Blake Lively has red hair!

While we were enjoying a 5 day long weekend here in Australia, Blake Lively has made hair headlines.

Blake Lively has red hair.

Blake is one of my esteemed hair idols and I didn’t see this coming. She was the queen of blonde beachy hair but I like the red. Shame she's standing next to that red wall as it's hard to judge the colour from these photos.

Note the perfectly toned eyebrow – often forgotten when changing hair colour but key to your new look. You should either dye your eyebrows or update your eyebrow makeup to match your new hair colour.

Blake was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world. Is she influencing you to reconsider red hair?

Rumours are already starting about if this is for a movie role and polls are springing up so I’m asking too – which do you prefer Blake the Blonde or the Redhead? And is this really red or just strawberry blonde?

Coachella hairstyles

Coachella is the most stylish of all music festivals. Fact.

So if you’re looking for some hairspiration look no further.

My tips for festival hair

It’s a long, hot day at these shows so don’t fight your natural hair too much. If you’re straight you’ll be sad when your curls drop by mid afternoon and if you’re curly the frizz will be taking your focus from the scene.

Accessorise – go crazy with hats and headpieces but keep with the bohemian vibe, nothing that you would wear to the races.

Don’t overthink it – be relaxed, and go for messy over polished.

The photos fill me with festival envy as I would have loved to be there. What’s your favourite look from Coachella 2011? I adore Eliza Doolittle’s headpiece and I think I would wear my hair like Diane Kruger. Love her hat.

Elizabeth Taylor - Hair Idol

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Elizabeth Taylor. She was a true Hollywood great. This Avedon portrait is stunning.

By the time she won her first Oscar at age 28, Taylor had been married five times. "What do you expect me to do? Sleep alone?" she said. 

A true icon.

My Dad was one month older than Elizabeth Taylor and I grew up watching all her movies.

Her glamour will live on and so will her contribution to the turban. 

 

 

Do you have a favourite Elizabeth Taylor movie? I love National Velvet, Little Women, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer. I feel a movie marathon coming on soon.

RIP Dame Elizabeth.

Oscarzzz

I love a good red carpet but I was so bored by the Oscars. I was watching them live on TV and at one point I actually switched over to Ready Steady Cook as the Bondi Vet was on. Yes, the Oscar’s ceremony was that dull.

As for my red carpet favourites, here are my top two:

Cate Blanchett 

Instyle predicted Michelle Williams would wear this dress and I would have loved to have seen her in it too. It’s an amazing Givenchy dress and I love everything about it – the structured sleeve, the beading, the open back, that yellow accent and the soft skirt. It’s a difficult colour but Cate proves she can wear anything.

At first I didn’t rate the hair but that’s wherein the trick lies - it is the simple style that works so well with this dress. It’s the gentle volume on the crown and how it looks so soft but is styled perfectly in place. Renya Xydis is responsible and if you have short hair you want to save this photo for reference.

Amy Adams 

Adore this colour against her creamy skin and red hair. It’s perfect for her colouring. Her dress is by L’Wren Scott. Love the cascading soft hair – it sits beautifully against the dress and has the right amount of volume. Now can we talk about the jewellery? Wow. Amazing emeralds and diamonds by Cartier that pop against the blue sequins. Who says blue and green must never be seen!

Special mention to Michelle Williams in an amazing Chanel gown. But I would have loves to have seen her in Cate’s dress...

Special unmention to Reese Witherspoon. That switch was wearing you. I loved the simplicity of the Armani Prive dress and I get where you were aiming but it just didn’t quite get there for me.

Who was your favourite on the Oscar’s red carpet this year?

How to wear a headscarf like Blake Lively

My lovely friend, whose name I shall protect, does not know who Blake Lively is. The shame!!

I caught up with her for dinner and drinks Friday and she kindly told me she’d been reading my blog and loved the girl with the long hair. She said, I am going to do my hair like her, how do I wear a scarf like she does?

I did take her request seriously and will give a how to wear a headscarf like Blake Lively below, but I can’t get over her not even recognising Blake since she has foxtel and watches tv. I think my poor friend is stuck in SATC mode and needs to upgrade to Gossip Girl.

Anyway, I digress.

How to wear a headscarf like Blake Lively

The key to this look is that the headscarf is purely a hair accessory. It’s not holding back any of the hair, it is merely placed around the finished style.

1. Tease your hair at the crown of your head by gently back-combing
2. Leaving some hair loose around your hairline, take a small section from each side and pin at the back to keep some volume in your hair. I did this twice, twisting the sections together and hiding the pin underneath.
3. Take your headscarf and tie in place between two sections of your hair. Leave some hair loose underneath.
4. Tuck the top of your ears under the scarf and play with your fringe until you are happy and you’re done!

I used a square scarf folded on the diagonal but almost any size scarf will do as long at it fits around your head.

What do you think of this look?

Maybe you’ve got a how-to hair question? Shoot me an email at thehair[at]hairromance.com or write in the comments below.

Who is doing this to Angelina?

I went to the Moonlight Cinema in Sydney tonight. It is one of the best places in the world to see a movie. In fact, it is so nice there it doesn't really matter what is showing, you just want to be there. Hence I managed to sit through The Tourist.

I love Angelina Jolie and I LOVE Johnny Depp and I totes get why they made this movie (location + money = kid's college education + early retirement) but it does not excuse the state of Angelina's hair.

I found her hair so hideous I couldn't concentrate on the "plot". I thought I was the only one to notice but the lovely Kat & Deena (so nice to meet you both!) were also outraged by her awful hairstyles. Kat found Angelina's hair so awful it made her lose empathy with her character.

