| Kelly Ripa: Blonde Hair & Dumb As A Fox |
| Karen Marie Shelton |
| Date: 2/10/2005 |
Introduction
 When
The Donald (Trump) recently wed his third wife in a world class
extravaganza, the guest list was literally overflowing with a
dizzying array of A list celebrities. Included in the list was
none other than the bubbly blonde and always beautiful, Kelly Ripa.
(Image from ABC Hope And Faith -
ABC/Bob D'Amico - all rights reserved)
Whether you love her or not,
there is no denying that Kelly Ripa has ascended to the very top of
her profession as an actress and talk show hostess. Inclusion with the very best of the
celebrity world at the Trump wedding explains in a nutshell the vast
popularity and success of America's current morning talk show
sweetheart and nighttime sitcom star.
Kelly - Modern Day Hair Icon
Kelly is also a well-known hair icon.
During her reign on All My Children, the blonde beauty, who has
confirmed to the media that her tresses are "naturally blonde" was famous
in the soap media for having "great soap opera tresses". It
really isn't all that surprising since Kelly has been quoted In Soap
Opera Weekly as saying that she was nicknamed "Barbie" when she was
in high school, because of her blonde kewpie doll looks.
When Kelly and her hubby Mark Consuelos were co-presenters at the 2002
Daytime Emmy awards, Kelly captured media notice by wearing a coiffure bursting with luscious
lemony
curls.
Pantene also took
notice of Kelly's fabulous soap opera strands and cast her in a
popular series of ads for the consumer focused hair care line.
In her
Pantene commercial Kelly tells her millions of fans “you can condition your hair and
have a makeover”
Some of her other hair related kudos
over the years have included being
named #19 in E! For Top 25 Blondes and being
ranked by Marie Claire magazine as having
The Best Long Cut on their Ten
Best TV HairStyles To steal. Kelly won the title of Best Long Cut
because her style "is really universal" for anyone with hair that
falls below the shoulders.
Heck, there is
even a wig designed to look just like Kelly's hair.
It is called the Kendall #1220 - Color #26 (For more details visit
International Wig)
It
makes sense that the gorgeous blonde would win awards for her buttery
locks, which are reportedly cared for, by New York celebrity
hairdresser Oscar Blondi. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Natasha
Richardson are also clients of Blondi who is has become famous
for snipping his teeny tiny trademark "O" into the backs of his client's heads as a
form of a hairdressing trademark.
Kelly - Live Wire On Regis
Since February 2001 Kelly has reigned
as the sassy, funny and sweet sidekick of the popular Live! With
Regis And Kelly.
If you watch the show, not only will
you be amazed at how incredibly hilarious Kelly can be, you might
have caught the now famous food fight that erupted as a result of
Kelly accidentally squirting ketchup in Phibin's eye. Regis,
retaliated by decorating Kelly's tresses with gooey mustard.
Access Hollywood reporter, Billy Bush, on hand to preserve the Ripa
Mustard Hair moment for history, joined in and dumped spaghetti and
meatballs on top of the mustard strands.
As if hanging with Reege every morning
isn't demanding enough, Kelly also stars in the hilarious Hope in
ABC's Faith And Hope sitcom with Faith Ford (Murphy Brown) and Ted
McGinley.
 Juggling
the daytime Regis show with the ABC nighttime sitcom, the 35 year
old Libran (October 2, 1970) still finds time to be a fabulous mom to her three
adorable kids (Michael, Lola and Joaquin) and devoted wife to hunky actor
Mark Consuelos (Married in1996).
(Image from ABC Hope And Faith -
ABC/Bob D'Amico - all rights reserved).
Kelly - Live Wire On Regis
Ironically Kelly and Mark met on All
My Children when her character, Hayley Vaughan, arrived on AMC in
1990 wearing a long black spikey wig (an Elvira clone), met and eventually married Mateo Santos.
The handsome Mateo was played by none other
than actor Mark Consuelos. Art imitated real life on the soap
when
Kelly and Mark married off camera one year before their characters
married onscreen to record viewer numbers.
During the twelve years that she was
on AMC Kelly reigned supreme, winning many awards and the undying
love of her fans, before leaving in 2002 in order to star as Faith Fairfield
in Hope and Faith for the 2003 Season.
The perpetually busy Kelly also makes
guest appearances in a mind boggling list of Tinseltown events such
as the Walt Disney Christmas Day Parade (2002, 2003 and 2004)
Saturday Night Life and the round of late night talk shows. Recently
she lent her famous voice to the character of Kurrin in the animated
production of Delgo.
She even managed to "guest star" on
the current version of the Bachelorette #3 with Jen Schefft
in the episode where the
Men Tell All. NYC attorney, Stu (Stuart Lopoten, 27),
who was known on the show as
Jen's "stalker" even mentioned that he had won the unwelcome
attention of Kelly Ripa and hoped that "all was good with Kelly" at
this point. Stu even looked into the camera and said "I love
you Kelly" near the end of his interview on stage.
Celebrity Tresses
 It's mind boggling how Kelly manages to juggle all of her endless
professional and personal responsibilities while always looking
perfectly coiffed, made up and fashionable.
(Image from ABC Hope And Faith -
ABC/Bob D'Amico - all rights reserved)
Although Kelly hasn't been shy
about changing her hair color and style for her many different
acting roles, for her current character on Hope and Faith she looks
spectacular in a shoulder skimming blunt cut that has lots of
layering incorporated into the overall style, as well as to the ends.
