20 Celebs Who Look Gorgeous With Their Natural Hair

There's nothing wrong with changing our hairstyles and trying something different, but, very often, natural is our best look. For too long, people have disguised their beautiful curls, waves, and texture, often believing they needed to tone down their tresses. In fact, 60% of the 200 female African American respondents in the 2014 Henry Ford Hospital Department of Dermatology Multicultural Dermatology Center's Hair Care Assessment Survey had chemically straightened hair, despite 88% of them believing their natural tresses were attractive. 

"Society has looked down upon big hair. Often, women have been made to feel like curly hair can't be professional or 'appropriate.' So, we've felt obligated to straighten it," H.E.R. told Fashion Magazine in 2022. "Thankfully, now, we are appreciating our big, fluffy curls, and we still have the option to straighten it if we want to and just have fun with it." That same year, the Grammy winner shared an Instagram photo rocking a stunning, shaggy afro including curly bangs that framed her face. "In my purest form.." she captioned it. But H.E.R. isn't alone. There are so many celebs who don't show the texture they're born with all the time, but when they do they look totally gorgeous.

Michelle Obama has shown the world how her tresses grow on a handful of occasions, and, each time, she's looked beautiful. The former First Lady kept things au naturelle for the December 2018/January 2019 cover of Essence, letting her dark hair fall into an eye-catching, inspiring afro. "It definitely was a moment — and still is a moment — for Mrs. Obama, the former First Lady of the United States and the first Black First Lady of the United States to be on the cover of a major publication with her natural hair. It was an important moment for us to showcase, because she does wear her hair natural," Yene Damtew, Obama's hairstylist, told The Zoe Report in 2018. 

Obama shared her textured hair with the world again on Instagram in 2021 as she celebrated her 57th birthday. The black-and-white shot showed her without makeup and with glamorous, long, tight coils, that fell just over her shoulders. "Natural beauty at its finest," one person commented.

Debra Messing may be most famous for her sleek, long, red hair, but, her locks actually grow in a voluminous way with a slight wave. The "Will & Grace" actor gave fans a peek on Instagram in 2018, posting a selfie alongside the caption, "My hair in its natural state." She showed plenty of height (which made us totally jealous) at her darker roots, and proved even celebs can suffer with dry, frizzy ends. Fans loved seeing this glimpse of Messing before a visit to the hair and makeup chair, as one fan wrote in the comments, "You have the best hair!!!" Another wrote in all caps, "IT's PERFECT!"

Taylor Swift has had some iconic natural hair moments, and there's a constant call from Swifties for her to embrace the tight curls she had when she first shot to fame. Swift has been known to ditch the straighter and let her hair do its own thing every now and then, and every time she does, she looks breath-taking. Swift embraced her curl pattern at for a Kansas City Chiefs Vs. Baltimore Ravens game in January 2024, where she even let her full bangs fall where they pleased.

This came after the Grammy winner admitted her hair had changed over the years. "From birth, I had the curliest hair and now it is straight. It's the straight hair I wished for every day in junior high. But just as I was coming to terms with loving my curls, they've left me," she told Elle in 2019. But it seems those gorgeous spirals are on their way back.

Rihanna gave a rare look at her real hair to celebrate the launch of her Fenty Hair care line in June 2024. The singer-turned-beauty-mogul wowed with a cropped, caramel mini-afro that complimented her skin tone and her face shape. "Natural is in," one person wrote of the look on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a heart eye emoji.

The "Where Have You Been" hitmaker has opened up about how her relationship with her hair changed after becoming a mom, explaining she lost some of it during her pregnancies. "I thought, 'Enough is enough,'" she told Refinery29 in June 2024, seemingly referring to constantly styling her long hair. "I also learned to embrace that in itself. That actually made me get a little more creative and clever in my hairstyles."

Halle Bailey knew how vital representation is when she landed the role of Ariel in Disney's 2023 live action remake of "The Little Mermaid." As a result, she made sure her character wore her hair in a way that felt authentic to her. "There was a time when we'd barely see locs — and now we have a Disney princess with them, which has never happened before," she told Ebony in 2023. "It was super important for me to have my natural hair in this film." Bailey's version of Ariel had long, deep red locs that flowed in the water. The actor and singer also wore the style to promote the project, switching to a dark brunette version with just a hint of red.

In 2019, Naomi Campbell gave the world a rare look at what her natural hair looks like. In a beautiful X selfie, the iconic supermodel, who's known for wearing wigs, sported her dark tresses in protective cornrow braids that were practical and stylish. "Bare it all. done in Kenya," she captioned the post. The snap came after Campbell shared she'd had to learn to take better care of her own hair after years of styling left it damaged. "I lost all of it with extensions," she told The Standard in 2017. "I am more careful and I do different things." 

