Everyone Loves a ‘Cinderella’ Moment: Celebrities Make Drastic Changes…Should You?

AnnaLynne McCord

Everyone loves makeovers and transformations – it’s what we call the “Cinderella” complex. Every woman hopes to find that one hairstylist who will tell her “I know exactly what you need, and I will make you look the best you will EVER look.” This is why we record Oprah when she’s doing a makeover show, and why we grab the glossies off the shelf at the grocery store when they promise a “makeover issue.” This week, we’re inviting YOU to give us your opinion on these following celebrity transformations – whose is best, whose is only mediocre or maybe should have just left well enough alone, and whose was a failure. We’ll give ours, then you can comment! 

Ciara

Actor AnnaLynne McCord has some of the most naturally beautiful hair on television, thick, healthy, naturally curly, and believably highlighted. But lately she’s taken to straightening all that crowning glory, and now she’s colored it a deep shade of ash brown for a role. AnnaLynne, as soon as the shooting stops, go back to your own beautiful hair immediately. 

Dianna Agron

On the positive side, we really like what Ciara’s done with her lengthy ebony extensions. The bangs make her look younger, and the chunky platinum streaks add a softer dimension, breaking up the “wiggy” feel of the long, center parted hair, and brighten her skin tone beautifully.

Glee’s Dianna Agron is beautiful enough to carry off most any style, but this bob’s color is brassy and lacks the dimension her longer style had. It was much richer and multi-dimensional, bringing out her skin tones. Her new color washes her out. If she intends to keep the bob, she needs to get back to see her colorist for some high- and low-lights, stat.  

Emma Stone

Emma Stone has gone back to red after a long flirtation with a few shades of very pale blonde, and we say “brava!” Red is much better for her, it makes her skin look more alive and glowing, and brings out the green in her eyes. She’s lovely as a blonde, but the red is just so much better.

Evan Rachel Wood

True Blood’s Evan Rachel Wood, whose new crop we debuted in last week’s blog, looks even better when viewed side-by-side with her previous hairstyle. Her new color is more flattering and richer, the cut really highlights her fabulous cheekbones, and her makeup has been adjusted to go with her new color and cut. 

Fergie

Fergie has gone from blonde to very dark brown to a lighter brown with highlights and now back to blonde again. She is very partial to the center part, but notice how the side part in her “before” picture really softens her look. I prefer her with some curls and the side part to add the softness she needs to balance out a wide forehead, but blonde is the better color for her. It is her childhood color, and it works best with her skin tones. The brunette colors all made her look washed out, although she could have countered that by changing her makeup.

Hayden Panetierre

Hayden Panetierre was growing out a cropped pixie, and decided to speed up the process by adding some very brassy blonde extensions with no dimension. Often, extensions can help damaged hair look healthier, but we’re seeing the opposite effect here. Her single-process color looks damaged, almost as if she’d done her color at home. And she needs a cut with some softness around the face, and some wisps or soft bangs to balance out her very high forehead, something shaggier and sexier that falls across her forehead and around her face. 

Isabel Lucas

Australian actor Isabel Lucas has managed to find a new haircolor that looks to be almost the same color as her skin, which is not flattering – it washes her out terribly. She looked better as a brunette, although she desperately needed some hairstyling. She has a very long face, and both the old and new looks accentuate that. She needs a side part with a wisp or a side-swept bang to soften her look and bring out her features and soften her look.

Jordin Sparks

Singer Jordin Sparks’ straight style was perfectly fine, but her natural curls soften her look, make her look lighter and her face look slimmer. They make her look natural and like herself, instead of that flat-ironed out look everyone wears. 

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart’s transformation is not such a major one – she’s gone from a deep brown with a reddish undertone to a full-on auburn, and changed her part – but the difference is dramatic. The deep side part softens her slightly long face, and the auburn hair brings out the green in her hazel eyes. 

Malin Ackerman

Malin Ackerman is sexy as blonde, but her severely slicked-back red hair is a perfect example how a simple hairstyle can make you look older when that is not necessarily your intention. That aside, she did a good job of changing her makeup to match her hew haircolor. Not doing so is a classic mistake many women make – you must change your makeup and even the colors in your wardrobe when you change your haircolor.

Nicole Kidman

We’ve seen better of Nicole Kidman than either of these pictures, but we’re just grateful she’s gone back to being a redhead. She should always stay with her natural strawberry blonde color – nothing else has ever looked so good on her. That said, neither of these style do anything for her; the one on the left looks almost like a wig, and that bangs look like she did them herself at home and do not compliment her face. She needs to jump all the way in with the bangs, have them blended into the rest of the hair around her face. 

Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is becoming a grown woman before the eyes of the world, and by cutting off the long, center-parted and flat-ironed hair, she’s freed herself to let her hair’s natural texture come through. It’s a more mature, softer, sexier look. She’s not trying to make her hair something that it’s not, and that says “confidence.”  It’s a bit much for her delicate face, but she’ll find her way.

Zoe Kravitz

Finally, rock-and-roll offspring Zoe Kravitz cut and colored her long black hair, and we like the lighter hair. It looks good both ways, but the shorter style, with the different color dimensions, feels summery and light rather than her very one-dimensional, very “wintery” old look. The lighter colors also bring out the exotic tones in her skin. 

 

The advantage you have with making a major transformation through haircolor is that if you don’t like it and just can’t get used to it, you can usually walk right back in to see your colorist and go back. But when you've gone from light to dark, you can't go back that easily.  It may require a series of visits to gradually return to a lighter color without damaging the hair.  That's why I always suggest that my clients looking for a major change try on some wigs to make sure they are going to like the color before they take a drastic step. 

Be sure to let us know which celebrities you think made the right choice, and which ones should head right back into the salon. We’re looking forward to your comments!

Until next week, ciao!