Sometimes, the most unexpected things can completely change the trajectory of your life. When actor Lily Collins and I hop on the phone to chat, we’re here to discuss a few of those things: Having a baby, a really good haircut, and a fantastic friend. “I identify so much with hair as a gateway into a new person, and a character, or even a new phase of life,” she says. When we talk, it’s less than 48 hours since it was announced that Collins will play Audrey Hepburn in a film about the making of the pop culture-shifting Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Today, she’s starring in a campaign with longtime beauty collaborator Mara Rozsak and her clean haircare line, Rōz. “Mara doesn’t just style hair, she really listens to what you're feeling and wanting from a style or a cut, but also, woman to woman, she’s just there to be a sounding board,” says Collins. The two have been working together for almost 15 years.
The Decision to Cut: From Emotion to Aesthetics
“Mara cut my hair into my pixie haircut when I was 25. I had been dreaming about it and decided I needed to make the change,” she shares. “I wanted to cut off all this emotional baggage at the same time. And I think, with a lot of women, we love to change our hair when we feel something different. That cut took me into a totally [different] place.”
For Lily Collins, in her current phase of life-a new mother to baby girl Tove, the star of Netflix sensation Emily in Paris, and much more-she’s going for ease with an edge: “My short hair best represents who I am right now. It’s a haircut that looks really awesome but also feels curated.” Photo: Getty Images
Today, Rozsak and Collins (who was an early investor in Rōz) are speaking to women in each and every phase of life with the brand’s first ever campaign, starring real women. “Our hair journey is something that unites women,” Rozsak says, adding that whether it’s a bleach cut, hair loss, or a postpartum change, it’s something she sees every day in her salon. “Hair stylists really hold all of these stories and the emotion of our clients and their hair. By telling these stories, we’re reminding you that you aren’t alone.”
It’s the two’s bond-Collins describes them as “sisters,” while Rozsak says the actor is “one of the most thoughtful and intentional people I know”-that creates a safe space for this entire conversation to flow, from a campaign to a dialogue between a hairstylist and client. They hope it’s something other women can feel empowered to do, too. “It’s an emotional process to change your hair,” Collins reflects. “But supporting yourself by feeling all the feelings, and taking care of the hair with the right products, is what makes it great.”
From Bangs to Pixie: Symbolic Changes and Personal Truths
Have a beauty or wellness trend you're curious about? We want to know! The last time Lily Collins made a drastic change to her hair (who could forget the fabulous pixie cut that the actor debuted at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscars Party) wasn’t because of a life-altering event or a new role she was bound to play. The haircut was something she solely did for herself. “I needed to feel different,” Collins tells me on set for her new campaign shoot for hair care brand Living Proof. “I was in a new phase in my life and I feel like when I'm in a different place, I like to switch it up a little bit.”
Some may assume that a radical hair change means something bad or upsetting has happened. Take Collins’s character Emily Cooper from Netflix’s Emily in Paris, for instance. When Cooper was at a crossroads in her professional and romantic life, she did a very rash thing: she got bangs. Coined “trauma bangs” by Cooper’s best friend Mindy Chang, the moment has many talking about how stress, heartbreak, and fear can be related to something as innocuous as bangs. To Collins, a change in hairstyle could simply signify a rebirth - without anything negative attached. “It’s like, ‘This is fully representative of who I am now and I did this choice for me,’” she says. “Everyone asked, ‘Oh what role are you doing?’ I’m like, ‘No, this is for me.’”
Regardless of the meaning one attaches to a fresh hairstyle, there’s no denying that bangs come with a few new lessons. Below, Collins talks hair tips, the color she hopes to try next, and Emily in Paris.
Practical Beauty and the Bangs Life
How has your beauty routine changed since getting bangs? I have to think twice before I put a face mask on; if you put a sheet mask on, it gets your bangs gloopy, so you have to pin them. If you have an eye patch on to sleep, it can crush them. I just let them air dry and then shake them out. I [also] carry a little brush with me everywhere I go now. When we were in Paris, we'd scooter everywhere and the wind-blow effect on your bangs is wild. I’d literally disappear into the bathroom, quickly fluff them, and then come back and they'd look styled. They take a little bit of maintenance, but I can't spend forever in front of the mirror styling them.
Did you start doing that on your own or is it a tip picked up from a hairstylist? I learned that lesson on my own. I literally Googled “smallest brushes” so that it would be so tiny and fit in my tiniest purse. It’s the tiniest thing ever.