Her current gorgeous blonde hue is
the result of a multi-dimensional color with much lighter buttery
blonde strands on top and darker strands underneath. If you
look closely you can spot the subtle streaking throughout that is
created with slightly lighter and darker hues to give her blonde
locks a very natural sunny look.
In the past Kelly has gone darker
blonde and even brunette when an acting role required that she do
so. Truth be known, her fans love her as a blonde.
During her guest host appearance on Saturday Night Live in late 2003
Kelly morphed into her own version of Angelina Jolie complete with
long dark locks. Her hilarious portrayal of the sultry dark
haired actress confirmed that Kelly really looks more fabulous as a
blonde.
Spoofing A Hair Commercial
She also did a spoof of a famous hair
commercial which was called Tressant Supreme and was humorously
touted as keeping her hair shiny with cocaine.
In reality, Kelly worries about what
she puts on her hair, especially when she's pregnant. Kelly
went public about her ban of hair bleach at the time of her first
pregnancy with her son Michael, while still on All My Children.
Kelly was quoted as saying she felt it (hair color and bleach) had
not been conclusively proven whether it was good for the fetus or
not. She also gave up all other impurity such as nail polish,
smoking, drinking and coffee.
And speaking of Michael, her eldest
was known to throw a fit every time he had to accompany mom to the
AMC studios. Why? That is where he got his hair cut by
one of the onset hairdressers and he absolutely hated it.
 While
Kelly has been known to wear her tons of finely textured, straight
hair parted perfectly down the center, she looks even more stunning
with her tresses parted to one side and worn swept over to one side
of her face.
(Image from ABC Hope And Faith -
ABC/Bob D'Amico - all rights reserved)
Kelly's face shape is a combination
of the heart and square. While she has a slightly pronounced
chin and wide forehead, her cheekbones are well defined with a hint
of squareness.
Not only does a side swept style
minimize her wider forehead, it balances her beautiful face and
shows off her stunning almond shaped eyes.
Steal Kelly's Hairstyle
 Kelly will be the first to tell you
that she has a lot of helping looking terrific. She relies on
the daily talents of a makeup artist, wardrobe stylist and a
hairstylist to put it all together for her.
(Image from Hope & Faith - Hope
Couture - Kelly Ripa as Faith in platinum blonde wig - ABC/Eric
Liebowitz - all rights reserved).
She has been known
to tease that she arrives for work in her PJs and is often
unrecognizable to the audiences. Kelly also has makeup and
hair experts helping her achieve her gorgeous Faith persona on the
sitcom.
In reality, Kelly loves a softer look for her
tresses. Even though her strands are finely textured she does
have lots and lots of hair.
Whether you have access to a team of
professional hairdressers or not, you can still swipe Kelly's
celebrity look by asking your own hairdresser to cut your strands
into a shoulder length or slightly shorter blunt cut.
Kelly's slowly graduated layers help
build in body for hair that is uber long. It also will help
prevent thick hair from becoming too puffy. Carefully crafted
layers will also remove split ends and damaged strands.
Ideally your hairstylist should
create longer layers that extend from the jaw and get longer towards
the back of the head. Layering should ideally be heaviest
around the sides of the face.
Keep in mind that while this
universal and versatile style may work well for most types and
textures of hair, it may not be practicable for hair types that are
have a lot of natural curls or waves. It is also best suited for
hair that falls to the shoulders or below.
Discuss all of your options for
copying Kelly's style with your professional hairdresser. With
some modifications, Kelly's style should work well for most face
shapes and types.
Start With Favorite Hair Care
Products
To achieve the bluntly cut, layered
style, that Kelly wears on Hope And Faith, start by washing and
conditioning your strands with the hair care products that work best
for your hair type and texture. When possible, finish with a
cool water rinse to help close cuticles and add automatic shine.
Towel blot to remove excess moisture.
Apply a good detangling product and work from ends to the roots to
remove knots or snarls.
Apply a good leave-in conditioner or
heat protector. For extra volume apply a volume enhancing
spray or similar product to roots before drying.
Separate strands into 2-3 inch
sections. Using a blow dryer with a heat concentrator,
dry each individual section using a large round sized real or faux
boar's bristle brush.
As you blow dry each individual
section, turn ends slightly under to provide bend. For even
more volume, blow-dry strand upside down.
When hair is 100% dry, use a 1 1/2"
curling iron to touch up ends for a smooth finish. Apply a
drop or two or shine product to the palms of your hands. Rub
into palms well and then gently brush the palms of your hands over
the top of your tresses from roots to ends to distribute a subtle
shine.
Although Kelly doesn't wear hair
accessories all the time, she has been known to favor small chic
accessories that function to keep her strands out of her eyes.
She also tends to wear more hair accessories on Hope And Faith.
If desired, add the appropriate hair accessory of your choice at the
very end of your styling session.
Kelly also said: “I have to put haircolor in my hair, I have to put
bleach in my hair, Hair doesn’t like bleach. You have to have a
rich thick conditioner. I only trust Pantene Complete Therapy. And
it really protects my hair against the things that I do”.
12. Was a regular on the Dance Party USA television show. She was
known for always wearing her hair pulled up in a clip with a variety
of bows. She also wore bangs that were curled high up on her
forehead.
Summary
Whether Kelly
Ripa is being coiffed by a team of network hairdressers or being
branded by Oscar Blondi, she gives new meaning to have great
celebrity hair. |