Is it authorized? What you need to know about the new-ish Army grooming standards

There are still so many questions surrounding ALARACT 040-2021 regarding the new-ish grooming standards as they pertain to women in the Army. We’re going to break down those changes here.

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Wooo doggy! I can’t be the only Army Mama who welcomed the changes in ALARACT 040-2021, but I know that there are still so many Soldiers that are very uncertain about what they can/can’t do in regards to hair, nails, jewelry, and all of the above.

And it makes it even more challenging when leaders aren’t right with the regs.

Whether they don’t understand the changes or they simply have a biased opinion of what “professional” should look like.

Hair

One of the main drivers for updating the grooming standards for females is the lack of diversity among their Soldiers the previous regulation took into account.

We all have very different hair types and forcing us to wear our hair in a taut bun day-in and day-out caused many of our sisters in arms irreparable damage.

Permanent hair loss is so prominent among military women that the VA even gives disability ratings for this!

To combat this in the past, most women have done “the chop”, myself included.

For the past 3 years I had been rocking a bob.

Not because I liked the style, but because I wanted to salvage my hair follicles.

Service related hair loss will be covered in a different article in the near future, so stay tuned for that if you’re looking for solutions or reparations for your hair loss.

Contrary to popular extra-Hooah belief, you will still want your body in good shape after you get out of the military–and hair is certainly no exception!

The changes to Army hair grooming standards for females includes the following:

• • highlights, as long as the colors blend naturally
    • no stark difference in colors (e.g. black with blonde)
  • single pony tail, single braid, and double braids
    • cannot drape them over the front of your shoulder, they must fall down your back
    • the length cannot exceed the bottom of your shoulder blade (don’t be that guy, ladies)
    • must be tucked into your ACU top if in a tactical environment where it poses a safety risk
  • more than one hairstyle can be worn at a time
  • restrictions removed on width of braids, twists, locs and the spacing between them
  • restrictions removed on minimum hair length
    • if Soldier’s hair doesn’t naturally part, they may cut a natural looking part in their hair

You can see a few examples of what I was able to capture from females within my brigade (with their permission, of course).

I’ll be compiling a portfolio of authorized hairstyles for females in the Army and will be sharing that with y’all as soon as I have a good stockpile going.

While we are on the topic of hair. Let’s briefly discuss POC (person of color) hair and the most common fallacies.

A WOC (woman of color) is authorized to have red (otherwise known as ginger), blonde, brown, auburn, and other natural shades of hair color in her hair.

For example, if a WOC wanted to dye her hair blonde, then it is most certainly allowed.

As a leader and/or peer, it is not up to you to impose your personal beliefs based on western standards of hair, because those are in fact natural hair colors that many shades of Soldiers hair.

The ALARACT is explicit on what is allowable and this is not one of those instances that require corrections.

However, anyone (and this goes for males and females) who has their hair dyed cannot let the root grow out more than 1.5 inches of the original color. So make sure you book your touch ups in a timely fashion!

Another common fallacy when it comes to textured hair (and this doesn’t strictly pertain to WOC) is that their hair gives off the appearance of being unkempt.

For example, the standard pony tail “poof”. Do not expect your fellow textured hair Army Mamas to damage their hair with heat or chemical agents just because you “think” it looks more professional.

When we begin to normalize natural hair is when we embrace the diversity within our ranks.

Leading back to one of the main reasons our grooming standards were updated– understanding that we are all different.

Last but not least as it pertains to hair. . .

Can you wear your hair in any of these styles during PT? Yes! Plus, there is no maximum length restrictions during PT. And you can also wear your hair in a pony tail going to and from PT. 

Nails

Another ode to femininity is the authorization to wear colored nail polish in uniform.

The only catch is they have to be neutral, nude, or light pink colors and they can’t be in the following shapes:

• • • • coffin
      • almond
      • stilleto

Square or rounds nails are authorized.

I hate having to say this, but I see it all to often in the Army. The color of your nail polish does not need to compliment the color of your skin.

The newest grooming standards ALARACT does not state anything about complexion in relation to nail polish color.