Everyone said, “Bangs are going to require a lot of styling and product and this and that.” I didn’t want to get them if it's going to require that. I'm such an easy person when it comes to makeup and hair by myself, so I just found ways to make [bangs] work for me, that didn't take up a lot of time and still had the same effect.
Emily in Paris: Beauty Transformation and Style Evolution
Three seasons in, how would you describe Emily’s beauty transformation? She's definitely acquiring more of that “je ne sais quoi” feeling, but at first I didn't really know what that meant. But it's this ease and this quiet confidence I find to French beauty that is so alluring and so refreshing at the same time - like fresh skin and a red lip. It's minimal yet does so much; it packs a punch with little effort in a sense. Emily is now inspired by the people she works with, her friends, and all of the people she's surrounded by in the streets. She’s starting to be more inspired by French cinema, as opposed to the shows and the movies that she watched growing up in America. There’s just this real embracing of the French culture in all ways this season, more so than the previous two. Specifically with beauty, she’s leaning more into the ’60s and ’70s French new wave cinema.
Since Emily went through her own radical hair transformation, has it got you thinking about what haircut or color you personally want to try next? Gosh, I'd love to be blonde at some point. Whether it’s a wig or a dye job. I don't want to completely ruin my hair, but I would love to try that in my personal life. Could you picture Emily going blonde as well? I don't know. She did the bangs and maybe they become curtain bangs later on. I think maybe we could see an even shorter chop, like an Amélie-like hairstyle. The next hair transformation would have to make sense. There has to be a transition or another life shift where she’d switch it up again.
Pixie, Bixie, and Modern Short Hair: The Evolution Continues
For Emily, we have to think of hairstyles that work on camera just as well as they do off. Having a shadow on my face when I'm filming isn't good, so the bangs have to also be strategically fluffed in order to not leave a shadow on my face. Is it just us or has Lily Collins' newly-debuted pixie cut been a long time coming? Like many stars, Collins has spent the past year flirting with different iterations of the on-trend cropped 'do and now she's finally gone for the zenith of chops: the pixie cut. Considering short haircuts are all the rage and we're always contemplating going shorter ourselves, we think Collins has done an exemplary job of taking a gradual, not-so-daunting approach to the daring look. Step 1) Lob it up. Step 2) Get a Bob. Step 3) Go for the chop. If you need a little push, just look what a pixie crop did for Scarlett Johansson! Style your newly-chopped coif in a side part to give it some cool-girl edge.
On Dec. 15, Collins appeared alongside her co-stars at the Paris premiere of Netflix's Emily in Paris, and of course, her Parisian glam was more on point than it's ever been. For the event, Collins wore a black, crystal-embellished Armani Privé gown with a plunging neckline and a flared, bubble attachment at the waist. As for makeup, she wore black mascara and a berry lipstick, but it was her hair that really pulled the look together and added a bit of edge. She styled her dark hair-which she recently cut even shorter into a bixie haircut after wearing a chin-length bob for months-in a sleek, almost wet look that was combed back. Hair professionals are predicting that the hydro bob will be a major trend in 2026, and Collins’ look is a ahead-of-the-curve signal of that direction.
She’s continued to push the boundaries of short hair with a platinum-blond pixie cut on the cover of ELLE UK, demonstrating a fearless versatility from icy blonde to chocolate brunette. The ice queen aesthetic, whether a wig or a dye job, showcases Collins’ talent for morphing her image while preserving distinctive features like her bold eyebrows. This chameleon-like quality continues to inspire fans to experiment with their own lengths and colors, guided by Collins’ public journeys through pixie, bixie, and avant-garde color experiments.
Images of a Short-Hair Era: Style, Confidence, and Narrative Power
From the runway to the red carpet, Lily Collins demonstrates that a pixie cut can carry both edge and elegance. Her evolving look, including the bixie and the platinum pixie, is not merely about fashion-it’s a narrative of personal transformation, motherhood, and professional reinvention. The haircut becomes a visual shorthand for new chapters, signaling ease with an edge and a sense of curated intentionality in a life that’s busy, public, and deeply personal.
- Pixie cut as the ultimate symbol of reinvention: cutting away emotional baggage and embracing a new phase.
- Transition through lob, bob, bixie: a gradual approach to short hair that minimizes risk while maximizing impact.
- Impact on professional imagery: how a haircut aligns with roles, campaigns, and brand partnerships.
The campaign with Mara Rozsak for Rōz highlights how haircare intersects with life moments, turning styling into a collaborative, supportive practice for women in every phase.