The wild beauty mistake Madelyn Cline wants to 'slap herself' for

Outer Banks may be an ensemble show overall, but honestly, Sarah Cameron’s hair is the main character in our book. And sure, there’s a little suspension of disbelief that goes into accepting that she somehow got a head full of covetable highlights whilst on the boat to the Bahamas (or that it somehow air-dries perfectly after every near-death experience she deals with). But hey, that’s part of the show’s charm!

But though Cline’s on-screen counterpart struggles with things like, oh you know, her dad (spoiler alert) murdering her boyfriend’s dad, Cline herself has seen struggles in one of the most danger-fraught departments: the hair colour game.

In fact, the journey through the show’s seasons included a error in beauty judgment she still wishes she could “slap herself” for. And we'll bet a lot of you can relate. Here’s what you need to know…

Sarah Cameron’s hair in Outer Banks

Anyone who’s spied Cline in an episode of Stranger Things (yep!) will know that the actress now known for her golden mane actually used to sport a deep, dark chocolate shade instead. Yep, she’s one of our very favourite blonde to brunette celeb transformations.

But whilst you might think that a pre-filming-a-big-Netflix-show hair colour change would be a glamorous endeavour, Cline’s was far from it. In fact, she decided on a DIY approach. “When I started Outer Banks, I was still a brunette and they weren’t really sure they wanted me to be blonde,” she explained in a chat with Cosmopolitan UK. “I wanted to be blonde because I really wanted to dye my hair. So, I put Sun-In in it—which, of course, makes your hair orange, so the first season of filming, it was like warm-brown, honey shade.” Ummm, did anyone else just get full body chills? We’re as supportive of an at-home dye job as the next person, but bleaching is truly an art, and should probably be left to the professionals. Truly, we don’t know how Sarah Cameron’s colour looked as good as it did!

Things were looking up for Cline’s hair in Outer Banks’ next instalment, though: “[In the] second season, [it] was grown out to only my natural hair colour. I’m so jealous of my season 2 hair because it was so healthy and so long,” she shared.

Madelyn Cline's platinum blonde hair

Unfortunately in Cline's opinion, her hair’s glory days were short-lived; we were super-fans of her bright blonde platinum era, but it’s no secret that a peroxide blonde moment takes its toll, no matter how chic it is while it lasts. “Between the second and third season, I bleached my hair. So my third season hair was tragic. We don’t talk about it," she shared. "When I bleached it, I just killed every strand of hair. I wish I could time-travel and slap myself right out of that chair.”

The positive news? Cline’s hair’s been on the road to recovery for a while now. “Currently, this is what I feel best in,” she said of her current colour (which we’re sure we’ll spy more of when Outer Banks’ upcoming season lands on Netflix). “It’s bronde and grown out with my natural colour at my roots and some honey-blonde highlights. My favourite is beachy, messy hair. I always give my colourist, Matt Rez, pictures on Pinterest of surfer-girl hair that’s piecey and sunkissed. I’ve found that the best way to get that look is to truly live in your hair and let it grow out a bit.”

Stellar advice, even if she had to learn it the hard way.

Hair damage treatments to shop

Dealing with damage like Cline? A reparative serum, mask or treatment is a must in your routine. We recommend the Kérastase Blond Absolu Cicanuit Night Hair Serum ($75 at Adore Beauty), the K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Mask ($99.95 at Adore Beauty), and the Revlon Professional Restart Hydration Moisture Rich Mask ($26.95 at Adore Beauty).

Main image credit: Getty Images

Want more Outer Banks beauty intel? Here's Madison Bailey's full skin care routine...