Jennifer Aniston gave fans a peak at her wavy hair on Instagram in a video for her haircare line, Lolavie. The clip showed Aniston's just past shoulder-length locks down, and she confirmed in the caption she'd let it dry naturally. The former "Friends" star kept things simple as she ran a Lolavie product through her locks, gave it a scrunch, and let her curls fall how they wanted. We don't blame the actor for avoiding heat. Aniston has undergone quite the drastic hair transformation over her decades in the spotlight, which could have led to damage.

Aniston's hairstylist Chris McMillan told British Vogue in 2023 that the star keeps her beauty routine simplistic, but ensures she gets a trim every month. "The way she wears her make-up, the way she wears her hair, the way she wears her clothes, there's an ease to it, and that's why people can relate to her," he said.

Khloe Kardashian is a big fan of wigs and hair extensions, as evidenced by her extensive collection of hair pieces. But the socialite ditched the extras in 202, showing off her un-straightened texture in a breath-taking Instagram selfie. The reality star posed in front of a gym mirror, sporting a stylish yet effortless curly lob. "I rarely wear my natural hair texture. Felt kinda cute with it (please don't ruin the feeling)," Kardashian captioned the upload, which featured six photos and videos. Fortunately, fans didn't rain on her parade, because the comments section was flooded with fans surging Kardashian to embrace the undone style more often. "Whatever happened to this 'look'? Gorgeous!!!!" one comment read. A second fan told her, "Love the natural I would kill for those curls."

Khloe Kardashian isn't the only "The Kardashians" star who is unafraid to show off her un-styled tresses. And rightly so. Amid COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, Kourtney Kardashian and her younger sister appeared in a livestream shared to Poosh's YouTube and Kourtney casually let her hair do it's own thing. "You're turning into me with the hair touching, I just want you to know," Khloe told Kourtney after she began to fidget with her strands. The lifestyle guru responded, "You know why? Cause this is hair from just taking a shower and letting it dry and sleeping on it. And so I haven't even brushed my hair today!" The star's black, middle-part locks appeared to be sans extensions and fell just over her shoulders with a slight wave. It still had plenty of volume as she pushed it into a deep side part while chatting with her sister.

"The View" star Sunny Hostin spent years toning down her hair, but she embraced her locks and proudly wore her tight waves on the ABC show. "I was told, early in my career as a lawyer that curly hair did not look professional and that it looked unkempt. And so I spent years kind of wearing this slicked back ponytail," she explained on "The View: Behind the Table" in April 2024. She added that her hair became very damaged after she was convinced to blow it out for TV. Hostin stopped straightening and curling her tresses amid the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to wear her radiant curls on TV. "I got such a positive response from so many people, including, on-air talent that said, 'You know, I'm going to wear my hair curly as well,'" Hostin said. 

She's also proudly shared Instagram snaps with her ringlets on show. In August 2024, she posting a shot in a Cornell baseball cap to celebrate her daughter Paloma Hostin enrolling at the prestigious university.

Ariana Grande is famous for her super long, straight ponytails, but her hair is naturally curly. She rarely steps out without doing her hair, but has given fans a glimpse at her voluminous, textured tresses a handful of times. In 2020, the "No Tears Left To Cry" singer uploaded a filtered video on Instagram Stories (which is still available via her Highlights) wearing a half up, half down style as she played with her ponytail. Her soft curls were enviable and glam, yet effortless at the same time.

Grande explained in a 2014 Facebook post that she relied on extensions and ponytails because her hair displayed the tell-tale signs of damage from repeated straightening and dying for her role in "Sam and Kat." "My real hair is back to brown and I wear extensions but I wear it in a pony tail because my actual hair is so broken that it looks absolutely ratchet and absurd when I let it down," she wrote.

Shailene Woodley has sported a range of different haircuts and hair colors for her various TV and movie roles, but for the series "Three Women," she let her big hair shine. Woodley posted three jaw-dropping photos on Instagram in October 2024, showing her untamed textured hair as it fell naturally around her face. Her captivating highlighted 'do was chest length and full of volume.

In the caption, Woodley shared how happy she was to let her strands do their own thing for the movie. "One of my favorite things about playing GIA in three women was finally letting my lion hair roar for a character," she wrote. "Thank you mom + grandpa for the hair genes," she added.

