Photo Credit: Getty Images
It was a big night for Doja Cat at last night’s American Music Awards as she won New Artist of the Year, beating Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Lewis Capaldi and DaBaby. The 25-year-old breakout star, also won Favorite Female Artist Soul/R&B, was styled by celeb stylist, Jared Henseron. The pair have worked together before for the VMA’s this past August. We chatted with Jared Henderson @jaystayready_ on the behind-the-scenes take on Doja Cat’s look.
View this post on Instagram
Questions and Answers:
1. Tell us the inspiration behind Sunday’s AMAs look? if there were two/three looks, please explain each one.
* Red Carpet: Doja is becoming known for switching up the hair every time we have a big show, so in that same spirit we wanted to take it short and do a pixie dark wig so that her beautiful gown could shine today.
* Performance Look: For the performance look we went with a long textured rooted blonde look to give her the earthy “cave woman vibes” for the performance.
2. What was the must-have beauty product you couldn’t live without during Sunday’s award show?
* Definitely the Joico Blonde Life Brilliant Glow Brightening Oil. It gave both of our looks maximum shine while also helping control frizz with all of the movement Doja was doing on stage.
3. What would you have done differently if this were in person?
* Nothing! We were so happy with how everything turned out. I couldn’t imagine adding to or taking away anything.
4. How long did it take and were there any difficulties?
* Glam in total took about 2 hours and 20 minutes. 2 hours for our red carpet look and only 20 minutes for the switchover into performance look. The only difficulty we faced of course the short amount of time to get into the performance look. Applying a wig in 20 minutes was pretty rough, but I managed to get through it by having it perfectly styled with my Joico products ahead of time so that I could focus on making sure that lace was laid!
5. Is there anything else you want to share about the look or the process?
* There were so many talks and discussions with Doja and the team to make sure all of the elements came together perfectly for the looks we wanted to achieve. I love that she (Doja) has a very clear vision of what she wants to execute but still doesn’t limit our creative input. We’re free to come up with and add our own flare to whatever she’s dreamt up.
6. How did you decide what color to use?
* After Doja’s wardrobe stylist Brett Nelson sent over sketches and searches of the performance outfit, we all settled on blonde. Doja loves colorful hair and dirty blonde was not something we had done yet. So we figured it would fit perfectly with the cavewoman creative.
7. How would you describe this look in three words?
* Carpet: sleek, elegant, bold
* Performance: bright, textured, wild
8. Please call out all the products you used from each look-especially re: color and/or wig care
* Carpet look: Joico JoiWhip Firm-Hold Design Foam, Blonde Life Brilliant Glow Brightening Oil, Blonde Life Brightening Veil, JoiMist Medium Styling & Finishing Spray.
* Performance look: Joico Blonde Life Lightening Powder, Blonde Life Quick Tone Liqui-Crème Toners, Joico JoiWhip Firm-Hold Design Foam, Blonde Life Brilliant Glow Brightening Oil, Blonde Life Brightening Veil, JoiMist Medium Styling & Finishing Spray.
9. Tips for perfecting each specific look?
* Carpet look: wet hair with spray bottle & apply the form Joico JoiWhip Firm-Hold Design Foam. Wrap hair tightly with scarf and blow dry on high heat for 20 minutes. I unwrapped the hair, adjusted bangs and applied the Joico JoiMist Medium Styling & Finishing Hairspray to top off the look.
* Performance: I mixed the Joico Moisture Recovery Moisturizing Conditioner into a spray bottle with warm water to create my own “custom leave-in conditioner.” I Applied the mixture generously and brushed through hair from roots to end with a paddle brush to detangle hair. Once dry I fluffed hair and applied the Joico Blonde Life Brilliant Glow Brightening Oil throughout to add shine and make the natural wavy texture “pop” on camera.
10. What was Doja Cat’s involvement in choosing the colors or styles, if any? Did she come with ideas or let you run with it?
* She is 100% involved in every aspect of her look -ESPECIALLY the hair. She’s a wig girl and knows what looks good on her. We knew short was the way to go for carpet and collaborated on the hue of brunette. She’s particularly into my blonde hair that I’m rocking right now and wanted to try it. So she let me run wild and do a lengthy blonde textured look for the performance. We both love long hair haha.
11. Was there any hair or beauty prep involved ahead of time for either of these looks? Obviously probably the color prep- please explain.
* Definitely the color prep. I colored the short carpet hair brown with my Joico LumiShine Permanent Crème Haircolor. I used the Joico Blonde Life Lightening Powder and Blonde Life Quick Tone Liqui-Crème Toners to color the long curly performance hair as well. After color was completed for both wigs I used the Joico Moisture Recovery Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner to add back in protein and hydration from lifting the hair pieces, especially the performance look which had been lifted to such a high level blonde.
12. What are some tricks you utilize to ensure a wig stays on during a performance?
* I use multiple layers of a water-resistant hair glue and tie the hairline down with an elastic band that I keep on until right before the performance.
13. How do you facilitate quick hair change-ups during performances?
* preparation and organization!!! I do tons of hair prep before we even start glam – such as having all of the hair pieces laid out and products needed for each change lined up in order so that I can just grab and go when it’s time.
15. How long did each look take to accomplish/what products did you use
* 2 hour for the carpet looks
* 20 minutes (plus prep time) for the performance
* Already mentioned all products
16. Doja Cat is known for playing with hair colors, how do you select the perfect bright tones.
* she can wear almost anything. I usually look at what she’s going to be wearing first and go from there.
17. How do you make sure the color is kept vibrant in a wig
* I of course used the Bond-Building Joico Defy Damage ProSeries 1 & 2 and Defy Damage Protective Shampoo & Conditioner for the wig prep and followed up with the Joico Blonde Life Brightening Veil and Blonde Life Brilliant Glow Brightening Oil to just add a lot of shine and luster back into the wig and make the color pop on camera!
18. What is your favorite color that you’ve done on Doja Cat
* Definitely the variations of bleach blonde from the “say so” music video. They went so perfect with the 70’s theme we were going for. Especially the blonde flipped look! Ahh it’s my favorite to date haha.
19. What is Doja Cat’s mantra when it comes to her hair/something that she always requests.
* That it doesn’t come off or slide back haha. She has a funny history of not having the best luck with her wigs staying in place in the past (something she and I laugh about all the time and she jokes about on her twitter page often). So now working with me, we like to make sure that thing is SECURED by any means necessary! haha.
20. What was the vibe like while getting ready – was Doja relaxed, nervous, sipping champagne? How did you feel?
* She was sooooooo calm and relaxed as always. We were cracking jokes and talking about the performance and just enjoying being able to be apart of the awards this year. We do so much preparation before to make sure that on the day of – things run smoothly and we can relax and enjoy the moment. I was very excited, but it’s always a little nerve wrecking when you’re doing something as big as the AMAS.
21. Changing looks: how much time was allotted?
* We had about 4 for the performance
* Then 1 hour to change out of performance and into the goth look for the news reporter scene
