Hair Expert Shares Her Favourite Looks of the 2023 Grammy Awards and Her Top Tips to Recreate Them

Grammy Awards welcomed some of the biggest celebrities in the music industry onto the red carpet.

Whilst the ceremony celebrated a fantastic year of music, it was also another opportunity for the attendees to show off glamourous outfits and hairstyles.

Nicole Petty, Hair Expert at Milk + Blush, shares some of her favourite hairstyles of the night and her top tips for replicating the looks.

Beyonce

The first lady of music won big on the night, making history by picking up four awards at one ceremony, but it wasn’t just her musical achievements that got people talking, but her hair too.

The Texas-born singer styled her hair in a middle parting, showing off an ombre colour palette, with a mix of caramel and blonde tones to lift her naturally dark hair.

Around the front of her face, the star had some shorter money pieces, cut to frame her oval face, and added a touch of elegance with soft ‘water waves’ that were finished with a wet look – a popular trend for 2023.

To replicate her colour, consult a professional stylist who can help you decide which tones are most suitable for your hair.

If you have cool-toned hair, ash blonde, champagne, and sandy hues will be ideal, whilst warm-toned manes like Beyonce’s should opt for golden, honey, and caramel tones.

To recreate her ‘water waves,’ apply a heat protectant to dry hair and then use a flat iron.

Starting a few inches down from the root, bend a section of the hair in one direction and hold the flat iron over the bend for a few seconds, before bending a lower section in the opposite direction, creating an alternating wave.

Make sure you don’t drag the flat iron across the hair; instead, lift it and place it over separate sections of the hair for long-lasting waves without heat damage.

Alternatively, braid your hair when it is wet and sleep with them overnight. Run a straightener over the braids in the morning to intensify the wave effect, and finish by adding gel through your strands to achieve the wet look.

Adele

The singer is no stranger to the glamourous blonde bombshell look, as she often favours defined Hollywood curls and classic up-dos.

For this year’s Grammy’s, her naturally blonde hair was parted to the side, with plenty of volume at the roots and allowed to cascade down in bouncy curls with one side elegantly tucked behind her ear.

This is a beautifully simple look to recreate at home or in the salon. First, distribute heat protectant throughout the hair, then use a comb to create a deep parting to the side, which should give you plenty of volume.

Use a wide-barrelled curling iron to create curls towards the end of the hair by wrapping the lower third of a section around the barrel, holding for 5-8 seconds before releasing.

For extra definition, roll the curls up and clip them in place whilst they cool, and finish the look with hairspray to make sure they last.

Mary J Blige

The R&B veteran looked fierce with an icy blonde ponytail on the red carpet, her cool-toned skin looking gorgeous against the platinum hues.

The artist’s XXL hair was slicked back against her head, with her long ponytail styled in soft waves, with a piece of her hair wrapped around the top of the ponytail to create a one-tone and aesthetically pleasing look.

Apply a light gel to the hairline and to the base of the ponytail, using a smoothing brush to tame any fly-aways for a super slick back look. While you may already have long hair, don’t worry if you don’t – this is where clip-in ponytails are a great option to add length for those with short or mid-length hair.

Before you add the clip-in, use a flat iron to straighten your hair (apply plenty of heat protectant beforehand) to ensure your natural hair blends seamlessly with the clip-in.

Then, pull your hair back into a ponytail, adding gel for a smooth look and secure it with a hair elastic. For added ponytail height, tie a second hair elastic about an inch behind the first elastic.

Take the clip-in and begin attaching it to your ponytail by inserting the clips into the hair and securing it with the fastening.

To finish, take a section of the hair and wrap it around the top of the ponytail to conceal the fastening and hair tie and secure it with a bobby pin, using a mid-sized curling barrel to add soft waves to the hair.

However, it’s best to consider your hair type before trialling this look, as those with fine or thinning hair might find the style pulls on their hairline or is uncomfortable.

Shania Twain

Shania spiced things up this year by debuting fiery red locks to match the event’s red carpet.

Her hair was styled pin-straight and featured heavy and choppy bangs that dropped down to just above her eyebrows.

The shade of red is bold, so if you’re after a drastic change like Shania’s, it’s best to take a picture of her look as a reference point to the salon where you can consult a stylist. Your stylist should be able to advise on the best method to take to achieve the look and share aftercare instructions for maintaining vibrancy, as well as keeping your locks in good condition.

Whilst the vibrancy of the country star’s colour may not suit everyone, there is an endless range of red shade options that will work instead.

The choppy bangs are most ideal for round faces, like Shania’s, as they can help to balance the dimensions of the face.

For those with more angular face shapes, thicker bangs that also extend to the eyes are most complimentary as they can soften harsh features, whereas those lucky enough to have oval and long faces can mostly suit every type of fringe.

Bebe Rexha

The red carpet saw a major throwback hairstyle from Bebe, who rocked a 70s blonde, layered blowout with heavy curtain bangs and plenty of volume.

The key to her creating her look at home is volume and texture. Start by adding heat protectant to freshly washed hair from root to tip.

Then, use a blow dryer and a round brush to dry the hair, angling the hair away from the face by wrapping sections around the brush to create a loose curl or ‘flip’ effect.

As you dry individual sections of the hair, wrap the hair around velcro rollers, continuing to angle the hair away from the face.

Once the hair has cooled, you can begin to remove the rollers, and you should be left with bouncy and voluminous curls and flipped ends.

To more closely replicate Bebe’s hair, take her picture to a salon and ask for short layers to be cut in around the face, as this will enable you to better recreate the ‘flipped’ effect.