These Celebs Are Completely Unrecognizable When Their Hair Is Not Done Up
Celebrities often have their hair all done up... unlike the vast majority of us who aren't able to hire a glam squad to be at our every beck and call. But even though a lot of celebs — everyone from Rihanna to Amy Schumer — have literal teams of multiple people on call to tweeze their brows, blow-dry their hair, and apply a perfect face of makeup, they don't always make use of their services. After all, who wants to sit in a chair for hours getting camera-ready when all you plan to do that day is step out to grab a cup of coffee or run a couple errands? That's not to say there won't be cameras, though. For better or for worse, celebs are almost constantly in front of the cameras due, in large part, to the paparazzi.
Still, it is refreshing to see that some celebs have a don't-give-a-f*** attitude when it comes to doing their thing — whether they're done up or not. Here are some of your favorite stars that have faced the cameras without having done their hair — and they look completely unrecognizable.
Does Lady Gaga go by Stefani when her hair's not all done up?
You've seen Lady Gaga debut a ton of looks over the years. Gaga's longtime hairstylist Frederic Aspiras is the one responsible for many of her iconic styles, including that icy shade of blue hair Gaga donned at the 2019 Golden Globes. Aspiras also styled the artist's hair for the 2017 Super Bowl. "It looked like the simplest, prettiest updo," he divulged to Refinery29, "but it had to go through 15 minutes of dancing — and then there was the hair change while she was tumbling through the air, flying into the stadium. We had one shot to get it right." He added, "It was scary because it had to be perfect." Despite the hairstylist's fears, Gaga's hair was up to the challenge. Still, Gaga doesn't always rock perfect hair.
When hitting up her local coffee shop, she seems to drop her stage persona and goes by her real name, Stefani — or Stephanie in Starbucks lingo — instead. She also looks more like a Stefani than a Gaga with her hair left undone or thrown up into a messy bun.
Cardi B wears her hair natural sometimes
Cardi B is basically the queen of wigs and can pull off any color. The artist's hairstylist, Tokyo Stylez, revealed to Refinery29 that the yellow wig Cardi donned for the Invasion of Privacy album cover was accidental. "We tried everything and nothing was working with the wardrobe," he explained. "I had that yellow wig, and she said, 'Hell no, Tokyo,' but we still put it on and it was a hit. She started feeling it, and it became an iconic look."
Cardi's rainbow of wigs are certainly one of the things the rapper is known for, but she occasionally shows off her natural hair, too. In an Instagram Story (via Refinery29), the star shared a mirror selfie with the caption, "To wash and untangle all this hair now." Although Cardi looks nearly unrecognizable with the 'do, Cardi's hairstylist confirmed to Refinery29 that it is indeed her au naturel hair.
Rihanna has thrown her hair up into two very different ponytails
Rihanna is a true hair icon. The star's edgy bob haircut in 2007 probably had you convinced it was time to chop your locks. And, over a decade later, she got all of us jonesing for bangs. It seems no matter what haircut Rihanna gets, she can pull it off without a problem. The same is true with hair color. At the 2019 BET Awards, Rihanna rocked a high ponytail in a beautiful deep red shade. "I wanted to play along with [her outfit] by providing some contrast and going with a more feminine look for her hair," the artist's hairstylist, Yusef Williams, revealed to Teen Vogue. "For [that] look, Rihanna wanted to look very pretty. We were working with her beautiful burgundy hair, so I wanted to really feature the bold color and let it speak for itself."
When she's without her glam squad though, Rihanna naturally looks different than she does at award shows. Still, she relies on some tried-and-true pulled-back looks, like a classic ponytail style or a messy bun.
Iggy Azalea doesn't always wear wigs or hair extensions
Iggy Azalea is hair goals — and she's not afraid to change it up. After we all fell in love with Iggy Azalea's flowing blonde locks, the Australian rapper went for a drastic cut. In April 2018, Azalea revealed a much shorter, bleach blonde 'do to her Instagram followers. "I really just cut all my hair off," she revealed (via Daily Mail). "Clearly I have gone insane," she continued in the caption.
Thanks to hair extensions and epic wigs, though, Azalea can continue to rock any number of lengthy hairstyles — and colors, too. Over the years, the star has experimented with blue, pink, and even a yellow and orange combo. Whether she wears her hair blonde or pastel, short or long, pin-straight or in finger waves, her hair is always part of her signature look. Without her hair done, though, you may not be able to pick her out of a crowd. Dressed down and with her hair in a loose bun or with her hair veiled by a hoodie, she looks pretty unrecognizable.