Now, if you’re like me and paint your nails at home, you might have noticed more breakage with your nails since this ALARACT came out.

I went out and bought a neutral shade set and was wearing a different color each week out of excitement.

Until I found out how damaging the polish was to my natural nails. Believe me, I was devastated that I had to go without for quite some time until my nails grew out to replenish their health.

I also found it quite frustrating to keep a bottle of nail polish on me at all time because I had to do constant touch ups.

As an Army Mama, my nail polish would chip away from washing my hands, dishes, the kids, and just about everything else in between.

And yes, I’m a bit frugal and didn’t want to schedule an actual appointment at the nail salon.

Especially with the uncertainty of lockdowns, I don’t like to risk getting a gel polish and then not being able to get it filled in time.

Plus, I’m not a fan of manicures– I find them painful because the nail tech seems to cut my cuticles as little too close each time.

However, you can still partake in painting your nails without the hassle of touch ups or the worry of damaging your nail bed!

You can find this brand of press on nails on Amazon and they have great reviews!

Simply match up your nail size with the assortment of nails and the rest is self explanatory.

Got called out for being out of regs? It’s a lot easier ripping these babies off than paying for an expedited nail appointment to cover up the other color.

Have you ever gotten your nails done and picked out a color that looked like it was within regulation?

Then gotten in your car after your nail appointment and stared in horror at your nails in natural light because they were actually a neon color?

No? Just me?

Well it’s scary, especially after dropping at least $60.

Then you don’t know if you can trust any lighting in any nail salon from that moment of betrayal.

Skip the drama and get press-ons.

Or you can order a neutral shade set like I did and experiment with what works best for you.

Make up

Adjustments were also made to the shades of lipstick women in the military are authorized to wear.

To sum things up, no extreme colors and only natural shades for lipstick/lipgloss. You can also wear lipliner as long as it matches the shade of lipstick that you are wearing.

Although it wasn’t in this ALARACT, it is in AR 670-1 that eyelash extensions are not authorized.

I know it is a big trend right now (and they look gorgeous!), but sorry ladies it’s not allowed.

You can wear falsies if you have a medical profile due to hair loss in that particular area.

If you’re not a fan of the clumping or fading ring (we all know the unwanted “lipliner” look after a couple hours wear) that lipstick can have on your lips, then Chapstick offers a great line of tinted chapstick that come in natural shades.

No matter how many layers of this stuff you put on your lips, you will never form an extreme color, it won’t clump up, and you won’t get the faded ring after a couple hours of wear.

They have different shades to choose from, but my personal favorite is Merlot. It’s just a shade darker than my natural lip color without looking wild.

Jewelry

This is another change that made a lot of people mad (ahem, mostly males).

If you search #jewelsinboots, you’ll find so many female Soldiers rockin’ earrings in uniform.

Here’s the lowdown on what’s allowed and what’s not:

• matching gold or silver studs
• matching diamond studs (princess cut or round without adornments)
• no earrings in APFU or while conducting physical fitness in general, tactical environments (combat related deployments, FTX, or where access to hygiene is unavailable)
• pearl earrings only allowed in formal uniform
• cannot exceed 6 MM or 1/4 inch in diameter
• only one earring in each ear lobe (nowhere else on the ear or cartilage of the ear)

I know I wasn’t the only one who hopped on Amazon to buy myself some hypoallergenic stud earrings in all the options.

If you’ve got sensitive skin and a light wallet, then these earrings are a great option if you’d like to wear some jewels while in boots.

That’s about it for this change to female grooming standards. There was and still is a bit of controversy surrounding this ALARACT.

I recall SMA announcing these changes were in effect and Soldiers still telling their peers that it wasn’t authorized yet. Even though the ALARACT and memo were hot off the press!

This just goes to show you to stick your ground (tacitly) if you know that you are within regulation, because even higher ranks were side eyeing these changes at the expense of the morale of their Soldiers.

Our uniform makes us uniform, but a little feminine flair never hurt anyone.

In fact, autonomy to express ourselves as women in a majority male organization is important for our mental health.