Lily Gladstone's 2024 Oscars Hairstyle Includes a Secret Nod to Her Heritage
Her hairstylist tells 'Marie Claire' all about the personal touch.
Before she arrived on the 2024 Oscars red carpet, Lily Gladstone had already made history: the Killers of the Flower Moon star is the first indigenous woman to be nominated for Best Actress. To make the night even more memorable—and to dress for a potentially historic win—the actress opted for a hairstyle meant to be both timeless and eye-catching, while also paying homage to her heritage.
Gladstone worked with celebrity hairstylist Marc Mena, who chose side-parted gentle waves that tumbled past Gladstone's shoulders. Mena worked closely with Gladstone's stylist to ensure that the classical Hollywood-inspired glamour complemented her dress, a deep blue custom Gucci gown made in collaboration with indigenous fashion designer Joe Big Mountain.
"For tonight's look, we wanted to make sure that the look was timeless," Mena explains to Marie Claire. "This is a historic moment, and we wanted Lily to shine. Her hair is down, and the soft, loose waves work beautifully with her custom Gucci gown."
To create the stunning look, Mena first applied the Sister Sky Minkisoft Nourishing Mist on Gladstone's still-wet hair, followed by Better Not Younger's Lift Me Up Hair Thickener and No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray. Then, he sectioned her hair and blew it out with a round brush for a balance of volume and smoothness.
Mena particularly wanted to enhance Gladstone's length in creating her look, so he then added hair extensions from Great Lengths to her blowout. They were shaped to look like long layers with a swooping side part.
“When I work with Lily, I need to make sure whatever I am using is authentic and ethical," he says, noting that Great Lengths is ethically sourced and B-corp certified.
Once Mena had styled the extensions, the hairstylist used a curling iron to create waves, brushing the curls out for a soft, natural look. Finally, Mena finished her hair off with the Sister Sky Sleek+Shine Styler Oil for ensured shine all night long.
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The final touch? As an homage to Gladstone's indigenous roots, Mena tucked a thin micro-braid into the actor's voluminous hair.
While the on-trend detail is mostly hidden from view, Mena says that it's meant to be a good luck charm of sorts for the actress—though, as a fan and critic favorite, she'll hardly need it.
Shop the products used for Gladstone's meaningful Oscars 2024 beauty look below.
Get Lily Gladstone's Oscars Look
Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.
Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art
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