Anne Hathaway and her ongoing hair battle
Like many of us, Anne Hathaway has complicated feelings about her hair. In an interview with InStyle, the actress defined her relationship with her hair as "ongoing." We hear that. She joked that her relationship with her hair is great... when it's done professionally. And, well, we hear that too. In the past, Hathaway has debuted both long and short styles and knows the pros and cons to both. "I like having the versatility of long hair," she revealed to the publication. "You can put it up, wear it down, anything in between." With short hair, on the other hand, the actress said you're "kind of locked into a look." Still, she really enjoyed having a pixie. Growing that pixie out, though, was not a fun experience. "I mean, there's no other way to put it: Growing out your hair kind of sucks," she admitted.
Although we're used to seeing Hathaway's hair styled and super shiny, it's not always that way. In a post she shared on InStyle's Instagram account, a very different-looking Hathaway shared her bedhead look and wrote that she needed to "steal a coffee and splurge on a hairbrush."
Kaley Cuoco doesn't always have her chic village to do her hair
Since the early aughts, Kaley Cuoco has undergone a number of hair transformations. Her most drastic change being in 2014, of course. The star debuted her pixie cut on The Ellen Degeneres Show. "I have wanted to do this for years," she revealed before telling Ellen Degeneres how much she loves the style. Unfortunately, fans of The Big Bang Theory did not share her opinion. The actress has since grown out her hair, and, even with The Big Bang Theory having concluded, she hasn't gone back to her short hairdo as of this writing.
When attending red carpet events and other public affairs, Cuoco can be seen rocking long locks. Occasionally, the star will even wearing a sleek updo. In an Instagram post the actress shared in September 2019, Cuoco said "it takes a very chic village" to get her that glammed up. When Cuoco is without her team though, she's not opposed to sporting a simple messy ponytail and bare face.
Jennifer Lopez is really a bun-on-top-of-your-head girl when it comes to hair
Jennifer Lopez is, as her 2002 hit song let us know, Jenny from the block. When she's working and attending events, she's 100 percent glam. But when she's not acting or participating in interviews, she's not one for getting completely made up. In March 2018, the star told InStyle, "Everything about growing up in the Bronx influenced me and is still with me today. I still wear big hoops and a lot of jewelry, whether it's with a couture gown or with Timberlands. Also, how I do my hair. I'm still a ponytail, bun-on-top-of-your-head girl, which is all very Puerto Rican Bronx."
Lopez doesn't shy away from sharing her bare-faced, top knot selfies to Instagram or stepping out of the house with her hair doing its own thing — even if she doesn't look like the J.Lo we all know so well from the red carpet and musical performances. One thing you probably won't see when she's done up or not are her grays. The star revealed (via People) that she went "prematurely gray at 23" so she gets her roots "touched up every couple of weeks."
Blake Lively's hair is as healthy as it looks
Blake Lively's long hair might just make you jealous. According to the actress' hairstylist, Rod Ortega, the star was able to give up hair extensions because her hair is long and healthy enough on its own and doesn't require much product at all. "At most, I'll have a few things on the table, including plump spray, an oil, a shine spray, and a hairspray," he told Refinery29.
Lively is also very capable of styling her own hair even with it being so long. "When it comes to beauty, she's very talented," Ortega admitted. "She's done several of the carpets on her own and she does a beautiful job." He continued, saying, "When you work with someone who is such a great visionary, they'll ask questions. With her, it's less, 'I don't like that,' and more 'how'd you do that? Can you teach me?'" She even cuts her own split ends. Just because Lively can — and does — do her own hair, though, it doesn't mean she's always sporting those luscious waves. Sometimes she just wears her hair loose or pulled back in a no-fuss ponytail and calls it a day.
Chrissy Teigen is all about hair extensions but she doesn't always wear them
Chrissy Teigen is probably one of the most down-to-earth stars. Even when it comes to her beauty routine, she doesn't believe in keeping secrets. In the past, when she went from blonde to dark hair, she said it was very damaging. "My problem is, 90% of my hair is very fake, so I didn't realize the toll it would take on all of it," Teigen admitted to Refinery29. "So, getting it back to [blonde] wasn't the easiest. It took 25 hours, total, over a three-day period."
