The Real Reason Sarah Hyland Is Embracing Her Natural Curls

Ten years ago, Sarah Hyland landed the role that would make her career: Haley Dunphy, the sometimes ditzy but always lovable big sister on Modern Family.

For the character, Hyland's deep-brown hair has been styled pin-straight or with a few soft waves. But recently Hyland has appeared off-screen with a look that's distinctly not Haley-esque, choosing to shun her longer locks in favour of a short and curly bob. And while fans have speculated that it's the result of a perm, Hyland is adamant that these curls are au naturel.

"This is just my natural hair," Hyland told Refinery29 in an interview for her new partnership with Olay. "I just had extensions in for Modern Family."

The reason she chose to wear extensions rather than grow her hair long to play Haley is because — as a result of surgeries stemming from her endometriosis and lifelong kidney dysplasia — her hair had started to fall out. "With medications and stuff, it can make your hair fall out," Hyland says. "So I had extensions put in for Haley to hide any of that loss."

But since taking out her extensions, Hyland has noticed that her new growth is a slightly different texture than she anticipated. "My hair that's growing back now is much curlier than what it used to be," Hyland says. "It’s like I'm four years old now, I guess."

And taking care of her curls has proven to be a challenge for the 28-year-old actress. "I wear it curly because I don’t know how to do my hair," Hyland says. "I try to blow it out, and it’s just a frizzy mess. It looks like an avant-garde runway look."

Although she has found a few products that she loves for her curls — including Unite Curl Creme and various DevaCurl products. Her real holy-grail product is the InCommon Magic Myst (not available in Canada), which comes from the salon she frequents in Los Angeles, Nine Zero One. "It’s like a leave-in conditioner," she says. "It protects your hair from heat, and it helps with humidity. It’s this all-encompassing magic mist that helps define your curls and get rid of the frizz."

Even as Hyland is getting used to this whole super-curly-hair thing, she's proving that sometimes the best look just comes naturally.