The lady is no shrinking violet, even though her favorite color is purple for more reason than one. Her position on coloring hair? She’s said it more than once: It’s a wonderful way to take years off a woman’s appearance. As for Oprah’s hair color, it’s always dark but if you keep tabs on her styles, you know the lady takes risks (www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/oprah-winfrey-style-evolution_n_1239995.html#s646264&title=2009). Once you pick your favorite shade, get thee to a colorist for your own personal transformation.
1. Rip a page (or the cover) from “O,” Oprah’s magazine, once you spot a shade that looks compelling. Bring the page to your hair stylist or colorist. He can match the photo up with a variety of products that emulate or come close to replicating the shade. If he’s an artiste, he may get down with some alchemy and whip up a batch of color that’s not only a dead-on match, but a shade nobody but you and Oprah sport.
2. Write a note to the editors of “O” magazine and ask if they’ll reveal the secret of Oprah’s hair color on the day you spotted her on TV, a publication or, lucky girl, in person. “O” editors are used to getting mail about the superstar’s clothing and hair and you won’t be the first person to ask about her color. Maybe you can promise, on paper, not to reveal the brand or formulation if they share the info and you may have to bring out the big guns — like begging and pleading.
3. Go to the emperor of Oprah hair secret-keepers: Andre Walker, the guy who has spent over a quarter of a century laboring over the diva’s curls, rollers, straighteners, conditioners and dyes. The man is a legend and so many articles have been written about him and his methods on websites, you could suffer from Walker overdose. He’s not shy about giving advice to women on the topic of “over coloring” when interviewed by fashion and style reporters, but you may notice that he never shouts, “Girl, let that hair grow out naturally and keep away from color!”
4. Use your photo of Oprah as a guide for picking a wig. Seriously. If you don’t have a clue how Oprah’s color is going to look with your complexion after you figure out the shade, why dump dye over your head in the hopes of hitting color pay dirt? If it turns out the wig color looks amazing on your head, you can always bring it with you when you visit your colorist and challenge him to match it up. Oh, and don’t forget to drop a line to thank Oprah, her producers or Andre when you finally nail her color.
