High school hairstyles bring a mix of emotions, ranging everything from waves of embarrassment to heartfelt nostalgia. Lupita Nyong'o's high school hairstyle is just as amazing, which she shared on Instagram recently.
"Lupita Nyong'o shared her own in a throwback picture from 2001, when she would've been 18," PopSugar reported. Your teens are an experimental time, and most of us have dabbled in questionable highlights, tragic at-home dye jobs, adventurous hair cuts, and creative up-dos and ponytails. But while you can regret the emo side-swept bangs, you also have to love those styles that so perfectly captured the pop culture of the time. Whether you brought in a picture of Jennifer Aniston or Missy Elliot to your hairdresser, those photos now carry a heavy dose of nostalgia.
And in Nyong'o's case, her hair inspo at her hair appointment might just have been Mary J. Blige. Giving her Instagram followers a peek into her teenage years, we're treated to a Nyong'o with straightened hair that flipped out at the ends, accompanied by micro bangs. Underneath the photo she captioned, "#tbt The incriminating years. #straighthairfulltimecare circa 2001." This set off a wave of sentimentality, as her fans flooded the comments with their own memories of trendy hairdos.
Fans were quick to connect the look to major pop culture icons, like @harmzworld pointing out, "Oh my gosh I did this hairstyle one time...tryna be like MaryJ," and @ fatmamathevirgo84 sharing, "I'm getting Maxine from living single!"
Other fans saw a small piece of themselves in the style, sharing, "I remember wanting to do it" or "everybody got that flick up hairstyle at one time." Even if an Oscar separates fans from the amazing Lupita Nyong'o, it's nice to know that her childhood is filled with these kind of statement-making hair pictures, just like everyone else's.
And to give you an idea how other celebs coiffed their hair more than a decade ago, look at the incriminating photos below.
1. Kris Jenner
Before the iconic pixie was a pair of eyelash-sweeping bangs.
2. Blake Lively
Blake Lively's side ponytail gives a person major '90s goals. Look at that volume, that height, that scrunchie. It's perfection.
3. Joe Manganiello
CAN YOU EVEN? Manganiello captioned it, "Throw Back Thursday to 1996..." and everyone's eyes collectively bugged out. The bleach look was alive and well in the '90s.
4. January Jones
January Jones representing the bowl haircut, with the perfect caption of, "So I had to post the alltime best example of who I am as a person summed up in one snap. Always and forever."
If you've ever had an outlandish hairstyle in your youth, no longer feel like you have to cringe — you're clearly not alone.
