Miley Cyrus’ Two-Tone Hair Will Make You So Nostalgic For The Early 2010s

If there were ever a patron saint of the 2010s, it’s Miley Cyrus. Think about it — her fun-filled aesthetic and wild antics helped define the era, and she managed to wade into just about every of-the-moment beauty trend back in the day, too. If you’re feeling nostalgia for the early 2010s (mind-bending to realize it was a full decade ago), you’re not alone. Cyrus herself seems to still be fond of the period’s hair, makeup, and fashion hallmarks in particular and was just photographed sporting one of the biggest 2010s trends of all. Miley Cyrus’s two-tone hair features a short, platinum blowout on top (very 2020s) with the underside dyed an inky jet black (very 2010s). Paired with her sleek, lace-trimmed babydoll slip dress (very 1996!), Cyrus is working a hybrid style that’s totally unique and absolutely glam.

Notably, the black-blonde two-tone underside (also known as underlights) isn’t the only throwback element of Cyrus’s ultra-cool hairstyle. Her voluminous, fluffy side bangs — another classic staple of the early and mid-aughts — fall coquettishly over one eye for a sultry effect perfect for her evening in New York. In the city for NBC upfronts, Cyrus has been serving up screenshot-worthy looks all week long.

Cyrus first introduced the underside color sometime around the first of the year — but back then, she was working a rocker-chic shaggy mullet, complete with tousled, straight-across bottleneck bangs. While the look was still an undeniably cool one, it was firmly in the rock-n-roll realm. Through spring, Cyrus has been growing the choppy layers (bangs included) out into the shoulder-skimming, piece-y lob she’s got going today.

The wildly cool two-tone look was created by Cyrus’s longtime colorist, Aleksey Bishop of Nine Zero One Salon in Beverly Hills. While his secret color recipe is still (understandably) under wraps, he frequently treats fans to behind-the-scenes glimpses into his artistic process. As for Cyrus herself, she’s always been a whiz at seamlessly marrying aesthetics from assorted eras and distilling them through her singular Miley-ness for a finished look all her own — it’s a major reason why she’s considered a beauty and fashion icon in her own right.

If Cyrus can single-handedly bring back underlights hair color and side bangs, there’s no limit to the trend she can revive — gaucho pants, mascara-less eyeliner, and Silly Bandz could be just around the corner.