Nara Smith Cooks Herself up a New Hair Color
The honey-voiced influencer is known for creating everything from cola to cereal from scratch—of course dyeing her hair red was just as an elaborate job.
Reported by Vogue.
Nara Smith has built a following on the kind of precision most people reserve for professional kitchens — scratch-made cereal, homemade cola, hand-rolled chewing gum. So when she finally committed to a hair transformation she'd been circling for months, naturally, she documented the whole process with the same exacting energy. The result: a glossy, burgundy-tinted auburn bob that is, frankly, a mood.
Smith, who has 3C hair and has spoken openly about postpartum hair thinning and long-term eczema, described herself as deeply indecisive about small decisions — and this one had been sitting in her drafts for a while. Her hairstylist's verdict? You can always go back to black. So she went for it. According to Vogue, the process started with a Matrix High Riser Pre-Bonded Lightener to lift her naturally dark base without compromising her hair's integrity. Mid-process, the vivid orange that emerged reminded Smith of a German cartoon character — which, relatable — before her stylist layered on a deep wine red. Her brows were bleached to match the shift in dimension.
The Formula Behind the Color
Nine Matrix Super Sync shades went into the mix: six brunette tones, copper, ruby red, and warm blonde. After the first rinse, Smith wanted to pull the result slightly darker, so her stylist worked mocha brown and ash tones back over the top until they landed on a rich, multidimensional burgundy. Celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham had already flagged auburn as the season's defining shade — "I took Emma Stone red, and her shade is quintessential cowboy copper" — and Smith's version reads like the warmer, moodier cousin of that moment. For anyone committing to red: celebrity colorist Jacob Schwartz recommends a gloss or toning treatment every four to six weeks, pointing to Schwarzkopf's Professional Igora Vibrance as a go-to for keeping the depth alive.
The finish was a flippy, side-swept bob — cut to the nape at the back, tapering to just below the chin in front — blown out in sections with a diffuser and round barrel brush. Her stylist added a few tracks for volume and density, a smart move for anyone managing thinning. The bob itself got a trim to sharpen the line. "I love when the bob is just crisp," Smith said. Going dark-to-red with a clean cut and precise color work is not a casual Saturday errand; it is a commitment, and she made it count.
If you've been sitting on a color change, Nara Smith just made the case that the only thing standing between you and a new era is one text to your hairstylist.
Read the original at Vogue.
