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Mena Suvari - Hairstyles Evolution
Rhode Island-born Mena Suvari (b. 02/13/79) has been noted for her beauty and has been working
since she was 12 (as a model). Her career options expanded to include acting roles in TV series such as “Boy Meets World”, “ER” and
“Chicago Hope” and in 1997 she started getting film roles, starting with “Kiss the Girls”.
However, the startlingly beautiful young actress seemed to light a fire under her career when she
took a role in the teen sex-quest flick “American Pie” and followed it up as the cheerleader who fuels Kevin Spacey’s mid-life crises
fantasies in “American Beauty” (both in 1999). After this, it seems that she is destined to be “America’s Beauty” for at least the
foreseeable future. (She was on the Maxim “Hot 100” list for both 2005 and 2007.)
Suvari has a beautiful mane of naturally blonde hair, the look of which has made her a most
recognizable face among young Hollywood celebs. While Mena has beautiful hair, she doesn’t always make the best choices, so let’s
have a look at some of her hairstyles and how they have turned out.
November 19, 2002
We start in 2002, a few years after her explosion into media attention with her performance in
American Beauty. Her hairstyle here is simple: A long, straight razor-cut style with a side parting. The forward locks of hair on the
parted side are tucked behind the ear to open up her face, and her hair is the classic golden blonde for which most of us know her
best.
While there isn’t anything glaringly ‘wrong’ about the haircut and style, it does very little to
address Mena’s primary physical “flaw”: a high, prominent forehead.
March 17, 2003
Here, four months later, we see Mena’s silky locks styled into a wavy, up-style that appears
wildly disheveled. She still has the golden blonde locks that she has become so famous for and the style helps to counter the
prominence of her forehead.
However, as a style I must admit that I find this to be not a very attractive look. It looks as
though it was performed by “a best friend who has just started cosmetology school”. The concept is good, but the execution looks
rather haphazard. I would much prefer to see her in a hair style that looks actually groomed.
October 23, 2004
Fast-forward a year and a half and we see a Mena Suvari with medium brown hair, instead of her
signature blonde look. The effect is significant and changes her appearance almost completely. The hair color is appropriate to her skin
tone and sticks with the golden base tone in her natural pigments.
It is also notable that she has now for the last two years kept basically the same length of
hair. It is a few inches longer than in November of 2002, but not significantly so. The hairstyle is also similar, in spite of the
difference between the sleek and straight and now wavy locks. The hair is side-parted and the bangs are swept to cover half of the
forehead area.
This style is better than some, but still doesn’t fully compensate for the prominence of the
forehead. All in all, it’s a nice look, even if it’s not exactly what I would call glamorous. In fact, my only real complaint in
Mena’s choice of hairstyles overall is that even when she is attending very high-profile functions, she never seems to look as
though much effort has been placed on styling her hair. There are of course, exceptions, but from the photos we see here, they
are few and far between.
February 5, 2005
Another four months have passed and we see the trend toward darker hair has continued. This
dark chocolate shade is also suitable for Mena Suvari’s skin tone, and I actually think it flatters her more than the previous stage of
mousy brown.
The styling includes a straightening of the waves and the addition of more layers into the
style. I also suspect that there have been some extensions added to increase the length, and add some more fullness to the hair.
March 24, 2005
It’s six weeks later and Mena’s hair is another step darker. This time, however, it was a step
too far. Not only is the color too dark for Mena’s skin tone, but the base color of the hair is wrong for her as well. Furthermore,
while Mena’s forehead means that she should wear a style that includes bangs, the bangs in this hairstyle are much too severe with a
curving line that is far too closely lining the eyes.
Furthermore, the combination of the darker color and straight, severe styling combine to make
her appear older than her 26 years (at this point). While not a horrible mistake, this is certainly not the most flattering look
she could have chosen.
April 10, 2006
We now see Mena a year later and she’s back to her more natural-looking blonde. It’s interesting
to note the difference between the looks given that the cut and styling is only slightly changed from the previous photo.
The fringe is cut a little shorter with a shallower curve which has the benefit of opening up
the look of the eyes. The lighter haircolor also serves to soften the appearance of the lines in the face. I truly like this look
for Mena, specifically in the multi-dimensional color of the hair.
October 10, 2006
We now are back to a darker hair color, but at least it is in a shade that doesn’t conflict with
her skin tone and is not so dark as to come across as too severe. The haircut is still pretty much consistent with what she has been
wearing with a wide fringe with a gentle curved line, although the bangs are longer here than in the previous photo.
The styling is also subtly different, and allows for a looser look to the straight hair styling,
which has some wave in the hair, if not much.
September 28, 2007
Nearly a year later, Mena has shocked the world when she suddenly turned up with a shaved head.
Internet gossip sites and news groups were falling all over themselves with speculation about the cause for the drastic
transformation, with assumptions from all camps hinting at emotional distress similar to that which caused Brittney Spears to
shave her head.
However, Mena Suvari’s reasons for losing her tresses are more pragmatic than dramatic. She simply
shaved her head for a role in a film she was shooting in Spain (a screen adaptation of Ernest Hemmingway’s Garden of Eden). This
places her firmly in the ranks of Hollywood actresses who have sacrificed their hair for their careers: Sigourney Weaver (in Alien 3),
Helen Slater (in her breakout role as the title character in The Legend of Billie Jean), and Natalie Portman (in V for Vendetta) as
well as others.
Of course, this is certainly not the most flattering view of Mena to be seen. Such super-short
hair is not flattering to her at all. It makes her features far too sharp, and does nothing to offer balance for her prominent
forehead. Mena apparently was excited about the process, however, as she has been quoted as saying, “I was really excited to get
to shave my head - it’s something I’d wanted to do for a while and now I had a good excuse. It was nice to shed that level of vanity
for a girl.”
Try Mena Suvari's hairstyles and the hairstyles of many other celebrities on a picture of yourself
with hairstyles simulation software!
Photographs: PR Photos
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