Mane Muse: Kaley Cuoco
by Justine Marjan
When we caught wind that Kaley Cuoco was ditching her blonde strands for a pale pink, we swooped at the chance to get in on the action. Though she swapped her signature long strands in favor of a short cut [that’s varied in length from a pixie to bob] just over a year ago, a bright, bold hue was just what she needed to show off how much she’s embraced the cropped ‘do.
“I’ve been wanting to go pink for such a long time,” says Kaley, “every time I’d go to the salon I’d plan on doing it, but as soon as my blonde was re-done, I loved it so much I didn’t want to change it! But this time I knew I had a few months off work, so I was like, ‘Okay, I have to do this pink color!’”
Kaley has trusted Vanessa Spaeth at Andy Lecompte Salon with her color for years, so enlisting her to choose the right shade of pink for her skin tone was not a scary feat. “Now I feel like I don’t remember life before pink hair!” says Kaley. “It feels natural…like I was born with it. It really feels like it’s in my soul. Vanessa did such a natural color, so I don’t feel clownish, it’s more a soft cotton candy.”
Needless to say, Kaley is very loyal to her glam squad. So armed with Christine Symonds on hair (who is the one who got to chop off her long strands) and Jamie Greenberg on makeup, this shoot was all about friendship and fun.
“It’s not worth it without my glam team. I love working with Christine and Jamie, it just makes everything more fun. It makes all these shoots such a blast. We all just click, we keep each other laughing, and we just know what we like. You can feel beautiful and people can do great work, but when you love the people you’re working with it just makes everything more fun!”
“Kaley and I always trying to recreate new looks because short hair can get boring when you’re tying to grow it out,” says Christine. “So for the first image today we did a tousled, textured, wild look. I first prepped her hair with Oribe Grandiose Mouse. Then I dried her hair with an Eco Tools brush. I wrapped sections around a 1 inch curling iron, finishing with Batiste Dry Shampoo for texture.”
“My new favorite product is the Batiste Dry Shampoo!” Kaley chimes in. “My hair can be dirty for three days and I just spray some of it in. It’s so inexpensive but works great.”
“Look 2 was a crown braid on one side, then cornrows on the other,” Christine explains. “The hair was already super textured with the Batiste Dry Shampoo, so the braids stuck together really easily. We did an inside out braid on one side, with a deep side part, then two cornrow braids on the other side. They all came together in the back forming two little buns.”
If seeing a girl with short hair and braids has you green with envy, don’t worry! A braided look is easy to recreate for hair of all lengths. Christine explains that “a tip for girls who have short hair and want to try braids is prep the hair with a tacky texture spray. I love using either a dry shampoo or the Osis Dust It Texture Powder. They just give the hair some grit so that all the little hairs stay together instead of sticking out of the braid. I also love to use bobby pins in the same color of the hair, so it’s easy to slip into the braid to tuck away pieces that are really short. They just give more control when you create the shape of the braid.”
“For the third look we did a sleek, side part,” Christine goes on. “It’s super easy and anyone can do it. It’s great for second or third day hair or anytime you want a quick, easy style to just walk out the door. We used R+Co Aircraft Pomade Mousse and combed it through her short hair with a fine toothed comb, shaping it into the style we wanted.”
And the bold colored brows? “We filled in the brows with MAC Lightly Sugared Eyeshadow, which we used on the lids too,” says Jamie.
“For the fourth look, we combed all of her hair back, reworking the pomade mousse that was already in her hair. We then mixed some hair color with conditioner and combed it through her hair to create a more vibrant pink. We then opened a package of gold leaf and started patting it on the wet hair with a brush.”
“She handpicked each leaf and placed it on my head!” Kaley gushes. “We did a very editorial version of this look,” says Christine, “but for everyday wear, just use a few pieces on the side. Just prep the hair with something tacky so the gold leaf has something to attach to, like mousse or pomade.”
If you’re itching to know what being on set with Kaley is like, look no further…
Muse: Kaley Cuoco @normancook
Hair: Christine Symonds @clsymonds
Color: Vanessa Spaeth @vspaeth
Photos: Mike Rosenthal @mrmikerosenthal
Video: Dave Lang @thedavelang
Makeup: Jamie Greenberg @jamiemakeupgreenberg
Styling: Tara Swennen @taraswennenlifeinstyle
Art Direction: Desirae Cherie @desiraecherie
Produced by: Andrea Berk @aaahndrea
Story by: Justine Marjan @justinemarjan
