In four years his company WhatWigs has not only created wigs and hairpieces for the likes of Ariana Granda, Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry, but turned over seven figures in sales with a lean, mean team of one.
We mean, the singer is pretty much always rocking the look — and we love it! But it turns out, that's not what the “God Is A Woman” songstress' real hair looks like at all. Ariana has admitted numerous times over the years that most of her long, straight hair is actually extensions!
2012. When Grande's hair became too damaged from dying it red, she dyed it back to brown and began wearing a red wig to film her Nickelodeon shows.
Ariana Grande's known for her sky-high ponytail hairstyle, but her natural hair is actually curly and she rarely shows it off – so here's what the 'Sweetener' star's real hair looks like.
Grande blames her hair breakage on over-bleaching then repeatedly dyeing her hair for TV roles - a similar situation to that experienced by Lady Gaga who described the damage done to her hair by too much bleach as getting a 'chemical haircut'.
According to the star, the now-iconic ponytail started as a comfortable style she could wear with her bleach-damaged hair. From 2010 to 2013, Grande played Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon's series "Victorious." The character had red hair, which meant Grande was dyeing her hair frequently.
Sure, a high ponytail is, in theory, a cute, fun, and effective way of keeping your hair out of your face, but it can also be intensely painful. One of the most famous high-ponytail-wearers of our time is pop superstar Ariana Grande, but the singer has just admitted her trademark hairdo leaves her in "constant pain."
On Her Hair And Beauty. H.E.R. rocking her own natural hair is quite the deal since fans often see her rocking natural hair-inspired extensions or braids.
Ariana Grande
Today, she wears it straight, in a medium shade of brown, but her natural color is actually this deep, nearly black dark brown, with curls for days.
While the pop star, 26, has become known for her sky-high, pin-straight ponytails, her true texture is actually much curlier and thicker than her everyday looks.
The wearing of wigs dates from the earliest recorded times; it is known, for example, that the ancient Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs to protect themselves from the sun and that the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans also used artificial hairpieces at times.
2010 - 2013. While playing Cat Valentine on the show Victorious and later Sam & Cat, Grande had to dye her hair a bright red color approximately every week. This damaged it severely and destroyed her natural curly hair texture. Ariana only recovered her healthy, natural hair texture in 2020.
Grande has a long list of finger and hand tattoos. On her right hand, she has more than 10 designs. In honor of her The Honeymoon Tour for her first album, Grande got the word "Honeymoon" inked on the side of her middle finger.
Eilish upgraded to a professionally made wig for the Grammys in March, which did not go unnoticed by eagle-eyed fans who thought something was different. As for the Amazon wig she wore on The Late Show, she admits it wasn't everything she wanted. “It was awful, it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen,” Eilish said.
"I started wigs, and now everyone is wearing wigs. Kim [Kardashian] just used my wig guy last night... I just do whatever I want to do, and people will follow," she told Marie Claire in 2016. Back in 2020, we got a glimpse of Kylie's naturally short hair without extensions on her Instagram stories during a treatment.
While Jenner typically wears extensions and wigs, she gave fans a peek at her bouncy, glossy hair in the video, shaking her head and fluffing her just-below-the-shoulder-length strands as she pouts at the camera.
In fact, her natural hair is short and curly. Grande shared a photo of herself at five years old with shoulder-length hair in ringlets and curly bangs. "This is still exactly what I look like without lashes and my pony," she wrote.
The 32 inch extensions are the ones that will give you the luxurious, long, flowy ponytail that Ariana (and you) wears so well. This length will ensure your pony can sit high on your scalp and effortlessly flow down your back. This length will also allow you to get that perfect “hair flip” photo for Instagram.
Remember it's normal to feel nervous
You may worry that people will notice you are wearing a wig or that your hair looks fake. That is normal. Try to remember that most people are so consumed with their own lives that they probably won't notice changes in your appearance like you think they do.
While synthetic wigs are more affordable and require less maintenance, they can look less natural due to their shiny, plastic-like appearance. Human hair wigs, on the other hand, can provide a more realistic look and feel, but they come at a higher cost and require more upkeep.
It is a common misconception that synthetic hair does not look real. In reality, high quality synthetic wigs are almost indistinguishable from real human hair wigs.
As Grande explained in this long, very 2014 Facebook (she's a Twitter and Instagram girl now) post, the Nickelodeon years took their toll. The ponytail, it turns out, was actually a last resort — her hair was so damaged that sweeping it up and out of view was the only solution.
You probably know Ariana Grande for her legendary slicked-back ponytail – which as much as we try to copy, always results in an epic fail. We love Ari for everything that she is. Cute, pretty and talented. If there's one thing we're getting bored of though, it's her hairstyle.