Eva Longoria, full name Eva Jacqueline Longoria, is an American actress born in 1975 and best known for her role as Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series ‘Desperate Housewives’.

Eva has graced the cover of a number of high-profile magazines including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire and FHM, as well as appearing in advertising campaigns around the world. A fun and feisty actress with her feet firmly on the ground, Eva has won a place in our hearts and her character Gabrielle remains a firm favorite of ours here at HairColorCode.

The Hair Color Ages of Eva

Young and Restless?

To channel early Eva try L’Oreal’s Excell 10 5.5: Chocolate Brown

Honey honey, how you thrill me

Get the look with L’Oreal Excellence Creme 5.3 Golden Brown

Because you’re worth it

Eva uses L’Oreal Recital Preference 5.35 Madras Golden Mahogany Brown

From ugly duckling to desperate housewife

Eva was born in Nueces County, Texas to Tejano parents, Enrique Longoria Jnr. and Ella Eva Mireles, which is where she got her name. She was raised a staunch Roman Catholic and is the youngest of four girls – something that was not all that easy for her growing up. In an interview Eva said, ‘I grew up as the ugly duckling. They used to call me ‘la prieta fea,’ which means ‘the ugly dark one’’.

Eva originally wanted to be a fashion model and submitted photos of herself to modelling agencies. Unfortunately she was deemed her too short to be a model but during her time at Texas A&M University-Kingsville she won the title of Miss Corpus Christi which gave her a huge confidence boost. After college, she entered a talent competition which took her to Los Angeles, California, and soon after that she caught the attention of a theatrical agent and was signed.

Eva’s first television role was in the year 2000, where she guest-starred in ‘Beverly Hills 90210’. Another guest appearance in ‘General Hospital’ in the same year lead to her big break in the soap ‘The Young and The Restless’, where she played a psychotic woman named Isabella Williams from 2001 to 2003. After leaving the soap, Eva was seen in a few unsuccessful television films but her luck changed when she was cast as Gabrielle Solis in ‘Desperate Housewives’ in 2004, a series which soon became a success all over the world.

So that’s the resume out of the way, now let’s get to the hair!

When Eva first arrived on our screens she was sporting her natural hair color, a deep, dark brown, her luscious locks styled long and bouncy with a centre parting. She kept this color for a few years, remaining a raven-haired beauty throughout ‘The Young and The Restless’. In her subsequent television movies, her hair color remained the same but was styled a little differently; in ‘Dragnet’, she sported slicked back locks and a similar look in ‘The Dead Will Tell’.

The first series of ‘Desperate Housewives’ saw Eva rocking a different style, her hair parted to the side, long bangs and a bouncy ‘do, but with the same dark brown hair color. In the second series, Eva went for a slightly different hue and opted for dark brown hair with mahogany undertones, keeping the style classic and long. Season 4 saw another new look for Eva and this was when we first started to see her blonde and honey highlights. Again, the styling was kept classy and voluminous, and in 2006, was altered slightly to give Eva a Hollywood movie-star feel, centre-parted with large loose waves. Eva had more honey and blonde tones put through her hair and began to really carve out a distinctive look for herself.

In 2009, Eva was signed by L’Oreal Paris as a hair model, showcasing her new ‘signature’ hair color which was a dark brown with reddish undertones. That color deepened into a more pronounced red in 2010 during filming for her new film ‘Without Men’. Now, in 2011, Eva has settled into a deep red hue, occasionally going back to her original brunette looks – although we don’t need to tell you, she looks fabulous whatever her hair color! With the eighth and last season of ‘Desperate Housewives’ set to premiere later this month, we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled here at Hair Color Code to see which luscious shade she’ll be rocking.

Burn baby burn – Meet our top 5 ‘spitfires’. These celebrity flamed haired beauties are sassy, smart and unafraid of the limelight.

Christina Hendricks

It’s hard to believe that Christina, also known as Joan Holloway from the series Mad Men, is a natural blonde – this voluptuous star was born to be a red head! In fact she dyed her hair at a very young age because she was obsessed with Anne of Green Gables, not the most glamorous of idols perhaps but Christina has gone on to take Hollywood by storm.

With her vibrant locks and to-die-for curves, Christina is always the centre of attention when she walks the red carpet.

Nicole Kidman

Born in Hawaii to Australian parents, this natural red head gained world wide recognition for her roles in Batman Forever, Far and Away and Days of Thunder as well as her high profile marriage to actor Tom Cruise.

Nicole is one of the few celebrities willing to show a few gray hairs on the red carpet, her distinctive strawberry locks streaked with silver at a recent premiere, but with her statuesque figure and porcelain skin she can afford to grow old gracefully, secure in her position as one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Rihanna

Our list of ultimate red heads wouldn’t be complete without the Caribbean Queen herself, Rihanna. In the word of the R&B artist: “With my hair I was ready for something new, something loud, something expressive and something fun. I’d had blonde hair and it was so boring for me. Black is still my favorite color, but this time I wanted something edgier because I don’t like the edgy clothes anymore. I guess I had to take the edge to somewhere else – my hair!”

When Rihanna dyed her hair a shade last seen on a fire truck it set the red carpet ablaze. Since then she has toned it down, going for more of a red-wine color, but if we know Rihanna it won’t be long before she is back with a new outrageous ‘do.

Julianne Moore

Growing up Julianne was nicknamed “Freckle face strawberry” and hated her hair and pale skin – who could have known that she would grow up to be one of Hollywood’s hottest actresses and a role model to red heads everywhere!

Julianne has experimented with different looks, including dying her hair blonde for the movie ‘Blindness’, but she is best known for her gorgeous red tones and she never strays too far from her signature color.

Amy Adams

Amy first came to our attention in the Disney movie Enchanted, receiving a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role of Princess Giselle.

Amy is another former blonde, saying “when I dyed my hair true red for the first time, I felt as if it was what nature intended. I have been accused of being a bit of a spitfire, so in that way I absolutely live up to the stereotype. The red hair suited my personality. I was a terrible blonde… when you’re blonde, people associate it with being flirty. With red hair, suddenly you’re quirky.”

Remember, if you decide to follow these beauties and join the fiery reds, make sure you read our guide to red hair dye.

It seems like the 21st century has developed a new breed of diva to take the world by storm; bold, confident, fun and sexy young women who know what they want and don’t let anybody get in their way.

With this new breed comes new attitude, and more importantly new style, and who else symbolizes this flock of starlets better than Katy Perry.

Katy Perry, real name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, is an American singer-songwriter who was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1984 and raised by Christian pastor parents. She’s pursued a career in music since a very young age and has now released two studio albums with a huge number of record sales. Perry has a huge personality and a fantastic sense of style to match, with a real distinctive look.

From gospel singer to international star

Katy’s first album was a self-titled gospel album in 2001 under her birth name, Katy Hudson which without mincing my words, failed. She then spent some time recording tracks for her mainstream debut album, ‘One of the Boys’ under her new stage name, Katy Perry. She released a digital EP entitled ‘Ur So Gay’ in 2007, which didn’t really attract much attention.

Her debut mainstream single ‘I Kissed A Girl’ was released in 2008 amid much controversy from gay and lesbian equal rights groups, but she then went onto to go platinum with her debut album, ‘One of the Boys’, whilst ‘I Kissed A Girl’ and her subsequent single ‘Hot N Cold’ went multi-platinum.

Her second studio album, Teenage Dream, produced five Hot 100 number ones, making it only the second album in history to do so after Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’. Her single ‘E.T’ also broke the world record for being the first single in history to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard charts.

There’s no doubt about it – this record-breaking singer is one of our favorite pop-stars here at Hair Color Code, both for her rockin’ sense of style and her catchy tunes. Let’s take a look back at Perry’s hair color history.

Katy Perry’s Hair Color History

When she first came onto our radar back in 2008 with her raunchy debut single, she had shoulder length dark brown hair – although we’ve reason to believe she’s a natural red-head. Husband Russell Brand sent a rather naughty tweet about his wife, saying ‘You’re a hacker, a bad wife, and your natural hair color is ginger. There’s not enough dye in the world to rinse away the lie’.

