Hair

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In Good Hair, Chris Rock’s hilarious documentary for HBO, the comedian and a number of well-known personalities discuss the extremes men and women will go to to straighten African-American hair. One of the major running jokes of the film is that because of the complexity of a “weave,” African-American women do not want their hair touched. But Rock told PEOPLE that when he appeared on Oprah, “I ran my hands through her hair. I thought it was nice,” he said. When asked if he might touch Ashanti’s elaborate coif at the Cinema Society and Target screening of his film in New York — she showed up with one side of her hair woven into corn rows and the other straightened into large curls — Rock answered, “No, you can’t touch that!”, before turning to the singer to tell her that “Your hair’s great.” Ashanti told PEOPLE of her coif that night, “It took maybe 45 minutes,” mentioning that it had been inspired by an asymmetrical coif that Pepa of Salt ‘n Pepa was once forced to wear after being burned by a perm, and losing the hair on one side of her head. “Tonight, we mixed it up,” said Ashani, “I didn’t want to burn it. It’s braids and curls. And, no . . . you can’t touch that.” Pepa, also in the documentary, admitted inventing that particular type of asymmetrical hairdo. “I got a bad perm one time,” she said. “And I burned off half of my hair. I had to shave it off. I was totally crying. I was destroyed. And Salt was trying to pencil it back in.” At the Standard Hotel afterparty, with his galpal Coco on his arm, Ice-T admitted to an even more embarrassing look for such a tough guy, a mug shot with “curlers in my hair” when he was arrested some 20 years back. –Jeffrey Slonim

We were a bit shocked when Pete Wentz posted photos of his freshly shorn head on Twitter yesterday morning declaring it the “death of the Emo swoosh”– and we weren’t the only ones. At Fall Out Boy’s New York City concert on Sunday night, concert-goers watched in shock as Mark Hoppus, bassist for Blink-182, took a pair of shears to Pete Wentz’s famous mane. The cut is a payoff from a promise Wentz made to Hoppus long ago, saying he’d do anything to get on the Blink-182 tour. The Fall Out Boy gamely sat through his band’s set on the Madison Square Garden stage as Hoppus sniped away his hair. Knowing Pete didn’t buzz away his famous bangs on his own accord, we can’t help but wonder if he will grow them back! Tell us: Should Pete grow his hair back or do you like the buzz cut?

Courtesy Pete Wentz

First he ditched the guyliner, and now Pete Wentz is saying good-bye to his famous raven boy bangs! The rocker took to his Twitter to show off a new buzz cut, tweeting “jay-z had the death of autotune. this is the death of the emo swoosh”. Without the signature locks in his eye, we almost didn’t recognize him! What’s next, baggy jeans? Tell us: What do you think of Pete Wentz’s buzz cut? Do you love it or hate it?

RIV/Fame

Don’t tell Jessica Alba that blondes have more fun! Less than three months after swapping her brunette hair for a light honey-blonde color, the actress has hit the salon again — and this time she’s gone auburn. We think that Jessica’s new hue suits her just as well as it does Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, who rocks the same shade. But we want to know what you think. Blonde, brunette or auburn: Which color do you think looks best on Jessica?

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Never one to play it safe, Rihanna hit the streets with a daring new look, and we don’t mean her minidress and laser-cut thigh high boots. Check out all those heavy blonde highlights! It’s almost the flip of Drew Barrymore’s dark tips on her blond bob. We always enjoy seeing what Rihanna is up to next, and we love that she’s lightening up for fall. Tell us: What do you think of Rihanna’s blonde streaks? Do you love them or hate them?

Meet The Famous

After almost a year as a brunette, Ashley Tisdale is back to blonde! Over the weekend, the High School Musical 3 star traded her edgier dark brown hair for a flaxen-haired look, and Tweeted about the experience. “Finishing my hair! Just wait till you see it. Aaahhhh!!!,” she told fans. After revealing the finished look, she explained, “I loved being my natural color but Its for an upcoming project which I’m really excited to share with you soon. I love you all! Xoxo”. Tell us: Are you glad Ashley is blonde again, or did you think she looked better as a brunette?

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As a top hoofer on Dancing With The Stars Karina Smirnoff might have Hollywood’s best products at her disposal, but when it comes to beauty, the dancer revealed to PEOPLE last night, she’d prefers grocery store shelves to department store counters. “I’ve got to be honest,” she confided at the Entertainment Weekly and Women in Film Pre-Emmy Party, “I don’t spend a lot of time or money on buying expensive products, because there are so many natural ways — like you can use olive oil for your skin. You don’t even have to spend hundreds of dollars on an eye cream,” she says frankly. Karina traces her love of kitchen-cupboard beauty to her Greco-Russian upbringing. “Have you seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? How I think they had Windex that cured everything. With my family, Aloe Vera cures everything. If you have a blister: Aloe Vera. If you have a wrinkle: Aloe Vera. So, I think it comes with being half-Greek and half-Russian. We’ve always been into natural.” And she’ll soon be making her family beauty fix-alls accessible to everyone. “I’m actually writing a lifestyle book. Every chapter is going to have like a natural remedy, from taking eye-makeup off with diluted olive oil, to [rubbing] an ice cube frozen with squeeze lime or lemon in it all over your face to get circulation [going] and have your muscles be more toned, to just doing avocado oil hair mask.” Tell us: What at-home beauty remedies never fail you? –Reporting by Jed Dreben