Y’all this post is just as much for me as it is for you because I just straightened my hair (pics to come) for the first time in three years, and I COMPLETELY forgot how to style straight hair! If your hair is anything like mine, and you don’t straighten frequently, it’s unlikely that your ends will stay straight or swanging for weeks (let alone days) after you get it straightened, especially if you screw up your doobie wrap or (God forbid) have your scarf come off in the middle of the night. Rather than giving up and washing out your hard earned straight locks once your ends no longer let you be great, here are a few ways you can style straight natural hair.
Bantu Knot Out on Straight Natural Hair

This is likely how I’m going to end up wearing my hair once my doobie disappoints me, but bantu knots are by far the simplest and easiest way to give your straight natural hair some more life, curl, and volume without needing lots of bobby pins or even any tools! The Chic Natural’s single strand bantu knots create a pretty tight curl, but you can use fewer and larger sections for more volume and less definition.
Topknots & Buns

Yeah yeah, if your hair is past your shoulders, you could just throw your hair into a topknot and keep it moving. OR you can be great and flat twist up the back first like Yolanda Renee does on her daughter Taylor in this video. Sky’s bun is cute too! You can also do a half-up, half-down bun to switch it up!
Perm Rods/Flexi Rods for Bouncy Hair
I dug this video out of the archives from when I used flexirods on a blowout two years ago, and even though my hair wasn’t flat ironed, the rods gave my hair the flat iron “bump” while keeping the blowout volume that I love so much!
You can also use flexirods – or perm rods, or other rollers – and roll your hair more tightly to create a totally different look. Krystal of The Feisty House (feature image) has an awesome perm rod tutorial blog post where she uses the large green rods to add cute curls to her straightened hair.
Goddess Braid

If you’re also #teamlonghairdontcareandimmarubitinyourface ????, you can do a goddess braid on your straightened hair without needing to add in some yaki pieces like the rest of us mortals.
Voluminous Updos

Girl listen, this hairstyle landed me in a Buzzfeed roundup of prom hairdos. BUZZFEED!! So you know it’s dope. I did it on blown out hair, but if you haven’t already figured out yet by the end of this article, you can pretty much do any style on flat ironed hair that you would on blown out hair (or even on textured hair for that matter!) I love this look because it – like many of my updos – is versatile enough to transition from school to work to a date to a wedding or prom. And it keeps for a few days if maintained with a scarf!
And if you’re curious how my hair looked when it was flat ironed three years ago, check out my video! I CAN’T wait to show you what it looks like now – with color it’s so fly!
When I straightened my hair earlier this year, I wore it down, then in a flat twist, and then twist outs. I enjoyed the hair straight, I can’t even lie.
Berry Dakara Blog
I’m enjoying it so far – it was straight for a week, now I want to do an updo, and then the following week do a flat twist out or something curly. It’s a nice change!
The closest I’ve come to straightening my hair is a blow-out. I usually just do a “dry” twist-out for a fluffy, bouncy chunky fro. I plan to blow my hair out today, actually. Then I’m gonna attempt a twist & curl style. Well see how it goes!
Is the blowout the pompadour style you’re currently rocking?
This is the main reason I love natural hair. The versatility of style one can create with unlimited styles. I’m am recoverer from the creamy crack and being a natural now is 4 life.
Natural 4 life!!