Rihanna's Short Straight Hair

How to Get Rihanna's Sleek New Cropped Hair Cut

© Jill Nessel

May 30, 2008

In an interview with Beth Springer, Rihanna’s manager, Springer boasts that Rihanna “does her own hair” before concerts and that she is particular about what hair care products she uses.

She had previously been using a CHI flat iron to straighten her cropped black hair, but while unpacking in Edmonton, Alberta on May 29, 2008, she discovered her iron had broken in transit from her last show.

The 20-year-old Barbados native is currently opening for Kanye West as part of his Glow In The Dark Tour across North America.

Rihanna's Straightening Iron Choice

Springer called local salon and spa supplier Beauty Systems Group to find a new straightening iron for Rihanna—but not just any iron. Rihanna specifically requested Paul Mitchell’s new Express Ion Style 1.0 flat iron.

“The silver one! The silver one!” Springer exclaimed, describing Rihanna’s excitement for the styling tool. (The silver Express Ion Style 1.0 replaces its predecessor, the black Smoothing Iron.)

The Express Ion Style 1.0 is creating a buzz for its silicone-infused Express Grips on either side of the 1” plates. The grips secure hair in place while straightening, so that only one swipe through the hair is required. The negative ion-infused plates control frizz and static by locking the hair shaft tight from the inside out. This makes styling smooth and quick.

Rihanna's Skinny Hair Product

Hair smoothing experts from Paul Mitchell recommend Super Skinny Serum or Super Skinny Relaxing Balm as a protectant and styling aid to be used in combination with the Express Ion Style 1.0.

In the last year, Rihanna has sported a variety of hairstyles. When first introduced to the music world, she was often seen with long layers of thick, dark brown curls midway down her back. Casual, candid shots of her showed straight hair of the same colour.

At the 2007 Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards she unveiled a graduated, asymmetrical bob á la Victoria Beckham. It was a brave cut for her age group that tends towards long, flowing hair. Elle’s June 2008 edition features Rihanna in an article titled "Good Girl Gone Great", referring to her current album Good Girl Gone Bad. In the article, Rihanna describes how she got her current ultra-short and sexy cut.

“I kept telling my managers, I’m cutting my hair. I’m cutting my hair. And they’re like, ‘How short? Not too short. Cut it how short?’ And I’m like, ‘Up to here,’ ” Rihanna says, raising her hand up to her ear. “They never believed me. So when it was time to do the album cover [for Good Girl], the night before I cut it, I dyed it black. We went straight to the photo shoot, and no one at the record label knew what I looked like. When we sent the pictures over, they saw the hair and they all loved it. They loved it.”

It’s a look that has transformed her into a young, rockin’ woman and trendsetter instead of a cookie-cutter teenybopper.

The May 29 concert showed Rihanna’s hair in pristine form: masculinely angled over one ear, beveled short in the back, with lots of movement in the long, piecey bangs. It is the haircut that Elle magazine deems “legendary.”

Rihanna

Cropped, Beveled Back

Long Piecey Bangs

Short on the Sides

Striking Performer

Print Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds