BEAUTY EVOLUTION

Rihanna’s Most Daring Hairstyles of All Time, From an Angular Bob to Long Blue Waves


"Okja" Red Carpet Arrivals - The 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival
George Pimentel

Rihanna switches up her hairstyles as often as she does her outfits. Throughout her career, the singer, actress, and fashion designer has tried everything from pixie cuts to luxurious long waves. Not shy to embrace color, the always rebellious Rihanna is always trying out new shades, as well. Most recently, Rihanna debuted her new turquoise blue mermaid beachy waves at the Crop Over Festival in Barbados–proving that there’s no look the singer can’t pull off. Here, a look back at Rihanna’s most famous and daring beauty looks.

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September 2006: Shortly after the pop star first burst onto the scene at 17 years old with her ‘Pon De Replay’ album, her natural brown fringe, lilac eye makeup and glowing fresh face gives her the sweet “girl next door” look.

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November 2006: Rihanna decided to glam up her look at bit while attending the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards with voluminous wavy curls paired with flirty eyelash extensions and a natural nude gloss lip.

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June 2007: The singer ditched her hair extensions for an edgier shorter look. Her razor-sharp bangs and cropped bob hairstyle were attributed not to just her change in fashion sense, but also in musical direction as her hit album “Good Girl Gone Bad” had recently been released.

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October 2007: Rihanna switched up her style again with this jet black side-swept fringe and bob hairstyle. Her bold smoky eye, rosy cheeks and natural lip were the perfect touches to her simple slip dress look while attending the 2007 Cipriani Wall Street Concert Series in New York.

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November 2008: Rocking a curly pompadour, soft brown smoky eye makeup and spiky lashes for definition, Rihanna looked like a glammed-up rocker babe for the 2008 American Music Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

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January 2010: The singer embodied full-on ice princess at the NRJ Music Awards at the Palais des Festivals, wearing a newly-blonde curly pompadour with shaved sides completed with frosty white eye makeup, spiked eyelashes for definition and a pink pouty lip.

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November 2010: Rihanna debuted new cherry-red curly hair at the 2010 American Music Awards. Her natural makeup pared with a rosy cheek put all of the focus on her new bold hairstyle.

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May 2011: Keeping with her scarlet color, Rihanna pulled off this mermaid-esque wavy hairstyle for the ‘Nivea And Rihanna Celebrating 100 Years of Skincare’ event at the Grand Hotel Intercontinental in Paris.

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February 2012: At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, the singer looked stunning with dark roots and blonde beach waves. She had a natural glow as she kept her makeup rather simple with bronze eyelids and a pink matte lip.

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September 2012:__ Rihanna looked cute and sassy with her her new super-short pixie cut, long lashes and bold red lip at the MTV Video Movie Awards.

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March 2013: At her Rihanna for River Island collection launch in London, Rihanna showed off ombre side-swept curls and a shaved undercut. Balancing out her new edgy hairstyle, she went for a natural makeup look by pairing copper eye lids with a moody maroon lip.

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May 2014: 1. Rihanna pushed the envelope yet again by wearing bantu knots (commonly used as an overnight routine to preserve lasting and defined curls) in public, combined with bold eyeliner and a vampy green metallic lip to the 2014 iHeartRadio music awards.

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August 2015: This honey-blonde curly ponytail gave Rihanna a glam yet sweet factor at her RiRi by Rihanna fragrance unveiling at Macy’s in Downtown Brooklyn.

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The gorgeous superstar looked sleek and chic at the 2nd Annual Diamond Ball in December 2015. Her slicked back hairstyle accentuated her enviable bone structure while her orange/gold eye shadow made her green eyes pop.

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Rihanna wore a sleek center-part chin length bob to the 2016 BRIT Awards at the O2 Area in London in February 2016. With lilac eyelids, cat-eye liner and soft pick lips, she looked the fairytale part.

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Rihanna attended Black Girls Rock! 2016 at New Jersey Performing Arts Center on April 1, 2016 in Newark, New Jersey with a bold cat eye and embellished hair accessories.

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Rihanna debuted a short, curly bob and bangs at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Rihanna wore dreadlocks to walk around Soho on October 6, 2016 in New York City.

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Rihanna was positively glowing at the 59th GRAMMY Awards on February 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, with her long hair in red waves.

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Stunning at the 2017 Costume Institute Gala, Rihanna wore her hair in a sleek top knot with bangs and an exaggerated frosted magenta smokey eye.

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Wearing an elegant up do with a twist, Rihanna paired chic white sunglasses with minimalist makeup and slicked back hair at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Sporting her newest do at the Crop Over Festival in Barbados, Rihanna rocked turquoise blue beachy mermaid waves with matching nails.