How To Recreate Megan Rapinoe’s World Cup Power Pink

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup was one for the books—the U.S. team won their fourth title and sparked a national debate on equal pay after realizing they're paid only a quarter of the men's winning salary. At the helm of this movement is co-captain Megan Rapinoe with her powerful, head-turning pink hair.

According to colorist Richard Drews, Rapinoe knew she wanted to do something different for the competition. Before coming to her appointment with Drews at White Lodge Studios in Seattle, she told him she wanted an edgier punk look. He researched different shades and she picked the iconic pink.  

“I think it worked best with her skin tone and eye color, and she felt like it would make an impact,” he says. “She has an incredible sense of style and knows exactly what she likes and what she's doing, which is exciting for me as a colorist.” 

Drews shared his formulas with American Salon along with steps to create the look: 

1) First step is to bleach. Drews is a big fan of Framesi Decolor B Cream Bleach that he uses at a lower volume, 20 vol in Rapinoe’s case, to keep the hair healthier. It takes about an hour with the bleach applied for Megan’s hair to lighten from her natural level 6 hair.  

2) About 30 minutes in, Drews goes through with 30 vol to touch up the stubborn parts that won’t lighten.  

3) After bleaching, Drews applies an Olaplex 3 mask to even out the porosity of the hair before toning and coloring.  

4) Next is toning. Drews tones Rapinoe’s freshly bleached locks with Framesi 2001 11A and a little 9p with 20 vol at the bowl.  

5) Rapinoe’s hair is washed with Oribe Beautiful Color Shampoo and Conditioner, which Drews loves for its nourishing benefits and its ability to create “lots of slip” in the hair.  

6) Drews blowdried her hair and applied the Pravana Chromasilk Vivids Pink to the dry hair and let it process for 20 minutes.  

But Drews explains that this initial pink isn’t exactly the color we saw on the field these past few weeks; in fact, Rapinoe was partly responsible for the color we saw. Knowing she’d be traveling for a while, he adopted unusual methods in order to maintain her hair. He gave her the Pravana to bring on the road, instructing her to add some in her conditioner and let it sit for 5 minutes. He also gave her the Kérastase Ultra Violet Masque to strengthen her hair and provide a strong color deposit to really prevent fading. These two at-home color treatments changed her color over the course of the tournament, from pink to magenta and finally a more lilac hue for the championship. 

“She was having fun playing with her own hair, and I actually love that her color intensified as the games came to an end. It was like watching the progression happen with the hair as well as the matches,” Drews says.