Nicole Kidman is a beauty icon, there’s no denying it. As someone who’s switched up her look endless times over the years (both for characters and in her own life), we’ve seen her embrace everything from long blonde mermaid waves to a short chop.
But in our hearts, she’ll be always be the stunning new Aussie on the scene with beautiful strawberry curls. We’re not sure anyone in the history of film has had better hair.
So how does she feel about her curls now? Let’s find out…
Nicole Kidman curly hair advice
In a chat with Allure where she broke down her iconic beauty looks (and there are many), Nicole reminisced about her voluminous hair in the movie Days of Thunder. In fact, she even mentioned that she wishes she’d kept the curls the way they naturally fell.
“Why did I straighten my hair? I love my hair there,” she shared, showing serious appreciation for her genetic-lottery-winning curl pattern. “That is my natural hair – isn’t that crazy?”
Nicole also had some advice for anyone questioning whether they want to wear their curls natural. “Little girls out there, embrace the curl. Do not follow in my footsteps and straighten your hair”, she said, even noticing a resemblance to her kids’ hair. “I look like my daughters — well, that makes sense”, she laughed as she looked back at images from the film.
Nicole Kidman curly hair hacks
As for how her curls fall today, Nicole mentioned that it often takes a little work (and the right conditions) to get them bouncing and behaving. “When you blow dry and scrunch your hair, the curl comes back in abundance”, she noted. “I can do that to my hair still, but it needs to be kind of humid and I need to use the right product.”
Nicole Kidman red carpet curl routine
After years of straightening her hair, Nicole’s curl pattern has changed a lot. So when she wants to embrace her natural texture on the red carpet, her hairstylist Adir Abergel refines it to create a soft, sleek wave.
“The night before I always like to have my clients start with Virtue Recovery Shampoo ($63 from Sephora) and Conditioner ($63 from Sephora) to get hair as shiny and healthy as possible before the big day,” said Adir in a press release.
The morning of the event, on towel dried hair, he uses a paddle brush to delicately brush out any knots, then he applies Virtue Damage Reverse Serum ($89 from Sephora) and a few pumps of Healing Oil ($66 from Sephora) to help protect hair prior to blow drying.
“To get that extra volume where it’s needed, I [apply] Virtue Volumizing Primer ($54 from Sephora) right on the roots and [then I apply] the 6-in-1 Styler ($32 from Sephora) from mids to ends to create memory, shine and texture where needed,” he explained.
Using a brush and blow dryer, he focuses on lifting the roots, and once the roots are almost dry Adir smooths out Nicole’s hair using a round brush — “for that tousled full, sexy blowout”.
He also adds extra length and lifts her natural hair colour with the help of BELLAMI Silk Seam Clip-In and Tape-In extensions.
“To get the hair to feel the most natural looking, I like to choose various colours starting with the darker tones by the nape, then mid tones through the middle and highlighted colours right through the top,” he shared. “For Nicole I chose: 18” Silk Seam Clip-Ins in Dirty Blonde and Golden Hour Blonde, and 18” Tape-Ins in Golden Amber Blonde.”
Once the extensions blend seamlessly, I take a straight razor and cut all my layers into the extensions to blend perfectly, he continued.
Then to create Nicole’s tousled waves, Adir used a slim barrel curling iron to put in those natural bends where needed.
“To finish this look and to give it that extra glitter and shine, I heated up some Healing Oil ($66 from Sephora) on my hands, tilted her head and tousled her long golden locks,” he said.
Nicole Kidman with curly hair
Considering humidity is her curl-finessing secret weapon, Nicole’s recent vacation proved to be the perfect opportunity for letting her natural texture thrive.
Main image credit: Getty
Do you have curly hair? Have you ever struggled to embrace it?
No, hair straightening tools can cause so much damage and I don’t feel like myself with straight hair.
As a fellow curly girl, I agree. I straightened my hair for an upcoming event and although it looked great but I didn’t feel like myself AT ALL!
Yes I agree you are what you are -Embrace what you have !
Funny what a difference it makes when we have either curly or straight hair and then change it. One does not recognise oneself.
I don’t have curly hair, but I would love to
I would also love curly hair, but perhaps not as curly as Nicole
So would I -Love Nicole
Such gorgeous curls.
No curls on me.
Or Me !! Sad !!
I used to wear my hair curly all the time until I became a teenager
I struggled to embrace my poker straight hair, but now it’s developing a wave as I age, which I like.
Lucky you, a wave is nice
She has beautiful hair whichever way.
Yes she does but she looked iconic with her curls
I have straight hair but I use a hair dryer and heated rollers, I use a heat spray and lots of conditioning treatments
Heat sprays are really good now
I would love to have curly hair
I am always so envious of people with curls.
If you have natural curls like that, flaunt it!
totally agree
I don’t have curly hair. I have fine, thin, straight to wavy long hair but it is the craziest thing, conditioners for curly hair work so well on my hair.
They don’t weigh your hair down like other conditioners.
We all do things to our hair and later regret.Part of growing up and experimenting
As I’m getting older, my hair is becoming a lot curlier than previous.
She has such stunning hair! Every style seems to suit her
I have a wavy hair. I often use hair straightener to get more curls.
Nicole rarely wears her hair curly, its mostly straightened
I’ve never had curly hair and have never aspired to it – but I think it looks great on some people.
I love her natural hair
my hair is so fine and straight
Mine is as welll and I always look longingly at people with lovely curls.
I’m trying to leave my hair curly more often
Yes, be happy with what you naturally have
Little girls won’t listen, everyone likes to experiment themselves
My daughter has natural red, curly hair. It is stunning. She looks after her curls too. She gets so many compliments on them. I have wavy hair and could get a bit more curl, if I used the right products but I’m too lazy for it.
Wow red and curly, how fortunate for her. Just lovely
My son is the same, and very picky about who he lets cut it too, girls love it.
I have naturally curly hair and this article is what i needed ! So relatable. I love my curly hair but straightening it sometimes it comes out looking neater
I love curly hair too!
Nicole is very high maintenance lol, it must cost thousands now, nothing like in BMX bandits
Such lovely hair
It doesn’t matter what kind of hair you have – at some stage you hate it.
I’m trying to embrace my curly hair more often
Lucky You!!
I agree with her -she is amazing !!
So True !!
her new show looks god
My daughter has hair like the top one. Bigger curls and yes she uses all the curly hair products under the sun.
Sounds amazing! Nicole should go natural all the time too I reckon
I love it when anyone wears their natural. It’s like I can see the real person and I’m not always guessing who they really are.
She has such great hair!
Mines more wavy than curly but it’s frizzy and I don’t like that so I straighten it.
I have curls and I straighten them just cause I struggle so much with how to make them look good curly.
Yes I really like curly hair very fascinating and attractive ..
The older I get I wish I had more curl in my hair. I find that my straight hair drains my face, or drags it down. So, a wave at least would be great.
I wonder what it would be like to have curls
I wish I had curly hair. My daughter has beautiful curls.