The hairstyles of Shannyn Sossamon are a big part of her sultry sex appeal and girl next door, tomboy charm. She's a mix of edgy and feminine, and her hair tends to wrap the two concepts together nicely while keeping her look effortless. Want to look like you roll out of bed beautiful, too? Take notes from Shannyn.
The Hairstyles of Shannyn Sossamon
Endlessly hip, the hairstyles of Shannyn Sossamon usually include short cuts. The color usually involves multi-dimensional brown, based around chocolate as the main shade. It complements her medium skin tone and dark eyes flawlessly. In her earlier roles, she was frequently seen sporting her short styles in lighter shades of brown. Later roles featured longer, darker strands.
Her look is usually casual and trendy. Her face shape is somewhere between square and oval, so if your face shape is similar, odds are in your favor that the cut you like on her will look great on you.
The Long History of Short Cuts
She's had pixie cuts, bobs of various lengths, shags, and baby bangs.
- Pixie cuts: These are best on girls with fine features and ears they don't mind showing off. Multi-tonal color or one color look great with pixie cuts. In The Rules of Attraction (2002), she had a medium brown, longish pixie cut.
- Bobs: These seem to be almost a Shannyn trademark, though the length varies from year to year, movie to movie. There was the dark brown, disheveled chin-length bob of 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002); the even darker, sleeker bob of The Double (2004); the even shorter, but still dark and sleek, bob of I Hate You (2005); and the medium-dark, longer, shaggier bob with full bangs from The Holiday (2006).
- Shags: Shannyn rocked these in the growing-out phase between pixies and bobs.
- Baby Bangs: Not many people can pull these off, but Shannyn has done it effortlessly. You can see them paired with a short bob in Wristcutters: A Love Story (2007). Her forehead is not terribly high, so baby bangs don't give her the look of an "uh-oh" cut despite the choppiness, but she does have enough space on her forehead for her bangs to lie down flat even when cut so short. Very high foreheads should probably skip this look and opt for the longer bangs that sweep over to the side or flirt with the lashes.
Brief Stint of Long Locks
Shannyn Sossamon's hair is long and dark in her films from 2008 like Life Is Hot in Cracktown, The Heavy, and One Missed Call. She's had shoulder-length styles and a bit longer. The ends were layered in most cases, and she had bangs, though in some cases, they were nearly non-existent, side swept bangs. While her hair was long, Shannyn usually kept it a deeper shade of brown, though it did have an auburn tint in Devour (2006).
Where You May Have Seen Her
You may not have seen her performing in a band, War Paint, with her sister and two friends, but chances are, you may have seen her pretty face (and hair!) in one of the following movies:
- 40 Days and 40 Nights as Erica Sutton
- A Knight's Tale as Lady Jocelyn
- The Holiday as Maggie
- Chasing Ghosts as Taylor Spencer
She's also made a few appearances in Dirt and Law & Order.
If you still can't decide where you've seen her before, be sure to check out IMDB for a complete listing of her appearances, both as an actress and as herself.
Pictures to Save and Take to the Salon
Since Shannyn likes to change her look, it's hard to tell a stylist, "I want my hair like Shannyn Sossamon wears hers." Besides, it's always best to show your hairstylist exactly what you want to avoid confusion and a haircut you never set out to get! Here are a few spots to look for Shannyn Sossamon cuts:
If you have a certain shade of brown you'd like to try, Shannyn Sossamon's a good celebrity to look to. She's had quite a few shades within the brunette range.
