How much does it cost to look like a supermodel? Perhaps not as much as you might think. Cindy Crawford has just had an incredibly expensive-looking hair colour makeover, using nothing more costly than a high street box dye.
Celebrity hairdresser Dimitris Giannetos shared Cindy’s gorgeous new shade on his Instagram, with close-up snaps of her glossy, luxe-looking hair. The model leans back to catch her hair in the light, showing the warm, multi-dimensional undertones of her brunette base.
‘Fresh “UPPER EAST BRUNETTE” for iconic @cindycrawford!’ he captions his post. ‘Aka Expensive brunette.’
Cindy’s hair looks a million dollars but Dimitris reveals it’s actually courtesy of L’Oreal Paris Excellence Creme, a GHI-approved box dye that will set you back a reasonable £12.99 at Superdrug or Boots. Better still, you can currently snap up two boxes for £14.50, making it a very cost of living-friendly £7.25 per colouring session.
L’Oreal Paris Excellence Crème 5.3 
Interestingly, Dimitris reveals he’s not employed the usual colourist trickery of highlights or balayage to create Cindy’s shimmer, instead relying on good old-fashioned sunshine.
‘It’s bold, it’s dimensional it’s pure coco-color without highlights, only caramel hues from east coast sun!’ he shares.
For Cindy, he’s opted for shade 5G Excellence, which means it’s the rich depth of a shade 5 (think a classic Davina McCall brunette), but with extra golden pigments. In the UK it’s packaged slightly differently, as 5.3 Golden Brown, in case you’re wondering where it is on the shelves.
Instagram/@dimitrishair
The full shimmering effect on Cindy, shared on her hairdresser’s Instagram
One snap on the carousel shows the pack, while another snap shows Cindy getting her hair finished by Dimitris, using another L’Oreal Paris bargain – the iconic Elnett hairspray.
Instagram/@dimitrishair
Cindy getting her ’Upper East side brunette’ makeover
The post isn’t labelled as an ad, and Cindy isn’t, as far as we’re aware, currently one of the L’Oreal ‘worth it’ girls, although she has been in the past – see this rather excellent classic 90s ad for a reminder! Gillian Anderson is currently the celebrity face and hair of Excellence, although if L’Oreal did want a brunette partner for her, they couldn’t do better than Cindy C.
Instagram seems inclined to agree, judging by the slew of fire emojis and adulation. ‘Wow, this woman will always be beautiful 😻😻😻’ comments celebrity photographer Liza Meier, while the makeup artist behind the look, the legendary Pati Dubroff, simply writes ‘EVERYTHING’.
Who would argue with that verdict?
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