Hilary Duff was a vision at the 2025 Academy Museum Gala wearing an electric purple and magenta archival Alberta Ferretti gown, an impossible-to-miss red lip, megawatt smile and diamonds everywhere. The best part? Duff’s iconic blonde hair by go-to stylist Barb Thompson, worn down with loose waves, gently parted and tucked effortlessly behind one ear. Basically, what dreams are made of.
Below, Thompson shares exactly how she created Hilary Duff’s red carpet hairstyle including her favorite styling products and tools. Read on for a detailed breakdown.
Get the Look:
- “We started with Hilary’s hair air dried. She truly has the best texture! I misted her crown with water at the root to revamp some volume and applied Root Lift Spray from Rōz. Sprayed ColorWow Dream Coat Supernatural Spray to help fight off some humidity and applied Milk Hair Serum from Rōz through the ends and blew out the hair.
- Once dry I sprayed OUTER SPACE from R+Co throughout the hair before curling helps with hold and heat protection. I used my ghd 1.25″ iron through the bottom sections and as I got to the top I used my T3 1.5 iron. After curling to build volume I used Verb Dry Volume spray and combed out the waves with a wide tooth comb.
- Final touches I used Evergreen Style Cream from Rōz on the crown to help with any flyaways and help keep that one side back behind her ear. Redefined some waves by misting with Sacha Juan Ocean Mist spray a final spritz of Biolage Complete Control Flexible Hold Hairspray before she walked out the door.”
If you plan to take on Hilary Duff’s red carpet style with these steps from Barb Thompson, whether for your next client or yourself, we want to see it. Be sure to tag @readthetease on Instagram and TikTok.
