Perhaps the best thing to come out of 2024 so far is the Girls Aloud reunion. Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts have reunited for a nostalgia-packed UK and Ireland tour, which sees them treat 30 different locations to some of their greatest hits.
We've seen clips of the shows and it's got as much glitter and glamour as you'd expect from the iconic girl band, but what we didn't expect to see were the beauty transformations – particularly Cheryl's. The former X-Factor judge has kept a relatively low profile in recent years, but she's proving on this tour that she's still got her style credentials.
The former L'Oréal Paris spokeswoman, 40, took to the first live show in Dublin with a very different look to usual, complete with extra long hair extensions. If we were to hazard a guess, we'd say the hair is around 28 inches in length with the ends reaching down past her waist. It's a big change from Cheryl's usual below-the-shoulders cut and curtain fringe.
It's also quite the change from the hairstyle she wore to a London Fashion Week party in January when the group made their debut together as a foursome after announcing news of the tour. For that event, Cheryl opted for a thick fringe paired with a sleek updo. It also now appears she's had her hair coloured a slightly more beachy bronde for the tour, considering her hair for the photocall appeared a richer brownie shade, but she could be using the temporary hair extensions to cheat a balayage.
Since Cheryl previously collaborated with hair extensions brand Easilocks, we wonder if this is her choice of clip-in or tape. A quick scan of the Girls Aloud tour hairstylist Lisa Laudat's Instagram page doesn't show much in the way of faux hair, but we can see the hair electrical brand being used backstage: Shark Beauty.
The brand, known for being stocked in the Love Island villa, has been announced as the official sponsor of The Girls Aloud Show 2024 Tour, with Lisa exclusively using styling tools such as the Shark SmoothStyle, SpeedStyle and FlexStyle on the girls before they step out on stage.
Whatever Cheryl is doing, we love it. The singer looks incredibly youthful, proving that extra long hair isn't just for someone in their twenties.
Get Cheryl's look at home
Beauty Works 26" Double Hair Clip in Extensions in 26 inches, from £326.99 here in many light and dark shades
You get 290g of clip-in hair extensions in this pack – perfect for extra length and thickness like Cheryl's. The hair is also made from 100% Remy human hair.
Shark FlexStyle, £299.99 here
An innovative 5-in-1 tool that dries that hair and also comes with five different styling attachments (not unlike the Dyson Airwrap). "For an extra tight and long-lasting curl using the FlexStyle, once you’ve curled a section of hair using the auto-wrap curlers attachment, spray hair with strong holding spray," Lisa advises. "Then roll each curl up and pin into place to cool down while you style the rest of your head.
L’Oréal Paris Magic Retouch Brown Root Touch Up, £9.99 here
We spied a bottle of this on Lisa's hair station backstage, leading us to believe it's being used on the girls as a quick fix root cover-up method. We wonder if Cheryl has been using this since her L'Oreal days! Either way, we can't see a root in sight, so it's doing its job.