As she began to release more singles, a firm sense of style was established – fun, playful, 50’s style pin-up girl. To match that sense of style, she dyed her hair jet black and kept it that way for a good few years, changing up the style occasionally from long, tumbling movie-star waves to a shorter, Marilyn Monroe-style do. She’s also sported a chin-length bob with a full fringe as well as a long, wavy style with a short Cleopatra-style fringe.

Katy Perry isn’t one to shy away from color however – for her videos and various music award appearances Katy has literally sported hair that is every color of the rainbow. With the help of a few wigs, we’ve seen Katy with green hair, indigo hair, violet hair, red hair, orange hair, blue hair – all in flouncy, bouncy styles.

More recently, Perry moved away from her usual signature black hair style and we spotted her promoting her fragrance Purr in Toronto with a surprisingly pretty red-haired style. It seems Perry was in a transition from black to blonde and had to stay red for a few weeks before she bleached her hair entirely, tweeting to her fans, ‘I’ll get to my secret color(s) soon! #patience’.

She then finished the bleaching process and went to what we can assume is close to her natural hair color, a strawberry blonde shade. But she didn’t keep that for long and now she’s rocking a cherry-pink hue that was perfect for summer.

We all know and love Katy Perry for being unafraid to take risks with her style and hair color, so keep your eyes peeled to see which shade she rocks next!

When it comes to hair color divas who now how to push the boundaries without ever loosing their cool, look no further than global superstar Rihanna

Rihanna, full name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, moved to the United States at the age of 16 from her home in Barbados to pursue a career in music – and what a career she has! With over 20 million album sales and 60 million single sales under her belt, there’s no doubt that Rihanna has won a place in the public’s heart for both her music and her fabulous sense of style.

From beach babe to global icon

Rihanna’s first single was ‘Pon de Replay’, released in 2005 from her debut album ‘Music of the Sun’. Since then, her music style as well as her personal sense of style has developed along with four more chart-topping albums. She’s received a number of musical awards and accolades, including four Grammy awards and eighteen billboard music awards, as well as a Brit award for Best International Female Solo Artist in 2011.

Music producer Evan Rogers, who was on holiday in Barbados, met Rihanna in December 2003 through a family friend. Rihanna auditioned for Rogers singing the Destiny’s Child song ‘Emotion’ and impressed him to the extent that he worked with her over the next year to record a four song demo album. In 2005, she was signed by Def Jam and relocated from Barbados to the United States.

Rihanna’s hair color history

Ten years ago, long blonde hair was the norm for most female pop stars, but one look at Rihanna and you know that she’s bucked that trend entirely. At the moment, she’s rocking a more natural hair style than we’re used to seeing on her; dark brown waves. As ever, she looks fabulous, but what other hair colors has Rihanna worn in the past?

When she first burst onto the music scene six years ago, Rihanna had luscious, chestnut brown, long wavy locks, matched by a preppy teen sense of style. Her hair style stayed much the same until she released her second album, ‘A Girl Like Me’, which boasted a much more urban sound than her first album.

To match her new sound, Rihanna opted for a dark red-brown hair color with a thick, heavy fringe – but Rihanna being Rihanna, didn’t keep that for long.

In the video for the opening single of her third album, ‘Umbrella’, she showed off a new and much edgier hair color and style – a short, asymmetric, dark brown bob with a long side fringe and a much more pronounced sense of personal style. Preppy clothes were out and sexy, edgy clothes were firmly in.

Fast forward a few months and Rihanna’s hair got even shorter – the bob was gone and a short, Halle Berry-esque style was in to match the rocky sound of her new single, ‘Disturbia’.

In 2009, she released a new album with a new sound and a variety of new hair colors and styles to boot, including dark hair, short at the back with a long fringe with platinum blonde highlights, blonde hair with a long fringe, shaved short at the back and a blonde perm.

Her personal sense of style got even edgier and she was regularly seen rocking clothes with shoulder pads, unusual zips and buckles and enormously high heels.

