A female soldier poses for an example photo with locs to illustrate an upcoming change to Army grooming and appearance standards. Soldiers will be authorized to wear multiple hairstyles if they can maintain a neat and professional appearance, and if the hairstyle doesn’t impede the use of headgear or other equipment.
The US Army announced a series of new grooming policies on Tuesday that will allow soldiers to wear ponytails, locs, lipstick and even earrings.
According to the new policy, women can wear nail polish as long as the colors are deemed “acceptable” and male soldiers are authorized to wear clear nail polish. Soldiers can also highlight their hair as long as they choose a natural color. Certain colors like purple, pink, blue, green, orange, bright red and fluorescent or neon colors are not allowed.
The current policy will also lift restrictions on soldiers braiding, twisting, locking, or cornrowing their hair, although it does set out some specifications for doing so. The new guidelines will go into place in late February.
