In Style, September 2002

On Charmed, Rose McGowan’s character, Paige, can change her looks with a simple spell, but in real life it took 12 hours, two bottles of lightener, and a box of red hair dye to transform her long dark tresses into a strawberry-blond bob. “She wanted to update her look,” says Jay Dialo of L.A.’s Goodform salon, who did a similar cut and color last year for McGowan’s role in the upcoming film Vacuums. “She has beautiful pale skin and this color complements that perfectly.”

how she got the look You can’t deposit red onto a darker shade, so Dialo first had to apply Effasol, a color remover that works like bleach but isn’t as harsh. When the color still wasn’t light enough, he used the Effasol again, dried the hair, and then applied a reddish Redken Color Fusion shade.

maintaining the color “The first time you lighten hair, the color fades quickly because the process strips protein from the hair and the color has nothing to hold on to,” says Dialo, who applied a Redken glaze a week later to smooth the hair cuticle and lock in the color. To help further maintain the color, McGowan uses Redken Shades EQ Color Enhancing shampoo in Papaya and Phytosesame conditioner.

who can wear it “If you have pale or reddish skin, this is a great color,” Dialo says, “but you definitely need to have darker eyebrows, because with hair that light, you can look a little washed out.”

“She looks glamorous, like Rita Hayworth,” says stylist Jay Dialo of McGowan’s update. “Rose wears a lot of vintage clothes, and this retro red shade works well for her.”