Over the last year, Rihanna has had more hair colors than you can count, but for a large portion of the year she was rocking a bright red hair color in a variety of styles, including a perm, straight and sleek and shoulder length and bouncy.

More recently, it seems like Rihanna wants to give her hair a bit of a rest and so has reverted to what we can only assume to be her natural hair color, a stunning chocolate brown. Worry not though hair color fans, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before this master of reinvention will surprise us with her next hair color choice – and that’s one of the many reasons we love her!

We have all heard the jokes about blondes being dumb, so I thought I would round up 5 of Hollywood’s most successful bombshells. Let’s take a look at the top five blonde celebrities who are fun, sophisticated and most importantly; smart!

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is the perfect example of a blonde celebrity who’s brains match their beauty. Swift has sold over 3 million copies of her latest album, and blew many away when it was revealed that she personally wrote all of the songs on her Platinum-selling debut. Swift’s music is loved by many, including younger girls who look up to her as a beautiful, respectful and hard-working role model. Her girl next door look is typified by her natural flaxen hair, worn effortlessly in curls or waves. This girl isn’t afraid to experiment though, we’ve seen her rock the red carpet with straightened hair, and recently she’s been adding lighter blonde shades which have given her a more mature look.

Gwyneth Paltrow

If we are talking about hard-working celebrities, there aren’t many that can outdo Gwyneth Paltrow. Who else can list their full-time job as Mom, Lifestyle Guru, Actress, Distributor of GOOP and Author! Paltrow is known for her pale blonde hair, however she often layers three shades to give herself a stronger and more distinctive look. Her Colorist isn’t afraid to spill the beans on achieving this amazing effect, commenting that she adds honey and lemon tone highlights to Gwyneth’s hair to create the multi-tonal look. Paltrow is another star who is unafraid of change, and over the years she has gone from long to short, and blonde to brunette. However despite all these great looks, she’ll always be known for her trademark shoulder-length light-blonde locks.

Reese Witherspoon

So, one star who might be able to give Gwyneth a run for her money is Reese Witherspoon. This confident, intelligent and strong-willed blonde is an Avon global ambassador, she fights for the rights of women, she heads a business empire and still finds time to be a mother of two! Oh, did I mention that she can act too? Her natural talents have seen Reese win the Best Actress Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe. It’s no wonder that one of her most popular movies is ‘Legally Blonde’, the story of a young blonde sorority sister who flies in the face of the stereotypes to take Washington by storm. Witherspoon is know for her natural beauty and flowing medium-tone blonde hair, over the years worn long, short, wavy and straight.

Gwen Stefani

If you like your blondes with a bit more bite, then look no further than Gwen Stefani. This platinum champion of power burst onto the scene in the 90’s as the front-woman of rock band No Doubt, and has since gone on to sell millions of records world-wide as a solo artist. Like all the blondes on our list, Gwen likes to branch out and has increased her fame and fortune with her L.A.M.B fashion line and Harajuku Lovers perfume range. Stefani is known for her fun and quirky style, her Japanese-inspired fashion sense and her distinctive white-blonde hair, so it might be a shock for some to hear that she is a natural brunette! Fans of her striking blonde image shouldn’t worry though, she isn’t planning on changing her trademark look any time soon. Gwen has stated that she hasn’t worn her natural color since 9th grade and has no intention of going back, earning herself the title of honorary blonde!

Blake Lively

Blake Lively might be better known as as Serena Van Der Woodsen from the teen drama series Gossip Girl, or some might simply know her as the girl who bagged herself Leonardo DiCaprio. With her sweet personality and fresh style, Blake is the new girl on the block who is already standing out as a blonde icon in the making. Over the last few years Lively’s hair has become the big new trend (sorry Jennifer, but the ‘Rachel’ has been ruffled!). Her long flowing locks create a distinctive yet natural look which stands out against the sharp short styles that have been dominating the young celebrity A list. Blake’s look is without doubt a classic in the making, and she is proof that the era of the iconic blonde stars is set to continue.

So there you go, five celebrity blondes that prove the stereotypes couldn’t be any further from the truth. Is there anyone who you think should have made the list? Drop me a comment and let me know.