Rita Ora's Hairstylist Shares the Secret to Flawless Color

Try this genius mask mix.

Like a mood ring, Rita Ora's hair color fluctuates depending upon how she and longtime hairstylist Chris Appleton feel. I know what you're thinking: Yeah, that's because they're wigs. Well, not so, according to Ora. "This is my hair. I don't wear wigs," she captioned a recent Instagram featuring said not-wig blowing in the wind. And we believe her. But even if she does, we're pro-fake and this isn't a wig witch hunt. I digress. When it comes to taking risks with Ora's natural hair, Appleton says, "You can't be too afraid of it.​" Last night at the Teen Choice Awards, the fearless pair experimented with a rosy new hue to complement Ora's all-red look.
"Rita loves to be blonde so I wanted to keep the whole feeling in that world. I left the first four inches of hair blonde, then worked two colors through the mid-lengths and ends," says Appleton, who mixed Manic Panic pink with a few drops of conditioner for the lengths of hair, and lilac plus conditioner for the tips. "The conditioner dilutes the color and gives a semi-permanent effect," he says. "Sorbet colors are fun and don't have to be a commitment. The key is to keep them glossy and shiny looking."
Appleton's secret to keeping Ora's evolving color super shiny? A turbo-charged mask recipe: six pumps of Shu Uemura Essence Absolue, two scoops of Kérastase Résistance Masque Force Architecte, two scoops of Oribe Gold Lust Transformative Masque and one scoop of coconut oil.