As Teigen alluded to, she wears hair extensions. "When I first got them, I had no idea how many people had them on the red carpet," she said. Teigen added that she doesn't understand why celebs don't talk about it. "I've just never cared about it for some reason — I have no idea why people are so secretive about it." She continued, saying, "I take [the extensions] out at the end of every night, I love to Instagram it." Teigen may look unrecognizable without her hair done up, but it makes us love her that much more.
Whitney Cummings prefers to simply wear her hair up
"When I see a paparazzi I panic and pretend I'm talking to someone even though nobody is there which is super healthy," comedian and actress Whitney Cummings joked on Instagram. In the picture, Cummings is shown in workout clothes, wearing her hair in a gym-friendly messy bun and looking very different than she does on television. Nevertheless, Cummings actually prefers the undone look.
"During the TV show [Whitney] was where I really felt the pressure to look a certain way, to wear heels, to have makeup on," Cummings divulged in an interview with Parade. "I was a comedian before I did the show. I was used to wearing sneakers, and [wearing] my hair in a ponytail. I never wore makeup." While filming Whitney, her call time was 5 a.m. — three hours earlier than the men on the show — in order to have her hair and make up done. She shared, "That made me so frustrated, because that's three hours I could be writing, that's three hours I could be making the show better, and I'm getting makeup on because I have to look a certain way."
Mindy Kaling swears by scrunchies and bad blow outs for her hair
"No makeup, no comb through hair, no socks or shoes. I took a shower but not sure if I remembered deodorant," Mindy Kaling captioned an Instagram picture of herself in March 2015, showing herself with messy hair. At the time, the actress, producer, and writer was penning her book Why Not Me?.
Although you'll rarely see Kaling as disheveled as she was in her Instagram post, the star has a pretty basic everyday beauty routine. When speaking with Who What Wear, Kaling revealed that her hair is "a huge mystery." She continued, saying, "I barely put any product in it, blow-dry it badly, and throw it up in a scrunchie." She added, "I'm glad scrunchies are back. I'm going to start doing a top knot because I think styling my hair is too hard." As you could imagine, she leaves the scrunchies at home when attending red carpet events and appearing on television.
Amy Schumer's hair IRL
Amy Schumer isn't just funny — she's also unapologetically herself. Schumer is generally glammed up for work like in the movies Trainwreck and I Feel Pretty. If you follow the comedian and actress on Instagram though, you'll know that she's not always accompanied by a team to do her hair and makeup. And she's not afraid to post selfies with her hair undone and her makeup off. Sadly, Schumer has dealt with a whole lot of body-shaming — but she won't let it bring her down.
"When I look in the mirror I know who I am," she wrote on Instagram in late 2016. "[I'm] a great friend, sister, daughter and girlfriend. I'm a badass comic headlining arenas all over the world and making TV and movies and writing books where I lay it all out there and I'm fearless like you can be." She continued, writing, "I say if I'm beautiful, I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story. I will."
Chelsea Handler's straightener-breaking hair
Chelsea Handler has a tense relationship with her hair. "I want everyone to know this is what I'm dealing with every day," the star captioned side-by-side photos of herself on Instagram in June 2019, showing herself with super messy hair. "I've broken 8 straighteners this year alone." You're probably used to her beautifully styled hair, but it takes a lot to get her hair looking that great. As such, Handler is also no stranger to bad hair days.
Some years ago, a friend of Handler's took a picture of the back of Handler's head while she was at the airport and, uh, rat's nest is the only thing that may come to mind. The star showed the picture and talked about it on her show Chelsea Lately (via Time). "I can't believe that I got up, like, went to the airport and it never occurred to me like, hey, you might want to check the back of your head." Apparently, her unruly hair extensions were to blame.
Drew Barrymore's fried hay hair
When actress Drew Barrymore's hair is professionally done, you'd never know that it was naturally curly. "I have curly hair because of my genetics," the star revealed to Byrdie, "so right now it looks like fried hay." In a rare au naturel hair selfie in May 2018, the star showed what bleaching had done to her hair — and she looked totally unrecognizable. Thankfully, though, the star found some products that helped salvage her hair.
