I Flew to New York for an Appointment With Margot Robbie's Hair Colourist—Here's What Happened

"I think I just want what Margot has—like this," I say into the salon mirror as I hold my phone up behind my head to showcase my blonde-hair inspiration picture. It's an uncharacteristically hot and sunny Friday morning in the midst of New York Fashion Week, and I'm sat in Jenna Perry Hair Studio (New York's coolest, most in-demand salon), showing hair colourist, Jacob Schwartz, a picture of his own celebrity client as a reference point.

In my line of work, as a beauty director, it's considered somewhat of a faux pas to talk to an expert about a celebrity client, let alone ask them to recreate their signature look. But I've spent years trying to achieve Margot Robbie's laid-back, California-cool, lived-in, worn blonde, and this is my one opportunity to have her actual hair colourist do my own colour. So, yeah, I'll suck up my pride for that.

You might be wondering how I ended up in this situation, and trust me, it's something I've asked myself a fair few times, too. But it all started with an email. I was flying out to New York for a tour of the Olaplex labs. (FYI, I was the first journalist to ever set foot in the brand's top-secret labs, but I'll save that story for another day—I'm just bragging now.) And, a few days before I was due to fly, I received an email from the brand. They asked if I fancied a hair appointment while I was out there. I needed a colour refresh, I thought—sure, I'll have a quick hair gloss treatment or something similarly low-key.

And then the confirmation came through that my colour appointment would actually be with Olaplex ambassador, Jacob Schwartz. And if you're not clued up on who exactly Jacob Schwartz is and the sort of work he does, let me enlighten you.

Schwartz is, usually, based in L.A., and he is the man behind pretty much every major celebrity hair colour trend that I have in my Saved folder: Daisy Edgar Jones's rich chocolate hues, Bella Hadid's honeyed blonde transformation, Lily Collins's dark suede bob and, of course, Margot Robbie's cool-girl blonde. And given my track record of trying to mimic Margot's blonde on my own lengths, it's safe to say I was already somewhat of a Schwartz fan.

So, when I learned he would be in New York to hang out with me for dinner and then do my colour the next morning, I left my inhibitions on the tarmac at Heathrow Terminal 5 and boarded a flight to JFK, with my phone storage full of Margot Robbie inspiration pics. Playing it cool was simply not on my agenda.

And so, given that I appreciate just how spoilt I am, I thought I'd share my experience with you all, so that you too know exactly what to ask for at the salon to achieve Margot Robbie's iconic blonde hair. You can thank me later.

How to Achieve Margot Robbie's Blonde

As Schwartz got to work on sectioning out super-fine highlights around my head, I asked him to explain the process. "I start off by highlighting your lengths with really fine highlights, which is what I would do with Margot. Once that's done, I start rinsing it in sections. So, if I've started applying the colour at the back, I'll rinse the back first and then I'll work my way around the head. At the end, I'll do a gloss treatment, which will blend any greys and soften the root while harmonising everything and tying together the whole look," he explains.

He also mentions that he would be leaning on the Olaplex in-salon system for this sort of transformation. The bond-strengthening and restoring technology means that, when mixed into the bleach and colour, the hair bonds aren't broken in the same way they would be otherwise. Otherwise, he adds, an extreme bleach transformation like this simply wouldn't be doable without all kinds of hair breakage. (Long live Olaplex is what I say.)

Besides rinsing out the colour in stages, there are a few other things I notice Schwartz do differently. For starters, he brightens up all of the hair that frames my face, and while other colourists might shy away from doing this because the finer hair is more prone to breakage, he has a very effective technique—immediately after the highlights have been applied, he grabs a wet towel and removes the foils in those more delicate areas. "I wipe off the bleach with a damp, cool towel, so that the rest of the bleach can develop without overprocessing these finer areas," he says.

The other unique step? Once the highlights are rinsed, it's back in the chair for a rough dry. He then brushes everything out and hand paints in some balayage. This, he explains, is because highlights alone won't achieve this sort of look—he needs to see if there are any areas that might need brightening up with wider ribbons of blonde. This, along with the gloss treatment at the final stage, is what really creates that lived-in, natural-looking result.

The Result

The result was, in short, the blonde of my dreams. It's multi-dimensional, bright around the face and the gloss at the end still creates a softness to the root that means regrowth isn't much of an issue at all. In fact, I'm almost certain this blonde is going to grow out in the most low-fuss way possible. I truly couldn't be more thrilled.

Best Products for Blonde Upkeep