Some celebrities are stunningly steadfast in their commitment to always looking the same, trends or whimsies notwithstanding. And is there anything necessarily wrong with that? Not really.
But on the flip side, you have chameleon Demi Lovato, a singer and actress who’s lived much of her life in the public eye, with all its inherent ups and downs. Lovato doesn’t peddle plastic perfection. She recently revealed, in her single “Sober,” that she relapsed after six years of sobriety. She’s dealt with addiction, eating disorders, and mental illness—and been open about her struggles, something we see all too little of in our image-crazed celeb culture.
If you follow Lovato on Insta, you know she’s got—or should we say, had—glorious, glossy long, dark brown hair. And to that she said goodbye, with the help of colorist Amber Maynard from Nine Zero One Salon in Los Angeles. She gave Lovato’s hair a golden sheen, with shades of Jennifer Aniston’s perfectly imperfect highlights.
“We started the process by using Joico Color Intensity Eraser{: rel=nofollow} and then highlighted using Joico Blonde Life{: rel=nofollow},” Maynard tells Allure of the process behind getting Demi’s hue. “I custom-formulated her root shadow and toned with Joico Lumishine Demi-Permanent Liquid Color{: rel=nofollow}.”
On Tuesday, Lovato posted a sneak peek of the new color to her Instagram Stories, showing her face from the nose down, her new blonde color on display. Lovato plays slightly coy in this image, despite the major transformation that just went down, which, according to Maynard, included extensions. “Demi’s had dark hair for a long time — we thought what better way to switch it up than to go lighter and add extensions for length?” she says. “It was such a pretty yet also soft shade and we haven’t done a blonde like this before on Demi.”
She’s been working with Lovato for roughly seven years, and says the singer is “always open [to] change and willing to take risks.” That’s something we can totally get behind. Her new shade was inspired by something inherent to most of us: just wanting to make a change. And maybe we’re reading too much into this, but Lovato hinted at something cryptic recently on Instagram: “Exciting things coming soon….”
As for what Maynard tells clients who want to do the same: “We always make sure clients know that the process can take several hours and/or multiple visits. In this case, we were able to co-color Demi’s hair. I worked on the front and top while my team focused on the back. This makes the process go much faster and allows us to work more efficiently and cover more ground in less time.” The process, from beginning to end, took around two days to complete.
For maintaining a hue like this, Maynard suggests the Joico Blonde Life Shampoo{: rel=nofollow} and K-Pak Color Therapy Conditioner{: rel=nofollow}, as she used on Lovato for this process.
As for the rest of us mere mortals: “Be prepared for a long process. You can’t rush perfection,” says Maynard.
Related: Demi Lovato Speaks Out About Loving Her Cellulite, Fat, and Stretch Marks in Body-Positive Posts