When speaking with Byrdie, the actress revealed that she relies on several hair masks — including the J. F. Lazartigue Mask with Shea Butter and Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector masks — and even knows a thing or two about such products. "Rahua has a 20-minute hair mask, but it has protein in it so don't leave it in for too long," she explained. "Do not leave anything with protein in your hair for longer than 20-30 minutes!"
Katy Perry revealed what's under the wig
Katy Perry's Instagram feed is usually full of pictures of the star looking her very best with her hair all done up. After all, it is her Instagram account. But from time to time, Perry assures her fans that she doesn't always look, well, her best. "Me at the beginning of the weekend vs. at the end of the weekend," Perry captioned side-by-side photos of herself in October 2019. And, uh, let's just say she was looking different.
Wrapped in a plush robe with her feet clad in open-toe slippers, Perry held up her wig in one hand while a braid rested on the floor. "I've never related to something more," one fan commented. Perry is known to change her look frequently with the help of hair extensions, wigs, and dye, but, as it turns out, her real hair has been dyed pretty similar in color to the blonde look she was seen rocking in fall 2019.
Selena Gomez swears by dirty hair
Selena Gomez's hair has always been amazing — yes, when she was a little kid. Unlike many of us who have fraught relationships with our manes, Gomez and her hair get along. "I love my hair," she told Elle. "I definitely think it's my staple piece. It's something that makes me feel like me..."
Although her hair's not completely maintenance-free, Gomez gets by without washing her locks very often. "Marissa [Marino] who is my hairstylist on the road, I've known for years, and I feel like with my hair it gets better every day when it's kind of a little dirty, so I'm one of those people — which I have to thank my mom and dad for because they have really thick hair," she explained.
Gomez does entrust her hair to a professional while on tour these days, but that wasn't always the case. "When I was younger, I did my own hair and makeup, and it was really a lot different then," she told the publication. Though, her hair isn't always professionally-styled. The star once took to Instagram rocking beach hair in 2018, and, while she was nearly unrecognizable, she was still stunning.
Jennifer Lawrence knows the hair struggle
Whether short or long, wavy or straight, Jennifer Lawrence's hair has provided us with some serious inspo. Of course, when her hair is all done up, we're not seeing what her locks truly look like. That changed in July 2019. Just Jared reported at the time that Lawrence had arrived to a film set in New Orleans, La. "sporting darker hair and no makeup." We get it. There's no point in doing your hair and makeup if you're just going to have to get your hair and makeup done on set.
Lawrence was photographed dressed down in a t-shirt and sweatpants while wearing her hair down and completely au naturel. As such, we got to see Lawrence in a new light — and we dig it. If nothing else, it confirmed to the world that, yes, even Oscar-award winning actresses have to battle flyaways and frizz. The struggle is real.
Camila Cabello's straight hair versus her curly hair
We're not exaggerating when we say that Camila Cabello's curls are everything. But it may surprise you to learn that they're actually the result of a perm. It's true. "I got a perm and I've never felt more confident," Cabello admitted to Refinery29. "I actually have straight hair, but I've always wanted curls."
The star looks markedly different with long flowing curls, just as she does with her straight hair pulled back in a messy updo, and — believe it or not — taking care of her permed hair is even easier than throwing it back into a ponytail. "I shampoo, condition, use a Curl Balm, then I just let my hair air-dry," she explained to the publication. "I never use irons or anything. My trick is to tuck my bangs behind my ears so they get a soft shape and do that whole curtain thing. Like the curls, I feel like myself with my bangs — they just frame my face so well."
Gigi Hadid's hair isn't always professionally styled
Whether she's walking the runway, on the cover of a magazine, or just posing for Instagram selfies, Gigi Hadid pretty much always has her hair styled to perfection. Back in 2016, however, when Hadid was photographed by the paparazzi, we learned the secret behind her amazing waves. While walking in New York City, Hadid was photographed with her hair set in large rollers — grandma-style.
It was a different look for the star, of course, but Hadid's hairstylist, Jennifer Yepez, revealed their purpose. "Self-gripping rollers are great for any hair if you want volume with soft movement," she told Harper's Bazaar. Yepez explained that the model cycles through a couple of different kinds of rollers depending on the look she wants to achieve.
Hadid doesn't always use rollers and, no, her hair isn't always done up. Fans of The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills know that Hadid sometimes throws her natural hair back into a simple messy bun. In doing so, she may not be runway-ready or even totally recognizable, but it's an effortless casual style.