Though Zendaya is a celebrity who's been open and honest about wearing wigs, she showed fans a glimpse of her real hair in 2017 — and it looked just as flattering as her hairpieces. The "Euphoria" actor posted a mirror selfie on Instagram with chest length, caramel brown curls and explained in the caption she'd worked hard to get it healthy. "When you've spent the past however many years growing your damaged hair back, avoiding heat, wearing wigs and trying every natural product in the world and you finally see a little curl pattern comin back... " she wrote, adding the hashtag, "#yeslawwwwd."

She's also showed her young, un-styled tresses in various throwback snaps, marking some of Zendaya's most gorgeous hair looks. In 2023, the Golden Globe winner shared a childhood photo on Instagram in celebration of her birthday, which showed her adorably grinning from ear to ear as her textured, long locks cascaded over her shoulders.

Selena Gomez has had some stunning hair looks over the years, but nothing quite beats her COVID-19 natural style. The star shared four Instagram selfies in 2020 as she lounged around on her bed wearing a textured bob. Her curls were full of volume and her effortless 'do complimented her bone structure (lobs are one of the best short haircuts for round faces). We don't see the "Only Murders In The Building" star with this look often, but fans encouraged her to step away from her straighteners more. One Instagram user commented, "You HAVE to wear your hair like this more often. GORGEOUUSSSSSSS" with several fire emoji.

"Shameless" star Emmy Rossum has learned to embrace her natural curls and proudly showed them off while makeup-free in a Vogue Beauty Secrets video in 2022. "What I love about curly hair is I think it projects confidence," she said. "For so many years, I straightened my hair. I keratin-ed my hair. I would flat-iron and blow-dry and try to kind of contort this into a different ideal of beauty, and finally embracing my natural hair is something that now makes me feel so unique," she added. Rossum began the video with wet tresses before enhancing her texture using a diffuser.

Oprah Winfrey is well-known for her many hair looks and has rocked everything from big afros to sleek bobs. In 2022, the media mogul shared what her hair looks like when it's not under a wig. In an Instagram upload, Winfrey sat in the makeup chair with braids as she and her hair stylist, Nicole Mangrum, lifted them. Some of her braids were undone at the bottom to show her tight ringlets. In the caption, Winfrey wrote that she turned to "the incredible world of natural wigs" after her hair became damaged from over-styling. 

Winfrey has also explained that she changes up her 'dos to keep her curls healthy. "In the summer, I braid my hair. I wear weaves. I've worn weaves on the show. I've worn weaves on the magazine covers," she told Oprah.com. "I have done pretty much all of it because in order to keep your hair, you can't put heat in your hair every day."

Nicole Kidman spent so much time trying to straighten out her mane, she noticed a permanent change in her curl pattern. "I wish I had my curls back. I tortured them to death. I always say, 'Don't ruin the ringlets!'" she told Who in 2017 (via Stylist). But, thankfully, Kidman worked hard to undo the damage and brought her natural curls back at the Academy Museum Gala in 2021. Kidman wore her strawberry blond hair down in long ringlets with plenty of volume, marking one of her most breath-taking looks ever. Her hair stylist Kylee Heath shared several photos from the event on Instagram, confirming the curl pattern was all Kidman's and not down to a tool.

There was a time Tamera Mowry-Housley wanted to hide her beautiful curls, turning to hot tools to straighten her locks. But, after becoming a mom, the actor learned to love her hair in its pre-styled state. The former "Sister, Sister" and "The Talk" star shared a Facebook photo in 2019 posing with her defined, shiny curls cut into a dazzling bob. "When I was younger I was insecure about my curly hair. It wasn't until I had Aden and did the big chop that I started my natural hair journey ... And fell in love with it," Mowry-Housley wrote. "Hey, it's the way God made me, and I'm glad," she added. And so are we.

Just like her twin sister Tamera Mowry-Housley, Tia Mowry has also embraced natural hair in a big way. Mowry is a celebrity who took a stunning leap from long hair to short, and she posted a candid selfie for her 47th birthday in 2020 to prove it. Not only did she rock her healthy curls in a short afro, but she showed off her gray hair with confidence too. "I'm in love with this! #silversisters," one comment read with a heart eye emoji. "Gorrrrrrgeousssss," a second fan commented with three fire emoji.

Three years later, Mowry opened up on TikTok about why it was so important to show how her hair really looks. "Let Black hair be Black hair. I didn't grow up with enough representation of real Black hair in media," she wrote. "I want to be that representation for you. Your hair is amazing just the way it is, and you should be proud, like I am."