In addition to her music and dance skills, Shakira is well known for her signature curly hair but does the Colombian pop superstar wear hair extensions?
Shakira has been known to wear hair extensions on occasion. It seems she does this when she wants a particular look, rather than wearing them constantly to add extra volume or length. Shakira’s hair is naturally thick, so she is able to wear extensions selectively.
To learn more about examples of Shakira wearing hair extensions and her haircare habits, read on.
Extensions
Shakira generally doesn’t seem to wear extensions. We can see during her live performances that her hair is her own, or at least appears to be. With thick hair and her signature curls, there seems little need for Shakira to add any extra hair except when it’s needed for a particular look or style.
There have been examples of Shakira adding hair extensions as part of a specific look. A few years ago, she posted a couple of photos to Instagram of her with a braid that appeared significantly longer than her usual hair.
In the caption, she proclaimed it “Braid day!” and the photo featured Shakira walking through the streets of Barcelona at night. The braid mixed light-blonde on top with darker shades beneath, resulting in a unique pattern throughout the style.
The extra length added by Shakira’s extensions in these photos means the braid falls all the way to her waist, creating a striking look.
It seems that appearances with extensions are a rarity for Shakira, who follows a strict hair regime to keep her signature curls thick and healthy.
Being able to add them to a look when she feels they’re appropriate gives her extra versatility and means she can mix up her style, but they don’t appear to be something she is interested in wearing full time.
Shakira’s Hair
For most of her career (although she does occasionally show off a voluminous straighter look), Shakira has been associated with a tumbling head of curls.
There’s a delicate balance to be struck while styling curly hair, as you don’t want to lose the bounce and shape by straightening it too much but you also want to avoid frizz. Shakira’s signature curls always seem to be frizz-free.
Her stylist recommends keeping hair well hydrated, with products such as Dove’s Intensive Repair Mask, a way of keeping hair healthy and fighting frizz. Shakira’s stylist, Cynthia Alvarez, demonstrated how she achieves the star’s signature curls by styling Cindy Diaz from style blog Mamas Latina.
Shakira shared a selfie of herself during her preparation before a show, displaying at least 22 hair clips to get her curls for the concert. With so many clips, it’s not surprising that one might occasionally be missed. She posted a video backstage during a concert in which her stylist noticed an errant clip that had been left in Shakira’s hair throughout her performance.
She has also shown off a messy bun at times, with her hair half up and half down. With Shakira’s curls, this simple style looks even better. With two young children, Shakira has probably had to master the bun to keep her hair out of reach.
Highlights are another signature feature of Shakira’s hairstyles, adding a sense of extra volume and dimension to her curls. Throughout her career, she has highlighted her hair with numerous tones such as platinum and dark red but we usually associate her with honey-toned highlights.
Shakira has been predominantly blonde since her transition to singing in English in 2001. She has spoken about how she felt the dark hair made her look more gothic and that she likes the way her blonde hair makes her appear lighter on stage, making her face pop more.
She also believes that being a blonde Latina makes her stand out from the crowd.