Natural hair, black hair, and afro-textured hair are terms used to refer to the texture of Black African hair that has not been altered chemically (by perming, relaxing, straightening, bleaching or coloring).

Not all people of Black African descent have naturally afro-textured hair, although the overwhelming majority do.

Adjectives such as "hard", "kinky", "nappy", or "woolly" are also used to describe natural Afro-textured hair. This hair is typically tightly coiled and soft to the touch. It is generally denser in appearance than straight hair.

There are differences across ethnicity in the structure, density, and growth rate of hair. With regards to structure, Caucasian hair, Black hair, and Asian hair, all have the same basic chemical composition in terms of keratin protein content.

For many people of Black African descent, an afro is the way the hair grows naturally. Nevertheless, anyone with very curly hair is capable of growing an afro.

For people of Black African descent, the spiraling, tightly coiled curls (sometimes referred to as natural afro-hair) can be straightened out somewhat, giving the hair added volume and length, by first braiding the hair, then separating the coils using an "afro comb".