When you’re the mother of a one-year-old, the juggle between mum life and career is very, very real. Long, leisurely pamper sessions must give way to speedy fix-ups and clever corner-cutting – even if you do happen to be one of the UK’s most loved Strictly Come Dancing alumna. Witness Oti Mabuse, who shared her joy at being transformed from mama to diva in record time with a glamorous bob makeover.
Posting behind-the-scenes content from a shoot, possibly to promote her upcoming Viva Carnival tour, the dancer and TV presenter captioned her speedy glow-up: “From ‘mum mode’ to ‘stage-ready’ in 3…2…1! Who else lives for the glam moment?”
The star of the show has to be Oti’s new hair: a gleaming, bouncy and very fashionable short bob, deep-parted and cut into a jaw-length curve that accentuates her already-enviable cheekbones. The hairdresser behind the look, Dionne Thomas, posted her own photos, calling it ‘That Bob. Classy, sophisticated Chic’.
Oti’s Instagram fans were quick to hold up their 10 paddles, with one speaking for everyone when they commented: ‘Stunning. You look beautiful with shorter hair’. Another wrote: ‘It’s giving Angela Bassett vibes’, which prompted Oti to reply with a simple ‘Yassssss’.
The comment section also seems to have given away the secret behind the aforementioned speed of Oti’s makeover. When one asked Oti, ‘Where’s the wig from?’, she quickly pointed them in direction of Dionne’s own page, which credited Design Essentials UK, which provides both wigs and extension care, so it’s likely that Oti’s new bob can be easily taken on and off. We can’t decide if that’s more useful or tricky when you’ve got a small person with small, grabby hands to deal with!
Dionne also revealed that she uses ghd tools to style Oti’s hair, which – based on Good Housekeeping’s testing – will probably have helped speed up the makeover even further.
Oti’s makeup artist Pauline Briscoe provided further insight on Instagram into the star’s rapid glam-up regime, which includes some very affordable favourites.
Oti’s camera-ready complexion was achieved using L’Oréal Paris’s True Match Liquid Foundation, which is regularly praised by makeup artists for offering an impressively inclusive, non-chalky shade range for just £11.99 a bottle.
Other purse-friendly finds in her kit include L’Oréal’s matching setting spray, Morphe Wakeup Artist Under Eye Complexion Concealer and a blusher by No7 at Boots. However, you’ll need to stump up rather more for her backstage skin treatment, which was delivered by the skin-lifting and tightening Halo Zip device. It will set you back £379.99, but on the plus side, it’s fully GHI-approved and only takes 4 minutes to do. So if time really is money, Oti is quids in.
