At the most prestigious evening in fashion, the Met Gala 2024, OLAPLEX made it’s mark on the red carpet. OLAPLEX Global Ambassadors and celebrity stylists used OLAPLEX products to create stunning hairstyles and rich hair color for celebrities, including Willow Smith, Lana Del Rey, Riley Keough and more.
SalonEVO has gotten an exclusive peak at just how the OLAPLEX team managed to create the stand-out looks on the star-studded carpet…
- Willow Smith
Celebrity hairstylist Vernon François worked with Willow Smith on a look emulating African Royalty.
THE LOOK: “African Royalty.”
“When crafting this look, I didn’t adhere strictly to transient trends. Instead, I focused on accentuating specific features to ensure a timeless appeal while infusing an element of allure and sophistication. The intention was to evoke a sense of tradition intertwined with seduction, ultimately embodying elegance and romance.”
HOW VERNON ACHIEVED THIS LOOK ON WILLOW:
- Braiding Backwards: Start by braiding the hair backwards, focusing on creating a clean look from the front. Leave out the low back section.
- Pulling Up the Back Section: Pull up the loose hair at the back into the braided section of the hair to maintain a neat appearance, this creates a defined shape.
- Using Rectangle Polystyrene Circles: Employ lightweight Polystyrene circles as stencils to shape the hairstyle, maintaining precision and structure.
- Hair Doughnut Placement: Wrap natural kinky hair around hair doughnuts and place them strategically to add volume and shape to the hairstyle.
- Binding with Cotton: Bind the entire head with 100% cotton, incorporating loose Afro kinky straight hair for a realistic look and securing the shape of the hairstyle.
- Sculpting and Weaving: Sculpt the hairstyle further as needed and weave Afro kinky straight hair extensions, through the cotton binding to add texture and dimension.
“This approach retains the essence of your original statement while providing a clear step-by-step process for achieving the desired look,” Vernon added.
We asked Vernon just how he used each product for the young creative, Willow. He told us:
- OLAPLEX Nº.3 Hair Perfector: Applied as a pre-treatment to strengthen and repair the hair. I love this product. It’s a staple in my kit.
- OLAPLEX Nº.6 Bond Smoother: Applied to damp hair to provide moisture and protect against heat damage. I genuinely use this on most of my clients. It’s a great pre-set.
- OLAPLEX Nº.7 Bonding Oil: This product serves multiple purposes. As well as massaging it into the scalp, add it as a finishing touch: enhancing shine and smoothing where necessary. Simultaneously, it will offer protection against environmental damage. Keep this close to you!
- OLAPLEX Nº.4D Clean Volume Detox Dry Shampoo: As a personal touch, I love applying dry shampoo at the end of the styling process. It not only refreshes the hair, but it also adds a subtle, natural finish. I particularly enjoy using it on hair extensions, especially curly ones, to tone down any excessive shine. This technique works wonders for red carpet looks and special events, giving the style that perfect finishing touch.”
GET WILLOW’S LOOK AT HOME:
Vernon said: “For those looking to recreate this look at home, start by ensuring your hair is well-protected and hydrated using the mentioned products for a strong foundation. As you style, allow yourself the freedom to let your creativity flow and embrace the wild side of your imagination. Let your hair be a canvas for your artistic expression.”
OLAPLEX PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
OLAPLEX Nº.3 Hair Perfector $30
OLAPLEX Nº.6 Bond Smoother $30
OLAPLEX N°.4D Clean Volume Detox Dry Shampoo $30
- Lana Del Rey
OLAPLEX Global Ambassador and celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham worked with Lana Del Rey to refresh her honey blonde hair.
THE LOOK: “Desert Sand.”
“Desert sand will definitely be a trend this summer! It’s the perfect honey blonde, but with a new twist that gives it more depth than traditionally seen in past iterations,” Tracey said.
HOW TRACEY ACHIEVED THIS LOOK ON LANA:
“To take Lana from dark to light it took a lot of OLAPLEX, since we wanted to be really careful, so as to protect her hair. Even though Lana is naturally blonde, you still need a base color for more depth to get the final right look.The whole process happened over a three-day period to get to the final look. I stripped the hair with a clear color three times, then highlighted the hair with bleach and a hair lightener using a quarter oz. of OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier. Then I went through with highlights and lowlights and treated the ends with more OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier. Then we glossed the hair, coating it in OLAPLEX 4-in-1 Moisture Mask to finish off the process.”
HOW TRACEY USED OLAPLEX FOR LANA:
Tracey explained: “For Lana’s “Desert Sand” look, I used OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier, Nº.2 Bond Perfector, OLAPLEX 4-in-1 Moisture Mask, OLAPLEX Nº.9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum, and finished the look off with OLAPLEX Nº.6 Bond Smoother and OLAPLEX Nº.7 Bonding Oil.”
The hair artist continued, saying: “My all-time favorites are OLAPLEX Nº.1, OLAPLEX 4-in-1 Moisture Mask, and OLAPLEX Nº.9 Bond Protector OLAPLEX No. 9 Nourishing Hair Serum, if I’m doing a silky blow dry. OLAPLEX Nº.6 Bond Smoother and OLAPLEX Nº.7 Bonding Oil are perfect to finish off any look as they don’t weigh the hair down.”
OLAPLEX PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier (Professional Line)
OLAPLEX Nº.2 Bond Perfector (Professional Line)
OLAPLEX 4-in-1 Moisture Mask (Professional Line) $38
OLAPLEX Nº.6 Bond Smoother $30
OLAPLEX Nº.9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum $30
- Riley Keough
Tracey Cunningham also worked with Riley Keough, to enrich and deepen her hair color.
THE LOOK: Glossy and Rich Brunette
Tracey said: “We did a simple color and gloss to darken and enrich her hair color. We wanted to focus on an overarching glossed look and the deeper color really brings that out. The overall goal for this look was to make the hair more rich in color, so as to bring out the shine.”
HOW TRACEY USED OLAPLEX FOR RILEY:
“The focus after this color/gloss was to give that really vital look. We used OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier inside the gloss and shampooed with OLAPLEX Nº.4 and Nº.5 Bond Maintenance Shampoo & Conditioner.
OLAPLEX PRODUCTS MENTIONED:
OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier (Professional Line)