- Shakira is opening up about the toll her many hair color changes have taken on her locks, which was once a natural black.
- The Colombian pop star is now known for her signature honey-blonde tresses, which always look healthy—although that hasn’t stopped her from yearning for her old look.
- “I sometimes miss my super-shiny black, dark hair,” Shakira, 44, told Cosmopolitan. “Once you put bleach on your hair, it just never shines the same way.”
No matter the color, Shakira’s tresses always look hydrated and healthy. But according to the pop star herself, her hair hasn’t been the same since she first used bleach.
When the Colombian singer first decided to switch up her jet-black hair, it wasn’t with the intention of reaching a wider audience: “I just wanted to see my hair a different way,” Shakira, 44, told Cosmopolitan this week. “I didn’t want to be white. I just thought my curls looked cool with a blonde, beachy style.”
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer dabbled with a rebellious red before debuting blonde locks in 2000—a style that would come to define her signature look 21 years later. Recently, she’s gone a bit darker (and even thrown some red back in the mix), but that honey-blonde color will forever be associated with Shakira’s style.
“I changed my hair many different ways throughout my career,” she said in the interview. “I love dark hair. I sometimes miss my super-shiny black, dark hair. It never got to be the same because once you put bleach on your hair, it just never shines the same way.”
When asked if she regrets altering her natural hair color, Shakira had a thoughtful response: “I read something, in a compilation of wise advice for young people, that said, ‘Use sunblock and do not mess with your hair.’ I’ve messed with my hair too much.”
But this isn’t a sad story; although that original color isn’t coming back, the “Waka Waka” singer’s hair always looks hydrated and healthy, no matter the color or style. “Right now, my hair is feeling good again because I’ve left it alone a little bit,” she said. Shakira’s hairstylist previously revealed that she uses Davines Oi Oil and Dove Smooth and Shine Heat Protection Spray to keep her curls moisturized and protected from heat damage.
Bleach leaving hair fried and lackluster isn't uncommon. “Going blonde is hard on the hair and strips it,” Debra Jaliman, M.D. a New York City-based board-certified dermatologist and the author of Skin Rules, told us last year. “Bleaching raises your hairs’ outer cuticle, allowing the bleaching agent to fully penetrate and in turn, makes hair drier and less healthy.” To replenish depleted locks, she says to incorporate hydrating products into your routine. Since conditioners coat the hair and help smooth and soften it, she says, they'll help.
If you've dyed your hair a few too many times, or simply want to give new life to frazzled-looking locks, try one of these hydrating products to give your mane a boost.
OGX Kukui Oil Conditioner, Hydrate & Defrizz
Olaplex No.5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner
Dove Nutritive Solutions Color Care Hair Conditioner for Color Treated Hair
No matter which color Shakira chooses next, it’s certain that her hair will keep looking great—even if she’s waved goodbye to her black hair for good.
Jake Smith, an editorial fellow at Prevention, recently graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in magazine journalism and just started going to the gym. Let's be honest—he's probably scrolling through Twitter right now.
