On Monday night, Maria Menounos made her debut on Dancing with the Stars and shimmied her way across the stage with her partner, Derek Hough.
But her moves weren’t the only thing she was showing off — she also flaunted a glossy new, rich hair color that complemented her purple midriff-baring, fringe-adorned on-stage getup.
Below, the Extra co-host’s hair colorist, Kyle White of the Oscar Blandi salon, tells Us Weekly how he transformed her look with contrasting lowlights and highlights.
“We discussed the different ways they’d be doing her hair for the show and what we thought would look best on camera,” White explains. “The decision to go darker was based on what would give her maximum impact with minimum maintenance. When you do a look of contrast, it gives a softer regrowth, than an all over lighter color.”
White says that for Menounos, whose hair was a light, honey brown shade prior, the plan was to keep the base dark and bridge the difference with a medium lowlight to prevent the look from appearing “stripy.”
“We added heavier lowlights for more depth and a darker honey gloss,” White tells Us. “We also added bright highlights around the hairline to lighten up her face and deeper lowlights throughout the back and crown.”
The overall result was love at first sight for both Menounos and her mother.
“Her mom gave the stamp of approval when we were done, and Maria said ‘I’m obsessed with this color!'” White says.
