E! Online has a new interview with Gwen Stefani’s longterm hairstylist, and it goes a long way toward explaining how she maintains her hair and, by extension, her very carefully constructed “look.” Gwen has had her hair dyed every 7-8 days – for the last twenty years. She has a hair guy named Danilo who has worked with her since the 90s and who styles her hair almost daily. Also, do you know how her hair always looks sort of shellacked? Well that isn’t achieved through typical styling products, it’s all layers of conditioner. Danilo deep conditions Gwen’s hair frequently and he’ll tell you about it. He also no longer bleaches her hair. For the past few years he’s been using a formula that lifts the hair instead of damaging it as much as bleach.

“I am very devoted and I have a wonderful collaborator,” Danilo, Pantene’s celebrity hairstylist, shared exclusively with E! News, not at all downplaying the amount of work and skill it takes. “I have a theory and Gwen has a desire. We’re really proud of that and we take it very seriously. The truth is Gwen’s hair has a career too. It has to entertain, it has to perform.”

Indeed, a concept that another iconic blond understood as well. “When I was coming up, I remember I was told that Marilyn would have her hairstylist come touch up her roots every ten days…with a Q-tip. And I remember thinking, ‘Wow that’s a lot!'” Danilo laughs.

And while he doesn’t use cotton swabs, Danilo does stick to an even more stringent touchup schedule, every seven to eight days. Because as he explains: “I know roots are in right now… but I don’t like them on her. I want her to look seamless.”

“We haven’t used bleach since 2004,”Danilo shared. “I developed a high-lift formula that achieves the same effect but saves the quality of her hair. I did a lot of research and really looked at places of origins for blond hair color like Germany and Scandinavia. I’ve spent years finding and testing new lines and technology.”

“Every Monday in the trailer when she’s doing The Voice, I color, wash and treat her hair,” he says, going on to explain that while the color is working on her roots, he coats the rest of her hair with a pack of deep conditioner and leaves it on for around 45 minutes.

But that’s just the first layer of the conditioning. You see, his big secret, the reason he’s been able to keep her healthily platinum-blond for all these years is…

Danilo styles with conditioner.

Yes, you read that right. Every day, every style he creates—from bombshell waves to a retro updo—is created with layers of conditioner.

“She gets multiple types of deep conditioning every day,” he reveals.

That’s your answer: Danilo’s system of basically deep conditioning her hair all day, every day cancels out the damage caused from coloring.

[From E! Online]

E! also has a list of all the products Danilo uses, which are from Pantene because that’s the brand he represents. I definitely agree with him about roots, and I hate that trend of showing roots. (See: Madonna.) I went blonde a few years back but I did it because my roots are gray and the red-blonde color I used to have showed my roots too much. I can only afford to go to the colorist once a month though. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a hairstylist who dyes your hair once a week so you always look polished? That said, Gwen’s hair is so overdone that it looks like doll’s hair, but that seems to be how she likes it and it goes with her painted on makeup. (Although she’s been trying to tone it down lately.) This got me thinking, what does her makeup artist say about her? I found this Instagram rant Gwen’s makeup artist made following her poorly-reviewed Billboard Music Awards look. He defended himself and called her “the ultimate Barbie head- we love experimenting and trying new things; sometimes subtle… and sometimes dramatic.” (I swear I wrote the line about her having doll’s hair before I read that.) Barbie’s hair and makeup are always perfect. This makes so much sense.

photos credit: WENN and PRPhotos