As the favorite blondie in CW’s Arrow, when we heard Emily Bett was game for a bold hair change, we wanted in on the action. With hair self described as “fun, flirty, and (a little) fried,” her longtime hairstylist, Calvyn Cass divulged that she came to him and said “I wanna do something crazy [with my hair], and I said okay!” As she was preparing for a SciFi role around the same time as the shoot, the opportunity to ditch her signature blonde strands couldn’t be more ideal.
To get the look, Calvyn explains that because she’s “more of a medium blonde with lowlights [for Arrow], so we had to pick out all the dark pieces in her hair and lighten them.” To get the bright lilac locks, “I toned her hair with L’oreal 10 2 2, an intense violet, which made it a smoky pink to start with. Then, I mixed Pravana Pretty in Pink and Luscious Lavender to color her root and mid strand,” which added dimension to the overall shade.
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The signature purple hue was the perfect foundation for Emily Bett as our June Mane Muse.
Working together for about a year, Emily and Calvyn have chemistry that is infectious. “Working with Emily is probably one of the most fun experiences,” he confesses. “She’s very free and open to trying new things— the crazier the better! She’s funky and fun and she just has a great personality. [On set}, there was tons of music, we had some Prosecco. Everyone was having a good time, a little dance party happened, and everyone was getting along. This was probably one of my favorite shoot experiences, to be honest. My husband came along, it was his first time being on set with me and he’s like, ‘This is what you get to do all the time?! I wish I was doing this!'”
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“I was inspired by Beyonce’s Lemonade braids, so I did a tighter fishtail to start,” says Calvyn of the first look of the day.
“Emily was playing around with the braids and began wrapping them around her neck so we decided to do a couple shots with them like that for fun.” Even after the shoot, Emily admitted this was definitely her favorite look of the day. “I felt like someone else and I loved whoever she was…”.
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With the braids, Calvyn wanted her hair to double as an accessory. “She’s got pretty curly hair so I blow-dried L’Oreal Unlimited Keratinoil Complex Serum into the hair then flat ironed it in to get it really smooth for a piecey look around the face. Then we added extensions. I did a variation of Pravana colors on the extensions to work really well with the base we created.”
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For the next look, “we took the extensions out and did loose rocker chick Coachella-inspired waves,” says Calvyn. “I kinda thought she looked like a pop star and that the waves worked perfectly with the outfit. We didn’t re-style the hair, but we added Shu Uemura Texture Wave Dry Finishing Spray for volume and fullness, and the Sheer Lacquer Finishing Spray to give it more definition. I loosely wrapped the hair around my 1-inch curling iron and did an extended curl to give the hair some bend so it wasn’t too curly.”
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For this 90’s inspired look, “I brushed out all the wave and product then went through with my Moroccanoil 1 ½ inch round brush. From everything below the parietal to the nape of her head, I re-straightened just the ends so we got a really blunt look at the base of the style. I used L’Oreal Anti Frizz and the Shu Uemura Touch of Gloss Brilliant Styling Balm.”
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Dying over this crazy volume?! The surprising key comes down to the cut, explains Calvyn. “It’ll help you get more fullness in the shape of hair—the foundation of good shape is a good haircut. If you’re looking to get a lot of roof lift to give the illusion of more hair, L’oreal has a really great lifting product called Volume Lift Spray Mousse that I use on all my clients, whether they have fine or thick hair, and the Shu Uemura Texture Wave Dry Finishing Spray. If every girl has those two things in their bathroom, they’ll be ready for a night out.”
Feeling inspired to try a bold hue?! Calvyn explains, “If you want to do a really bright fun color, it depends on your natural level of hair—if you’re naturally dark, stay in that realm and do an emerald green or navy blue. If you’re naturally blonde and want something non-committal, go for the pastels because they usually only last about three weeks.” To maintain it, take a cue from Emily and “don’t shampoo. Literally. It’s the only thing that works, but I love me a deep conditioner. I’m hooked on Terax right now.”
SHOP THIS STORY
Muse: Emily Bett @emilybett
Hair: Calvyn Cass @calvyncasscolourist
Photographer: Nate Hoffman @nhoffmanstudio
Makeup: Nicole Walmsley @nicolewalmsley
Stylist: Madison Guest @madisonguest
Art Direction: Desirae Cherie @desiraecherie
Produced by: Ashley Alanis @ashley.alanis