Amber Heard’s Hair: Her Most Memorable Styles Over the Years

Amber Heard has moved between blonde, brunette and red over two decades in the public eye, and her red carpet hair has ranged from pageant-style curls to sleek updos. She has been candid that she relies on professionals for it: “I can’t really do my hair,” she told Coveteur in 2018, adding, “If I could get pageant hair every day, I would.” These are the looks that stand out.

Early years: blonde curls and a first brunette turn

At the Los Angeles premiere of North Country in 2005, Heard wore long blonde hair in tight curls with a cat-eye liner, a polished, done look that fits her own description of loving “pageant hair.” Two years later, at a CW party, she had switched to looser natural waves.

Her first notable brunette moment came in 2008, at the opening of Dolce & Gabbana’s flagship boutique, where she wore swept-back, tousled curls with a taupe smoky eye. A year after that, at the New York premiere of The Stepfather in 2009, she went the other way entirely, to platinum.

The updo years

Many of Heard’s strongest red carpet looks have been updos rather than loose hair. At the LACMA Art + Film Gala in 2012 she wore a brunette tousled updo with a red lip; at the 2014 Golden Globes, a light-brown tousled updo with a nude lip; and at the 2014 Met Gala, themed around the couturier Charles James, a braided updo paired with a deep coral-red lip.

The pattern is consistent: the hair is gathered up but never pulled tight. Soft pieces are left loose around the face, which keeps a formal style from looking severe. She returned to it at the 2016 Golden Globes with a tousled updo and burgundy lip, and at Glamour’s Women of the Year event that year in a sleeker version with a red lip.

Ombré, beach waves and side parts

Between the formal looks, Heard wore plenty of loose hair. For the New York premiere of The Rum Diary in 2011 she chose a side-parted, swept-back style. At the 2013 Met Gala she wore ombré lengths in soft, polished curls, and at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 she wore relaxed beach waves.

The 2016 chop

In November 2016 Heard cut roughly six inches off, moving to a layered, shoulder-length cut with shorter, angled pieces at the front. It was one of her more noticeable changes in length, and a practical, wearable shape: face-framing layers add movement to straighter hair and grow out gradually.

Cannes and L’Oréal

Heard became a global spokesperson for L’Oréal Paris, and by Cannes 2018 she had filmed a hair commercial for the brand’s Elvive Color Vive line. On the Cannes carpet that year she wore a floral Valentino couture gown. Speaking to WWD, she summed up her approach to red carpet dressing: “I’ve never been known for being safe.”

Red for Mera

Her most dramatic color change was for the screen rather than the red carpet. As Mera in Aquaman (2018), Heard wore a vivid red, true to the character’s comic-book look. It remains the shade most closely associated with her among film audiences.

What to take from her hair

Heard’s most successful looks share a few principles that work for anyone with medium to long hair:

• Loose updos over tight ones: leave a few face-framing pieces out so the style reads as soft rather than severe.
• Balance the face: when the hair is up and polished, a strong lip (red, coral or burgundy) carries the look.
• Change color in steps: moving between blonde and brunette is easier on hair with ombré or gradual shifts than with a single dramatic jump.