Update: As promised, the PLL star is back to brunette. After almost two months as a blonde, she's gone back to the dark side for spring.
Update (March 2, 2016): Looks like the PLL star is trying to soak in all of the fun as a blonde. Her hairstylist, Kristin Ess, posted a picture on Instagram of the actress sporting borderline platinum-blond locks. Although Ess mentioned that the blond look is temporary, we wouldn't mind having it stick around for a wee bit longer.
This story was originally published on February 17, 2016.
Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale has always been our favorite beauty chameleon. Need proof? Check out this shoot we did with her last year.
But while she has experimented with different hair colors before, Hale's known for her signature deep-brunette locks and striking eyebrows. That's why we were so surprised and delighted when she debuted a head of highlighted, gorgeously tousled blond hair on Instagram today.
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The master behind Hale's new, lighter look? None other than redheaded hairstylist Kristin Ess, whose clients include Lauren Conrad and Ashley Tisdale.
"I dye," Hale wrote on Instagram. "Thank you @kristin_ess for temporarily making me the blonde alter ego I've always wanted to be."
Turns out, Hale isn't being coy when she says "temporarily." We reached out to Ess, who tells Refinery29, "Lucy is in between filming her new movie, Dude, and going back to PLL. She gets these short breaks, and that's when we get to play with her look... She doesn't get to keep it, because, as we all know, Aria is a brunette babe through and through. "
Ess kept Hale's signature bold brows in mind when highlighting. "We kept a little natural root to sync things up with her brows," she says. As for the mid-lengths and ends, "we did a super baby-fine highlight on her using foils. It takes forever, but it's worth it," Ess says.
So, can we expect another round of blond once PLL wraps up? "This was mostly fun for Lucy, because I don't think [she] ever imagined that she could go blond," Ess says. And Hale was immediately thrilled with the results."When you're in the middle of blowdrying someone's new color, and they say 'OMG, I love this!' there's nothing more satisfying," says Ess.