Drew Barrymore and Audrina Patridge both showed off unfortunate dye jobs this week:

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Ombré, ombré, ombré! This hair-colour technique is slowly moving away from being just a fad and becoming a long-haul trend. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that all hair stylists have mastered how to properly do an ombré dye job. Case(s) in point:Drew Barrymore and Audrina Patridge. Both were snapped this week with dark-to-light tresses, and we can’t say we approve of either.Patridge, at the Immortals 3D premiere in Los Angeles, doesn’t even seem to have hit the dye bottle—it looks like the former Hills star simply swapped her brown extensions for blonde. Let’s all cross our fingers and hope that this quickie approach to ombré doesn’t catch on.Then there’s Barrymore, who is usually so good at switching hair colours. So we’re going to assume the brassy ombré style she debuted at the LACMA Art + Film Gala is actually still in transition—because there is no excuse for bleaching the bottom half of jet-black hair and not toning it to a proper shade.

Afternoon beauty fix / The perfect primer for grease-prone hair:

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Nutrient-rich oils and sticky pomades can stand in the way of an every-other-day shampooing schedule but there are two ways around this problem: first, embrace the “grease” and work with it because slick, super-tight ponytails are sexy—models wear them all the time. Secondly, you can manage the amount of residual product left in your hair by prepping with a primer, much like you do before applying foundation on your face. Joico‘s Structure Foundation Hair Prep + Primer ($20, joico.com) will control frizz on its own, or act as a barrier between your hair and heavier products so you can brush it out and procrastinate shampooing for another day.

Daily steal / Lipgloss:

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Nothing livens up a winter-parched pout quite like a swipe of saturated colour⎯one for each day of the week! ($8 each, joe.ca)

Afternoon beauty fix / Combat out-of-the-box hair colour damage:

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Box dyes come with super-conditioning treatments but they’re usually gonzo after only a shower or two. Continue returning the vitamins and proteins you withdrew for at least a few weeks—we would suggest enlisting a blend of reparative oils to do it. Oil permeates sapped strands with ease, and we like Sally Hershberger‘s Hyper Hydration Super Argan Serum ($16 at Shoppers Drug Mart) the best. Its trifecta of oils (Argan, Bran, and Amala) is jacked with antioxidants and proteins to drench parched pores and smooth split ends fast.

Afternoon beauty fix / How to repair over / dyed, over-straightened hair

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What you need is to be pumping moisture and nutrients back into you hair’s dehydrated pores, and cease use of flat irons and harsh chemicals. If your hair is naturally frizzy, or if you simply insist on wearing it straight, I would suggest tryingJoico Smooth Cure Leave-in Rescue Treatment ($20, joico.com). It’s a safer-option hair-straightening system for daily use and has loads of omega fatty acids, oils, and Keratin to strengthen and repair you hair, Brazilian-style, without the stigma.

Afternoon beauty fix / How to create the perfect fishtail braid

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We love that the trendy fishtail is slightly more simple than its traditional three-tier counterpart. Instead of separating your hair into triplets, divide it into two and keep ‘messy’ on your mind—the fishtail is meant to be slightly disheveled and imperfect. Before you start, prep with a loose styling spray like Garnier Fructis Crystal Resist Finishing Spray ($6, at drug stores and mass retailers). Its super light formula will give you control without sticky-ness. Use your right hand to grab the rear piece of hair from left and wrap it around the right, then switch and do the same from the left. Repeat until you’ve reached the ends and are left with a somewhat spiky, scale-free tail.

Afternoon beauty fix/ How to make in between hair look good while you’re growing it out

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When your hair is too short to conceal in a ponytail, and when shaping with scissors will only further deter your longer-length goal, your best bet is to be patient and work with what you’ve got. Use grown-out layers to your advantage with a product that adds volume at the roots and texture to the length, to turn your hair into what’s called a “neo-shag” (think Sienna Miller circa Factory Girl). Marc Anthony’s Instantly Thick Hair Thickening Cream ($10, at Shoppers Drug Mart and PharmaPrix) will amplify volume at your roots, and Phytokeratin proteins and Vitamin E will help keep your hair strong and shiny so it grows out healthily and, hopefully, quickly.

Afternoon beauty fix / Get Taylor Swift-worthy flatiron curls

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Your success rate relies heavily on the heat of your iron and how quickly you can flick your wrist. Flatirons can take a while to heat up and, if they’re not hot enough, you end up holding hair inside the iron for longer, which is what causes the kink. You may have better luck using a clamp-free styling wand instead—nothing holds your hair in place except your hand, and high-quality ones, like the T3 SinglePass Whirl ($150, at Murale), heat up quickly and stay that way for even, kink-free curls.

Afternoon beauty fix Dye your hair Rihanna red without suffering the chemical consequences

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Both at-home and salon-grade dyes that colour your hair “permanently” contain ammonia and other chemicals that change the pH balance in your hair, resulting in a damaging loss of moisture. We’d rather you err on the side of caution and use a non–chemical based dye instead. It’s better for your hair and for you, in general, and allows for more flexibility in impromptu colour creativity. We like Tints of Nature ($24, at Loblaws) because it’s ammonia-free colour comes in 24 not-boring shades, like Medium Bright Copper and Light Henna Red, made with certified organic ingredients

Afternoon beauty fix/ How to deal with a full head of fine hair

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You have the ideal head of hair because fine hair is easier to manage, but thick hair is generally more flattering. We understand your difficulty—products made to control thick hair can weigh down fine hair, and products for thin hair pump up the volume, which you don’t necessarily need. We think the new spray version of Kevin Murphy’s ANTI.GRAVITY.SPRAY ($25, kevinmurphy.com.au) is the perfect solution to your problem—it’s a non-aerosol spray adaptation of his creamy cult-favourite by the same name and gives life to limp tresses but keeps overall amplification under control.

FERGIE Different HAIRSTYLES

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FERGIE