| Debra Messing: Luscious Curl Secrets |
| Karen Marie Shelton |
| Date: 2/10/2005, 2/19/2006 |
Introduction
 Many people might be surprised to
discover that those perfect bouncy curls and waves that Debra
Messing (a true Leo born August 15, 1968 in Brooklyn, New York)
tosses around on the Red Carpet or in her TV role as Grace Adler on Will
And Grace do not come naturally.
(Image of Debra Messing Will & Grace
2002 - NBC - Universal Photos - Chris Haston - all rights reserved).
Yes, it's true that the actress has
naturally curly tresses, but it takes one famous celebrity
hairdresser, a couple of hot irons and the proper styling
products to achieve those luscious ringlets that she has become
famous for.
The truth of the matter is that most
people with naturally curly hair like Debra's are not blessed with perfect
curl patterns. The part where you tumble out of bed and your
natural curls are laying in perfectly formed ringlets just doesn't
exist in real life. Yet people blessed with natural curls or waves
don't realize how much effort goes into "adjusting" celebrity curls.
Debra's Celebrity Hairdresser
 Debra's famous hairdresser both on
and off the screen for the past 8+ years, Luke O'Connor, is part of
a super celebrity hairstyling team. Luke and his hair colorist
wife Rona, owns the famous
Lukaro Salon in Beverly Hills.
(Image of Debra Messing and Ed Burns
- Will & Grace - 2005 - NBC - Universal Photos - Chris Haston - all
rights reserved)
Luke not only comes from a long line
of hairdressers (his grand-father and uncles were barbers) he paid
his dues in the 70s by studying with Vidal Sasson and Trevor Sorbie.
In fact, it was at the Lukaro Salon
that Rona and Luke first worked with Debra spending over six hours
making over the natural medium/dark ash brunette with actress into a stunning redhead
with spectacular curls. Rona transformed Debra's natural brunette
tresses
with a carefully designed range of six different shades of
complimentary red hues.
The fabulous talented colorist also
cops to painting strategically placed vertical streaks of
contrasting color ribbons in hues of copper, golden copper and
auburn to show off Debra's curls. She positions the array of
red hues so that they literally cascade down the length of the curls
picking up the curl's definition.
Rona goes with lighter shades around
Debra's face to open it up and show off her beautiful eyes, but is
careful to back up the lighter colors with darker ones for leverage.
Rona has reported that she uses threads of color that are about one
inch apart in a vertical pattern.
 So how did Debra find her way to the
fabulous Luke and Rona team? Before she was signed to do Will
And Grace but after Ned And Stacy (with Thomas Hayden Church) she
was working on a short
lived series for ABC.
(Image of Debra Messing - Will &
Grace - 12/01/04 - NBC - Universal Photos - James White - all rights
reserved)
The ABC set hairdresser discovered that
Debra wanted a makeover for her unruly, misbehaving brunette (yes,
they were originally a medium brown)
curls. The stylist hooked Debra up with Rona and Luke and
the rest, as they say, is hair history.
Does Debra love or hate being a curly
girl? Debra was quoted in People Magazine as saying that when
she was working on her master's in fine arts in acting at New York
University she "didn't to deal with the upkeep" or her curls.
So she "cut it all off a la Sinead O'Connor". So what did the
beloved curly haired actress learn from that haircut? She
learned "to think twice before doing something like that again".
If you were to ask Debra now how she
feels about her copper curls, she would tell you that she loves them
and how much versatility she has to style her hair in a wide range
of looks that range from stick straight to wild and full of
ringlets.
Debra's Curls - Props For Grace
 It has been
reported by Luke that Debra considers her hair color and style to be
an essential part of her Grace Adler character which has been
likened to a modern version of Lucille Ball. As a
result, during the show's lifespan, with the help of Luke and Rona, Debra's hair has gone from very curly,
perfectly formed ringlets to softer
wavy tresses.
(Image of Eric McCormack as Will,
Debra Messing as Grace - NBC Photo: Chris Haston - all rights
reserved).
Luke constantly works with Debra to
create different looks for every Will And Grace show, and when
possible, even for different scenes within a show. Luke and
Debra agree that it is important to show the evolution of the Grace
Adler character through her hairstyles. Luke is also a
big fan of using hair accessories such as mock tortoise clips that
blend nicely into Debra's strands for a subtle but effective change.
He also will utilize higher end sparkly hair gems to dress up
Debra's look.
 Sometimes the
styling goal for the Grace show is to present the impression that
Debra's hair automatically falls into a series of naturally constructed
cascading curls. During her pregnancy in 2004, her look combined
carefully planned straighter strands with lots of body and volume.
(Image of Eric McCormack as Will,
Debra Messing as Grace - NBC Photo: Chris Haston - all rights
reserved).
