A dazzling smile, big brown eyes, and a mane of auburn… wait, did Julia Roberts just go blonde? Having swapped her signature hair color for a summer-ready, buttery shade of blonde, the actor debuted a new look at a Hollywood fundraising gala over the weekend, whilst hanging out with the likes of US President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and her longtime friend George Clooney.
It’s been a few months since her last public appearance, but when we last saw Roberts, her hair was long, tousled and auburn. This new hairstyle is much shorter—collarbone length—and is marked by big waves and face-framing curtain bangs. Not to mention the flaxen color, which made her skin look luminous and healthy, as a well-chosen hair color has the power to do. With lots of body and movement, the new hairstyle partnered perfectly with Julia’s plunging black dress.
At 56, Roberts has long stuck to her beauty signatures, always erring on the natural side, so her new cut and color are notable. Nonetheless, she has made the transition to blonde gradually—as her colorist, Kadi Lee at Highbrow Hippie, explained. “When making drastic color changes, in this case from red to blonde, my approach is always the same—slow and methodical, while always keeping the health and integrity of the hair, first and foremost,” she said, explaining that it takes multiple sessions to make such a big color switch.
Praising Roberts’s hair as the “best canvas,” Lee explained how she created a beautiful multidimensional blonde on the star, adding lighter pieces around the face to bring light to her skin and lots of dimension through the mid-lengths and ends for a natural finish. Proof that it’s always a feel-good boost to switch up your look, Roberts’s wide smile said it all—summer hair at its finest.