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I saw Olivia Colman\u2019s gray hair while scrolling social media in the middle of my own monthly root touch-up, and all I could think was: \u201cWow\u2026what am I doing?\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s honestly one of the most striking shades I\u2019ve seen on anyone this year\u2014soft, luminous and dimensional. Plus, it catches light the way a great gloss does, all while making a very strong case that silver doesn\u2019t need covering.<\/p>\n Colman debuted the gray at the Wicker<\/em> premiere at the Zurich Film Festival on September 28. She kept wearing it through stops in Los Angeles, New York and London, styled curly, sleek or swept back, with a different stylist in each city putting their own spin on the same silver. In Los Angeles, that was the creative work of celebrity hairstylist Marcus Francis, who was quick to share how the look came together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As he told NewBeauty<\/em>, it wasn\u2019t one look repeated over three days of press but built up over the trip. \u201cWe did curly the first two days, but didn\u2019t photograph it,\u201d he says, adding that, by day three, he was ready for a switch up. \u201cI wanted to build the smoother finish starting in the morning for press, by blowing it out smooth and adding loose waves for movement.\u201d<\/p>\n The products explain why her gray looked shiny and polished instead of dry or chalky, which is what usually happens to silver hair under studio lights. Francis started with a lightweight leave-in cream from LolaVie before the blowout, then went back in with the brand\u2019s oil after curling. \u201cI used their oil after I used the curling iron to loosen up the texture and seal the strands, giving it a shine and separation,\u201d he says, adding that separation is the main detail that matters\u2014distinct, lightly textured pieces of silver reflect light in many directions, so the color looks dimensional instead of flat.<\/p>\n For the LA premiere, Francis went for Old Hollywood soft glam and switched irons around her face. \u201cI used a 3\/4-inch iron around the face and 1-inch for the rest of the head, for a looser curl just at the ends,\u201d he says. The smaller barrel tightens the curl where the camera looks first, and the larger barrel keeps the rest of the hair from looking overdone. He finished with a light pass of R+Co BLEU Featherlight Hairspray ($46), light enough that the curls could still move.<\/p>\n The bottom line: I might not be ready to go completely gray, but when I am, this is my mood board reference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n