Off the set Debra reportedly loves to
wear her curls up in a random pony or messy bun. She also
favors mixing up her styles by adopting sleek and straight looks for
Red Carpet appearances. When Luke designs even a simple pony
for Debra he insists on creating a fabulous finished tail that is
worn either very high or very low against the nape of the neck.
Luke likes to dress up the ponies at the base or even along the
length of the tail.
Luke takes Debra from curly to
straight by blowing her strands straight with a boar's head brush
and then fine tuning with a series of flat irons. He favors
Conair straightening irons. Depending on her gown, Debra
may opt instead for a romantic updo or twist that may utilize an
array of curls.
(Image above of Eric McCormas as Will
Truman and Debra Messing as Grace Adler - Will & Grace - 12/01/04 -
NBC - Universal Photos - Chris Haston - all rights reserved)
Curls: Out Of Control To Polished
Luke works hard on the NBC set to
transform Debra's wild curls into a more polished, well behaved look
for her natural curls. When they first started working
together in the pre-Grace Adler days, Debra wanted to transition
towards sleek strands. Luke admits that Debra has "messy
curls" with a mix of straight, wavy and curl textures that all
basically do their own thing without hairdresser intervention.
What is his secret for fabulous curls
and waves? The right hair care products coupled with a
series of curling irons. While most people with natural
curls might be surprised that curling irons would be used on
naturally curly hair, it is part of Luke's secret for Debra's
fabulous ringlets. Luke has reported that the advantage of
using a curling iron is that he can easily crank up or smooth out
the curls. It gives him tons of styling flexibility.
For her role on Grace Luke first preps Debra's long, layered dry
curls with a good
leave-in conditioner
or
styling cream. Using a variety of
different sized
curling irons (Luke has been known to use irons that
range from 1" to 1 1/2" in diameter), he separates all of her
strands into smaller 1-2" sections. He completely curls her
entire head of curls wrapping each section around the barrel of the
irons into a spiral shape.
Besides his array of curling irons,
Luke also likes to play with a professional
three prong waving iron when working with Debra's strands.
The waving iron is a mixture of a waving and curling iron.
Luke loves to use it on Debra's hair because he finds that it gives
him a lot of artistic freedom to create awesome chic looks that he
can constantly adjust, change and play with.
 Although
it sounds like a lot of work and time intensive, Luke has confided
in the past that he and Debra have worked out a system that gets her
in and out of his chair, perfectly coiffed, in less than one hour.
Not only has Luke become very
comfortable with Debra's hair type and texture, he has learned lots
of little shortcuts and tricks that streamline the process.
(Image of Debra Messing on Will &
Grace - NBC - Photo by Lorenzo Aquis - all rights reserved).
Because her naturally curly hair
tends to be dry, Luke varies the styling products he uses. To
replace lost moisture from constant styling, Luke deep conditions
Debra's hair at least once a week. He also uses hair care and styling
products that are
specifically designed to work with curly hair and
with heat styling tools.
To avoid heat damage, Luke recommends
holding the curling iron in place for a short amount of time.
He points out that you don't have to hold the iron in place very
long to get the curl to form. .
He releases the newly formed spiral
curl and then carefully stretches it while it is cooling to give it
a softer wavier look. Luke has commented that when he modifies the
tension of his fingers while pulling on the warm curls, he can
achieve different patterns of curls.
Bottom line, the more he
stretches, the wavier Debra's hair becomes. When Luke wants a
tighter curl that is akin to perfectly formed ringlets, he does very
little, if any pulling on the newly formed curls.
Dealing With Frizzies & Fly-A-Way Strands
 One constant challenge is keeping
control of any flyaways or frizzies.
(Image (L-R)Debra Messing as Grace,
Blythe Danner as Marilyn - Eric McCormack as Will on Will & Grace -
NBC Photo: Chris Haston).
Not only do pesky fly-a-ways show up in the backlighting onscreen, they give Debra's
curls a messier, less finished look.
To make sure that her
style remains polished during the long hours of television shooting, he uses hairspray to finish
her style. Luke has noted that when the studio is air-conditioned,
it can suck the moisture right out of the air setting the stage for
static electricity and advancing frizzies.
The hot studio lights also take their
toll and may cause Debra's strands to droop or the curls to drop. If necessary, Luke will race
in between scenes and touch up Debra's hair with the appropriate irons and styling
products to counter the effects of the lights. Luke has found that using curling
irons work to help keep the curls tight and the right styling
products help to lock in the moisture.
Summary
Ultimately the secret to Debra
Messing's fabulous color and curls is the brilliant hairstyling and
hair color work of Rona and Luke O'Connor or Lukaro Salon along with
Debra's own love of her glamorous curly girl status. Debra's
fabulous array of curls and waves also springs from the use of the
right hair care products coupled with a series of irons and styling
products along with the willingness to experiment. |