This was not on my beauty bingo card for today, this week, or this month. Ever. Maya Jama, the Nation's sweetheart, Princess of the Isle of Love all-round good laff (ok I'll stop now, but just so grateful to her that Mom and Dad are back together again and we can all believe in love), just popped up on my Insta feed with short curly red hair.
Yes, short. curly. red. hair. Think Marilyn Monroe's spicy ginger sister, think Jessica Rabbit got her hair cut short, think Susan Sarandon. Lowkey think Tommy's mom in Rugrats. But we mean all of these in the *best* way. The 'do is for her new campaign with Dolce & Gabbana no less – claps all around – and she looks so bloody hot.
Shot by Steven Meisel, Maya is the face of the fashion house's Fall Winter 23/24 collection and boy was that a top-tier decision by them.
And to think we were excited about her blonde highlights this summer. Created by absolute artist Guido Palau, Maya's thick full curls are the richest shade of auburn with enough volume to give you tinnitus. And that curly side fringe is the perfect final touch on the retro glam, larger-than-life style. Meanwhile, the softly smokey XL eye and irresistible wax lips are the work of the one and only Pat McGrath. She never misses.
We have to acknowledge the high likelihood that this is in fact a wig and assume Maya hasn't chopped and dyed her trademark raven hair. But that doesn't mean this isn't still a ruddy delight.
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Elena Chabo is Cosmopolitan UK's former beauty writer, working on everything from buzzy celeb news and trending beauty, to sincere first-person reviews and engaging video content for social media. She also creates meatier features and expert-led how-to guides, for print and online. Her passion for Black beauty, textured hair, and the ways beauty interacts with culture, society, identity and relationships, quickly took over her writing career and led her into beauty journalism. Following an MA in Magazine Journalism in 2017, she cut her teeth across various roles at Stylist Magazine, before taking on a Digital Writer role at Good Housekeeping. It was here that beauty took centre stage and she launched and ran the site's first stand-alone beauty section. Remaining at Hearst, she joined the Cosmo beauty team in 2022. Find her on LinkedIn.
