These gravity-defying styles are inspiring African women to embrace their natural hair

You may not know her name, but the striking work of self-taught hair artist Elisabeth Anayes Niouky is certainly turning heads.

Niouky, based in the West African country of Senegal, crafts modern African hairstyles for editorial photo shoots, fashion shows and celebrity appearances. She has worked with magazines including Dazed, and Afrique Noire, and produced eye-catching styles for celebrities such as Malian music legend Oumou Sangaré.

Thanks to Niouky, Senegalese beauty queen Camilla Diagne walked onto the stage at the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand last year wearing her hair towering high above her head in a lion’s mane-inspired afro sculpture — a departure from the straight wigs or extensions often chosen by Senegal’s past contestants.

Niouky’s TikTok videos, showing her styling process for both extraordinary hair sculptures and more wearable braids or afro styles, receive hundreds of thousands of views and comments, and through her work, Niouky leads a growing movement, inspiring women to embrace their natural hair texture in a country where it’s not always celebrated.

She says that in West Africa, long, flowing, smooth hair is the current “beauty standard,” with wigs, weaves and chemical straightener all popular.