COLOR

Carey painted bright, golden-blond highlights in a wedge-shaped triangle on the thicker side of Alex’s part and dark, coppery-blond lowlights on the opposite side. For a low-key look, Alex can part her hair as usual to reveal the natural blond side. For a party or a night on the town, all she has to do is flip her part over to the opposite side, exposing the deeper, richer lowlights hidden underneath.

CUT

For this makeover, the color was the star, so Nelson kept his changes to a minimum. Alex’s existing style had shorter layers on top and longer layers on the bottom. She wanted to keep her fine, slightly wavy hair long and grow out the top layers to blend with the longer ones. Nelson took just half an inch off the length and cleaned up the layers throughout to better reveal the color underneath.

STYLING SECRETS

To create Alex’s wavy style, Carey applied a pea-sized amount of Regis DESIGNLINE Silk Drops Repair & Shine Serum mixed with a pump of Redken Extreme Anti-Snap Leave-in Treatment to Alex’s damp hair, from the ears down. She then worked one pump of Sebastian Thickefy Foam Weightless Thickener into the crown. She dried Alex’s hair with a diffuser and curled a few pieces with a 3/4-inch curling iron. For the sleek style, Carey dried Alex’s hair using a round brush. Then she flat-ironed the hair in sections, first spraying each with Matrix sleek.look Iron Smoother, which guards against heat up to 400 degrees.

Photography by Guy Aroch; Wardrobe Styling by Sarah Shirley; Make Up Styling by Rie Omoto/See Management