Mary J. Blige’s Hair at the Met Gala 2017

Mary J. Blige got inspired to do more than simply dress up for Monday night’s Met Ball. She underwent a hair transformation specifically for the big night out. Her hairstylist Kim Kimble reveals that she pulled reference photos and planned things out with Blige weeks beforehand, calling the cut and color “very artistic.”

The singer’s “dramatically different” ‘do is a departure from her typically longer locks, which were previously in more of a one-length bowl cut and darker. Now, says Kimble, “it’s not too avant-garde, but it’s a little swept back and has texture. It’s very high-lift gold and blonde, tapered on the sides and longer on the top, so it’s disconnected.”

Blige paired her new look with a sexy, form-fitting La Perla Haute Couture gown, which Kimble says goes perfectly with the hairstyle. After making the chop and lifting her color, the hairstylist used dry shampoo to texturize — a sample of a new formula she’s created and is adding soon to Kim Kimble products on HSN — and K2 hairspray to ensure the singer’s hair would “stay up there and not fall.”

And while this voluminous look is not necessarily the way Kimble expects Blige to wear her hair every day hereafter, she does admit “she may do it again.” Typically, however, “She’s usually very conservative and very simple with her hairstyling, so for tonight it’s not over the top, but for her it’s very edgy. That’s why I love to work for the Met Ball — I love being artistic.”