When we hear of Nigerian braid hairstyles, the creativity and originality of African tribal braids comes to mind. Nigeria has a lot of indigenous hairstyles like cornrows, rope twists, box braids, bantu knots, twine hairstyles amongst many others.
Different cultures also have their unique ways of bringing life to each popular hairstyle with intricate patterns that are particular to them.
These styles, which can be done in different colors and lengths, will make you effortlessly stand out whilst channelling your inner black girl magic.
Here are a few Nigerian hairstyles you should try out today.
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1. Nigerian Braids With Wool
Wool braids are a beautiful style that can be worn in many ways. Wool can be used as a hair extension to put your hair into box braids or twists. It can also be used as twine, whipped around the hair, and folded into a lovely updo. The latter is a very protective style that keeps your hair healthy and helps it grow longer.
2. Nigerian Feather Braids
The feather braids style features braids that thin down towards the tips, hence the name. This style can be achieved by stretching your hair extensions so that they’re thinner towards the tips before using them to braid. This technique makes the braids lightweight and easy to manipulate.
3. Nigerian Short Braids
Short braid hairstyles require the same technique that their longer variants do, except that they’re trimmed at a desired short length and sealed off using fire or elastic bands to prevent them from unravelling. Since the braids are short, they aren’t as heavy as long braids, easier to maintain, and make you look chic and amazing.
4. Nigerian Watermelon Braids
The watermelon braids are a fun way of trying out and wearing rope twists. It’s achieved by weaving your hair only a few inches down into box braids, then making them into rope twists the rest of the way down. After steaming, the rope twists are then unraveled to reveal luscious deep curls.
5. Nigerian Knotless Braids
Knotless braids are braids that are done without the traditional knots at the roots of the hair. These braids can be done in any length and color, and can be rocked flawlessly to any occasion.
6. Nigerian Twist Braid Hairstyle
Twist braids are made out of twisted strands of hair which are wrapped around each other to create a spirally effect. They can be done in the knotless fashion or using the traditional knots at the braids’ base. This style is suitable for any kind of occasion and can be worn in different lengths.
7. Nigerian Big Braids
Big braids are also known as jumbo braids and are trendy and bold. They come in handy when you want a minimalistic and chic hairstyle. In this style, your hair is put into big braids in large sections.
8. Six Braids Back
The six braids hairstyle is a very simple cornrow braid hairstyle. As the name suggests, the cornrows all go backwards towards the nape of the neck although they can be styled in different ways (e.g. all straight back, side part, centre part etc.). They’re very clean and classy.
9. Nigerian Cornrow Braids
African natural hair is versatile and can be styled in so many ways. The Nigerian cornrow braid is one of the simplest natural hair styles to wear. This requires putting your hair into cornrows without additional hair extensions. This style looks lovely at any occasion or you may decide to wear a wig over it.
10. Nigerian Box Braids
Box braids are a type of hair braiding style that is very popular among Nigerians. It has a box- or square-like look because of the way the individual braiding strands are intertwined. This is a protective braid hairstyle that looks very nice in any length and color.
11. Nigerian Braids With Beads
Braids with beads are a decorative look to go for when you want additional detail added to your braids or when you have only a few braids and still want to give them a fuller look. You can adorn your cornrows, box braids and twists with beads any day. This accentuates the charm of your braids and makes them stand out.
12. Nigerian Braids Updo
The braids updo is appealing and easy-to-achieve with your already-installed braids. All you have to do is secure your hair up into an updo which highlights your facial features and neckline and makes you look sophisticated.
13. Nigerian Bob Marley Braids
The bob Marley hairstyle is one of the most popular African American hairstyles. It’s made by two-stranding twisting Marley hair extensions with your natural hair.
14. Loose Braids Hairstyle
Loose braids are the perfect pick for you when you want voluminous minimalistic braids but don’t want to add curly strands or beads. The style requires you to knit your box braid strands loosely rather than doing the regular tight braids. These can last as long as tight braids if properly maintained.
15. Three Braid Hairstyle
The three braid style is another super easy hairstyle you can rock beautifully at any time and for any occasion. All it requires is that you put your hair into three cornrow braids. You may also decide to put them into a bun or an updo.
16. Dreadlocks Braid Hairstyle
Dreadlock braid hairstyles can be attractively worn by men and women alike. This style features a matted or knotted look made by locking the hair into rope-like strands using a special crochet pin. You can also spice up your loc braids look by putting your locs into cornrows.
17. Cornrows With Ponytail
This is one of the most popular braid hairstyles for Nigerian women. This hairstyle is easy to wear and maintain, and can be worn in any length and color for any occasion. Getting this elegant look only requires that you put your hair into long cornrows and then into a ponytail.
18. Colored Braids Hairstyle
There are no restrictions as to which colors you can wear your braids in. You can wear your cornrows, box braids, twist braids, goddess braids, or knotless braids in any color of your choice. You can also opt for ombré colored braids.
19. Ten Stitch Braids
The ten stitch braids style is a simple and modern hairstyle which is achieved by putting your hair into stitch braid cornrows with visible horizontal lines running along them using a rat tail comb or your pinkie fingernail.
20. Jumbo Cornrow Style
Big cornrows, also known as jumbo cornrow braids, are bold and good-looking. They’re also very simple and don’t take long. Here, your hair is put into big cornrow braids in large sections.
21. Red Tribal Braids
One of the tribal braid styles that is indigenous and popular in Nigeria is the bantu knots hairstyle. This style is created by securing box, twist braids, locs or even your natural hair into knots. This hairstyle is edgy and you can add some flavor with a daring red color.
22. Straight Back Stitch Braids
The straight back braids are the most straightforward of the cornrow braid hairstyles, owing to the fact that they go straight back from your hairline and don’t require any additional styles. They’re very clean and neat, and they can be taken to another level by putting your hair into stitch braid cornrows with visible horizontal lines.
23. Side Part Feed-In Braids
Side feed-in braids, also known as feed-in lemonade braids, are a very fashionable and snazzy cornrow braid style. It features feed-in cornrows all weaved to the preferred side of the head and down into short, medium or long box or twist braids. To get this look, strands of hair extensions are gradually woven into the hair from start until the desired braid size is reached.
24. Jumbo Crochet Twist Hair
The crochet hairstyle is the easiest way to wear braids of any length and size without going through the stress of sitting for long hours to get the traditional type of braids. This hairstyle is achieved by either putting your natural hair in individual braids and securing them into the crochet hair extensions or putting your hair into cornrows and attaching the crochet extensions into the cornrows using a crochet pin.
25. Ombré Braid Hairstyle
The ombré bohemian braids are a fun way of styling your braided hairdo. It requires putting your hair into braids using braiding hair that starts in a darker color shade at the roots then blends downwards into a lighter shade at the tips. This style is a creative way of experimenting with colors on your braids.