Now I expect Ange to do what she wants with her hair on her own time, but when she is employed on a film they would hire a hairdresser to look after her and make her hair fit her character. Boy did they get it wrong. Lucky for them her eyes and face are so captivating it takes all the attention away from her hair.

But I noticed. And I fumed about it. They should hire me to do her hair and then so many people wouldn't be on Jennifer Aniston's side.

Angelina's agents, the Follicle Oracle and I are available for hair consultations...

What happened to Angelina Jolie’s hair?

My sister asked a very good question yesterday. What’s going on with Angelina Jolie’s doofus fringe?

Yes, she actually said doofus, and although I hadn’t thought about it before, I had to agree.

I like Ange and I guess I thought since she has six kids now that red carpet events aren’t very important to her so she did the minimum required (and for someone as beautiful as her, that’s not much).

But someone must be cutting and styling her hair and they gave her that poor attempt at a fringe and blowdried it with a bad 80s curve and flick.

The Follicle Oracle and I both agreed that hair down was not the right style for this dress. A loose, unstructured chignon would have so much better, and keep the fringe but with less curl.

Fringes are a hot trend at the moment (I sense a post on fringes coming up...), and looking closely Ange may be growing her's out, but the stylists responsible should get fired for that doofus fringe.

What do you think went wrong with Ange’s hair?

PS. On a side note I can’t stand those fake curl tendrils on the girl in the background. Bad 80s prom hair.

Valentine’s Day Romantic Hairstyles

I don’t buy into all the Valentine’s Day hoo-ha. I think you should show your love all year round, not on a Hallmark holiday. Plus I hate going out for dinner on Valentine’s Day. My husband and I have only been out to a restaurant once on Valentine’s years ago and it was awful. It was a great restaurant we’d been to before and loved but on V-day they had a reduced set menu which was awful and we spent the night laughing at all the awkward couples sitting around us trying to pick what stage of a relationship they were in. This year I caught him looking at one of our fave place’s Valentine’s menu and I told him not to bother.

Our tradition instead is to celebrate our “miniversary” every month. See, we got together on 15th September and so we do something nice together or get little gifts on the 15th of every month. So we’ll be enjoying a quiet restaurant with a full menu on Tuesday night!

Anyway, it’s all about the hair and that’s what I’m meant to be writing about.

Despite my dislike of Valentine’s Day, many of you will be going on dates and may need some hair inspiration. I’m splitting my advice into three categories:

1. Newbies – first dates (god forbid on Valentine’s Day – are you crazy??), newly dating and still in the flush of love
2. Together – in a relationship but starting to get in a rut
3. Long-termers – in a long term relationship or marriage but past the rut and happy

Newbies 

Touchable hair is important for date hairstyles. Go for something soft and approachable and hair that has lots of movement so you can flick it back and keep touching it all night long. It’s a great accessory for flirting.

Together

You need to shake it up with your look and get out of your rut. Put some effort in and pump up the volume and sex appeal for a red hot Valentine’s Day

Long-termers

You need to remember the excitement of when you were first dating. When you looked forward to seeing each other and spending time together. I would go a bit nostalgic here and take inspiration from hairstyles you had at that time. If this was last decade that may not be a good idea, so here are some hairstyle ideas so you don’t go too retro. 

Enjoy Valentine's Day (if that's your thing) and hope your hair looks gorgeous. 

Do you have anything special planned? Or are you boycotting V-day?

Blake Lively - Hair Idol

After my fabulous friend’s revelation about her hair dysmorphia, I feel it’s time to include Blake Lively as a Hair Idol. 

Plus, I am trying to grow my hair and yesterday's post on Michelle Williams is making me reconsider so I need some long hair inspiration.

Not only did Blake Lively save my friend’s hair but she has been the driving force behind not one, but at least three major hair trends. Like SJP & her SATC stylists made curls, regrowth and flower corsages cool, Blake & the Gossip Girl crew have brought back braids and upstyles and beach waves in the city. Also, I just heard a rumour that Blake may be cast as Carrie in a SATC prequel movie, so worlds collide…

Perhaps this award should really go to Serena Van der Woodsen and the Gossip Girl stylists. Blake is blessed with stunning locks but her inspirational looks are the result of the great work by the Gossip Girl stylists.

Let’s see how her hair progresses in this rest of this season to see if she remains a hair idol. I’m a little disappointed with season 4 but her hair is a little more achievable for mere mortals now as they don’t seem to be using as many hair extensions (Season 4, ep 13 hair case in point). For the moment she is a constant inspiration.

Michelle Williams and her lovely hairstyle

I felt bad for shaming Michelle Williams in my red carpet hairstyles post as I do so love her hair. She makes me want to cut my hair again.

I also saw this photo on the gorgeous Willow & Frank blog and she looks so adorable I had to post. This is a shot from Vogue by Yelena Yemchuck. I just love this photo.

 Here are more shots of Michelle looking gorgeous. 

The thing I like most about Michelle’s hair as she has been working with the cut for a while, trying varying shades of blonde and different fringe lengths.

I particularly like the longer fringe. That’s the shot I would take to the hairdresser as inspiration. Except I have curls, and short hair can be tricky to manage with thick or curly hair.

Emma Watson has the same problem with her hair so she had keratin straightening done prior to the big chop so it would stay in control. Brilliant thinking.

Is the trend for pixie cuts making you want to go for the big chop too?

Bad hat, good hat – Winter

Bad hat – Katie Price

Nothing else to say.

Good hat – Kate Moss

Congratulations to Kate Moss on her engagement. This shot was the day before when they went shopping for the ring. This is the hat you want to be wearing. More stylish than the trilby and perfect for winter. Even though it’s summer here in Australia, I will be on the lookout for one of these…