Charithra Chandran is probably best known for playing Edwina Sharma in Bridgerton's second series. And being a young lady of the ton, we regularly saw her hair fashioned into intricate updos for society balls, or left long and loose when she was alone with her sister.
Outside of the Netflix period drama, though, it seems Charithra's a lot more experimental with her hair. And this week, she swapped our her long dark brown strands and headed in a very different direction, debuting a cropped, choppy, wet-look pixie cut, while attending Veronica Beard's fashion show in London.
The look was created by top celebrity hairstylist and GHD creative artist, Patrick Wilson, who let us in on the thought process behind the look. “With this look we really wanted to do something completely different. We will often talk about the look and send references of ideas we all have in mind,” he told GLAMOUR. “For the crop I drew inspiration from girls like Halle Berry, Alexa Demie and model Grace Elizabeth,” he said.
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Before you grab the scissors, though he recommends considering the overall length and look. “With short hair it’s always about keeping the length versatile, it still needs to look soft and feminine and I think I achieved this with the Chandran chop,” Patrick said. “I often like to cut with a razor to really personalise the haircut and make it feel a bit lived in.”
But it wasn't just the cut that caught our attention, the wet look finish made the chop feel fresh and modern. “For the styling, I wanted it to feel young, cool and sexy. That’s why I went for the wet look,” Patrick explained. “To achieve this texture I started by spraying the hair down with water. Then, combing the hair forwards, I applied Queen For A Day by Bedhead, which help to build the foundation and add hold to the style.”
To create the shiny top coat, he cocktailed two products. “I layered up Kerastase Elixir Ultime L'Original Oil and the Hair By Sam McKnight Happy Endings Nourishing Balm. These two together are a match made in heaven,” Patrick explained. “I sometimes use these on my own hair to air dry as it help to smooth and add definition to curls also.” Finally, to lock everything in place, Patrick applied heat. “I set the look by using my GHD hair dryer on a medium/cool setting with a YS Park diffuser sock to remove excess water from the hair.”
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Love the look but not sure about committing? You could test-run it with a wig (which Patrick revealed is exactly how Charithra is trialling the trend). “I think because on the set of Bridgerton they use a lot of wigs and hair pieces, this has made her feel more confident to change her looks up for red carpets and events,” says Patrick. So, that's one option if you want to see how you'd feel about the ballsy, super short cut before lopping all your length off.
“We have played around with the length before, I’ve styled it super long, I've cut a fringe, we've done a bob, but we've never cut it to a crop,” says Patrick
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“It always starts with the outfit. Once we know the clothing options we can start to talk about glam. It’s always a collaborative process between the hair, make up (created by Kenneth Soh) and styling (created by Holly White),” Patrick revealed.
Personally, we love the look on Charithra Chandran, so let's see if she makes it permanent..
For more from GLAMOUR's Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk
