers; I created a list of links to some of my favorite YouTube videos that do. I hope you find these helpful and feel free to send me links to your favorite professional hairstyles, so that we can share them with the family!