5 Sydney Sweeney Hair Looks for Your Mood Board

Sydney Sweeney is best known for blonde, but her hair has moved a long way from it: red for a film role, a curly brunette mullet for another, and most recently a pale bob. Most of her red carpet hair is done by stylist Glen “Coco” Oropeza. These five looks are all documented, and each one translates into something you can realistically ask for in a salon.

1. The retro bun with curtain bangs

At a Miu Miu party during the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, Oropeza gave Sweeney a high bun with deliberately tousled, teased curls falling loose to meet her long curtain bangs. With pale blue eyeshadow by makeup artist Melissa Hernandez, the result had a distinctly 1960s, coquettish feel.

To recreate it: tease the crown for height before gathering hair into a loose high bun, then pull out a few curled pieces rather than smoothing everything back. The look depends on long, face-framing bangs; clip-in bangs are a low-commitment way to test the shape first.

2. Red for a role

In March 2022 Sweeney dyed her hair red for the film National Anthem. It did not last long: by March 23 she was back to blonde at Teen Vogue’s New Hollywood event, worn with a deep side part and flipped ends. She has spoken to Bustle about how much work it has taken to keep her hair healthy through the changes.

To recreate it: copper and red tones fade faster than most shades, so budget for gloss appointments and use a color-safe shampoo in cool water. Moving from bleached blonde to red and back again in weeks is hard on hair, which is one reason to take it slowly if you are not doing it for a film.

3. The glossy, bouncy blowout

At the Vanity Fair Oscar party in 2025, worn with a pink Miu Miu dress, Sweeney had a big, glossy blowout. Oropeza built it with a shine treatment and a blow-dry lotion, then dried the hair over a round brush for volume and finished with hairspray.

To recreate it: dry in sections with a large round brush, directing the airflow down the hair shaft to keep the cuticle flat and shiny. Let each section cool around the brush before releasing it; this is what gives the lengths their soft, bent shape instead of a tight curl.

4. The brunette mullet for Christy

In October 2024, photos from the North Carolina set of the Christy Martin biopic showed Sweeney with a curly, 1990s-style brunette mullet, a complete departure from her usual look. Sweeney is naturally brunette, so the color was in a sense a return to her roots, though the cut was all character.

To recreate it: few people want the full mullet, but the takeaway is warmth. A brown shade with some depth suits many skin tones better than very pale blonde, and it needs far less maintenance.

5. The bleached bob

For the AFI Fest screening of Christy in October 2025, Sweeney debuted her biggest change yet: a bob cut by Oropeza and lightened by colorist Jacob Schwartz, who described the shade as “bleached suede blonde”, slightly paler than her previous bronde. It was worn with a middle part and soft waves.

To recreate it: ask for a blunt bob that sits around the jaw to collarbone, and for color that is lifted and then glossed rather than stripped to platinum; the gloss is what keeps pale blonde from looking brassy or dry.

What ties them together

Sweeney’s looks rarely rely on sleek, flat hair. Volume at the crown, soft bends rather than tight curls, and a willingness to change color for work are the constants. For a mood board, that is the useful part: pick the shape first, then decide whether the color change is worth the upkeep.