The Secret to Angela Basset’s 20s-Inspired Hair at the Met Gala Was This Under-the-Radar Brand
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While most of our eyeballs were on the Met Gala attendees’ outfits, hair and makeup also played an important part of the event. The theme, “Costume Art,” and dress code, “Fashion Is Art” was one of the most playful, interpret-it-any-way-you-wanna, iterations of the annual event. Case in point, Angela Basset, whose look was inspired by “Girl in the Pink Dress” by Laura Wheeler Waring, a flapper girl-era painting.
Basset’s hair featured a similar 20s-style wave, though instead of a flapper girl bob, the actress chose to wear her hair long. The secret to her flawless look was under-the-radar, curly girl-friendly haircare brand NAVY.
Her hairstylist, Randy Stodghill, first washed Basset’s hair with NAVY Search and Rescue Shampoo, and used the accompanying conditioner to add hydration and keep the strands soft.
Her hair still damp, the stylist then applied the Aquarian Universal Styling Cream and Celestia Halo Curl Gel to give her curls definition.
The next step was adding the Swell Thickening Cream to add dimension and volume, and then the Whirlpool Styling Foam which helped retain the shape of Basset’s style, which was imperative given the length of her hair (longer hair falls flat a lot faster, especially during long nights like the Met).
Any gorgeous ‘do needs to be set with a setting or texturing spray to keep its shape, and Stodghill used the NAVY Dry Texture Spray to simultaneously give it more movement and keep it in place (this seems like a contradiction, but it’s basically controlled hair movement).
While styling your hair for the Met Gala may not be in the cards for you (although you never know!), I personally love learning about the tried-and-true haircare products stylists use to prep their famous clients’ hair for events like this. After all, their hair has to be immaculate for hours—it has to quite literally look like art.
About the Author
Gina Vaynshteyn is the Associate Vice President of Commerce at StyleCaster and SheKnows, which means she hunts all the best deals day in and day out. Gina’s worked in women’s media for over a decade, running sites like HelloGiggles and then running shopping at sites like Scary Mommy and Well+Good. She’s also written for Glamour, People, and Apartment Therapy. Gina has interviewed hundreds of stylists, makeup artists, dermatologists, and other experts in order to get her beauty recommendations down to a science. She would never recommend something she wouldn’t buy herself.
