Get the Look: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Hair Secrets
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Hair Secrets: How the Look Is Actually Made
The signature DCC look — that voluminous, camera-ready hair that holds up through an entire game under stadium lights — doesn't come from a drugstore routine. It comes from a professional color system, a dedicated styling team, and the right products applied at the right time. As the Official Salon of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Tangerine Salon is the team behind that look. Here's an inside look at exactly how it's done.
DCC Rookie Makeover Day 2025 — Tangerine Salon at work on the world's most recognized dance team.
The Foundation: Healthy Hair Before Anything Else
The most important DCC hair secret isn't a styling technique — it's that the hair underneath all those voluminous curls and glossy waves is genuinely healthy. You can't fake that on camera, and you can't hold a style all game if your hair is damaged, porous, or over-processed. Before a single curling iron touches a DCC cheerleader's hair, the foundation has already been built through consistent professional care.
At Tangerine, that means Aveda Lifestyle Salon-level maintenance: color applied with Aveda Botanical Repair integrated directly into the formula to protect integrity during the process, regular Aveda gloss treatments to keep color vibrant and the hair cuticle sealed, and professional hair color maintenance routines that don't let the hair degrade between appointments. Healthy hair holds style longer, accepts color better, and photographs the way the DCC look demands. It's also why DCC cheerleaders can withstand a full performance season — with weekly appearances, frequent heat styling, and constant physical demands — without their hair visibly suffering for it. That's the real starting point, and everything else is built on top of it.
7 DCC Hair Secrets — Explained by the Salon That Creates the Look
Custom Aveda Color — Nothing Off the Shelf
Every DCC cheerleader's color at Tangerine is a custom formula built specifically for her skin tone, natural base, and the warmth or dimension her look requires. There is no standard DCC shade — there's a standard DCC quality, which means dimensional, multi-tonal color that reads as natural under any light. Tangerine's colorists use Aveda's full professional color system and mix custom formulas the same way a painter mixes a palette. The result is color that looks intentional, not processed. For a deeper look at this technique, the Kylie Dickson strawberry blonde post breaks down the exact process behind one DCC member's signature color.
Aveda Botanical Repair Built Into the Color Process
One of the most important techniques Tangerine's colorists use for DCC clients: Aveda Botanical Repair is integrated directly into the color formula before it's applied — not added as an afterthought, but as a proactive structural protection layer. For cheerleaders who are coloring regularly and performing under intense physical conditions, this means the hair finishes every appointment stronger than it started. It's the kind of technical detail that separates a skilled colorist from a great one, and it's exactly why the Aveda Lifestyle Salon designation matters. Not every salon has access to this level of the Aveda professional system.
Bellami Professional Extensions for Volume and Length
The signature DCC volume isn't always natural. Most DCC members use Bellami Professional extensions to achieve the length and fullness that defines the look — and the key is in the color matching. Extensions only work when they're seamlessly blended with the underlying highlights and lowlights. That's why the custom color formula comes first: the colorist builds the base specifically so the extensions can disappear into it. When the color is right, the extensions are undetectable. When it's not, the blend falls apart visually under stadium lighting and HD cameras — neither of which the DCC can afford. Tangerine's extension specialists work alongside the colorists to ensure the two services are always designed together, not independently.
The Aveda Gloss Treatment — Color Between Appointments
A weekly game-day schedule means DCC hair gets exposed to a lot: sweat, humidity, repeated heat styling, and the general wear of a demanding performance season. The Aveda gloss treatment is what keeps color looking fresh between full appointments. It seals the cuticle, enhances shine, neutralizes any brassiness or fading, and deposits a subtle tonal refresh that extends the life of the color by weeks. It's one of the most underutilized services in professional hair care — and one that Tangerine's DCC clients rely on consistently.
Highlights and Lowlights — Dimension Is Non-Negotiable
Flat, single-tone color doesn't work for the DCC look. The hair needs to move visually — to catch light differently from different angles, to look three-dimensional on camera, and to complement the warm tones of each individual's complexion. Tangerine's colorists use precisely placed highlights and lowlights to build that multi-tonal dimension. The technique mirrors the approach used in advanced balayage work — it's about reading the hair and placing color in a way that looks like it belongs there, not like it was applied in sections. For the DCC, that level of craftsmanship is standard.
Aveda Styling Products for Hold That Doesn't Compromise Hair Health
Holding curls through a full NFL game requires serious product. But the wrong hold products leave hair stiff, dull, or damaged over time — none of which works for cheerleaders who need to look polished week after week all season. Tangerine's team uses Aveda's professional styling system: Aveda styling foams and volumizing products that provide the structure and hold the DCC look requires, while using plant-based formulas that protect rather than compromise the hair underneath. The hold is real. The damage isn't. And for guests looking to replicate the DCC volume at home, these are the same products available through Tangerine's Aveda retail — the exact tools the pros use, accessible to anyone who books a visit.
The Rookie Makeover — Where the Look Is Born
For new DCC members, the look begins at the DCC Rookie Makeover Day at Tangerine Salon — one of the most intensive single-day hair events in the DFW calendar. Tangerine's full team descends on the salon to give each incoming cheerleader her signature color, cut, and extensions. The process is meticulous: colorists review each rookie's existing hair, develop a custom formula, and build the entire look from scratch. It's the day the DCC hair standard is set for the season — and it's where you can see the Tangerine team's full capabilities on display. As seen on Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
The DCC look isn't achieved despite the demands of a full performance season — it's engineered to hold up through every single one. That's the difference between good hair and professional hair.
Tangerine Salon — Official Salon of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
The Tangerine team at DCC Rookie Makeover Day 2025 — building the look from the ground up.
The Aveda Products Behind the DCC Look
The DCC Standard Is Available at Every Tangerine Location
Every technique, every product, and every level of precision that Tangerine applies to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is available to every guest who walks through the doors at any of Tangerine's five DFW locations. The partnership with the DCC isn't a marketing distinction — it's a quality benchmark. It means Tangerine's stylists are held to a standard that most salons never encounter, and that standard carries over into every single appointment.
Whether you're booking a balayage in Dallas, a color appointment in Frisco, or highlights in Coppell, the Aveda color system, the Botanical Repair technique, and the dimensional color approach are the same. Browse the Tangerine transformations gallery to see the range of results across real guests, or explore the full color services guide to understand which services align with your hair goals. The Tangerine team is ready when you are.
Dallas, TX Old Town · Coppell Main Street Coppell 723 West Main Street
Coppell, TX The Star · Frisco The Star in Frisco 6959 Dallas Pkwy
Frisco, TX Watters Creek · Allen Watters Creek Village 951 Garden Park Dr
Allen, TX The Shops · Highland Village The Shops at Highland Village 4151 Village Walk
Highland Village, TX
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Book your color appointment at any of Tangerine's five Dallas–Fort Worth locations and experience the Aveda expertise that keeps the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders camera-ready all season long.