Women with short hair have found a new style inspiration in Lupita Nyong'o.
The 12 Years a Slave star and Oscar nominee has worked the 2014 awards show season with a unique hairstyle, often created by celeb stylist Ted Gibson, at each red carpet.
"I think it's really funny because most women don't think they can do anything else, especially African American women with short-cropped hair," Gibson tells Us Weekly.
In fact, Nyong'o, 30, has been conscious of showcasing all of the different looks that African American women can do with their natural hair. "That's one of the things that she wants her persona to be," Gibson tells Us. "Natural hair works for some people, and for others it doesn't. But, for Lupita, it works for her."
In creating some of her most buzzworthy styles, Gibson, who also worked with Angelina Jolie and Anne Hathaway when they were up-and-comers, turned to his styling toolbox to add height, volume, and shape. At the SAG Awards, Gibson added extensions to boost volume and height.
For the Critics' Choice Awards, the Yale School of Drama grad had a faux widow's peak — a look inspired by Gibson himself. "I have a widow's peak, and since I had just had my hair colored, it was really exaggerated," Gibson (who gave Kate Gosselin her famous extensions back in 2010) tells Us. "I thought it'd be great to do, especially with the dress and the makeup." Gibson used a fiber-filling agent on her hairline to make the shape.
Whatever the final style, it's always a joint effort. "It's nice to work with someone who's more daring and who wants to take a few risks," Gibson says. "It's always a collaboration, but she has to have final approval because I want her to feel like a million bucks."
