- Jack Martin is the hair colorist behind Jane Fonda and Sharon Osbourne’s gray hair transformations.
- Martin first began helping women go gray three years ago, and now has clients that come as far as Argentina and Australia to his salon in Tustin, California.
- Martin told Insider that he thought he was being pranked when he found out Jane Fonda wanted him to transform her hair before the Oscars.
- Osbourne was impressed and asked for Martin’s help as well after dyeing her hair red every week for 18 years. Martin said he believes gray hair will become a major trend in Hollywood and beyond.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Before she had even announced the Academy Award winner for best picture, Hollywood icon Jane Fonda shocked everyone when she appeared onstage with a brand new gray hairdo.
A week later, Sharon Osbourne similarly surprised fans when she debuted silver hair that was drastically different from her signature red locks.
Fonda and Osbourne may have just begun a new movement in celebrity beauty, and they have Jack Martin to thank.
The California hair colorist has become famous for helping women embrace their gray hair, and clients have flown from as far as Australia and Argentina just to get into his chair.
Martin, who has been coloring hair for 28 years, told Insider that he has done approximately 500 gray transformations.
It all began three years ago, when a client came into his salon and said she was tired of dyeing her gray hair brown. Martin knew it would be tricky - she had been using at-home dye every three to four weeks for years - but he loved a challenge.
After 12 hours, the woman's hair was a gorgeous icy silver. Martin had found his calling.
Martin became more and more well-known for his skill with gray transformations through the years, eventually catching 82-year-old Fonda's attention.
But when he first got the call about doing Fonda's hair for the Oscars, Martin thought it was a joke.
"I thought it was a fake message, that somebody was playing a game with me," he told Insider. "When I found out it was a real message, I was very happy. I felt proud of myself that my work got to Jane Fonda."
Martin was booked solid for weeks with clients who had already paid for flights and hotels to see him. So, on the Sunday before the Oscars, he came in on his day off to do Fonda's hair.
The colorist said Fonda was "phenomenal and energetic" from the minute she got out of her car and greeted him at his Tustin salon.
"She said, 'What a beautiful accent you have, where are you from?"' recalled Martin, who was born in Syria.
Martin said Fonda, a longtime political activist, expressed sympathy for his native country - which has been caught in a civil war since 2011. Then, she gave him a hug.
"We have the wrong idea about celebrities, to be honest with you," Martin added. "They're very down to earth, they're human beings. They're sweet, they're like everyone else. The difference is they have a spotlight on them."
As Martin got started, he said Fonda worked on her upcoming book and memorized lines for the last season of "Grace and Frankie," the Netflix show that she stars in with Lily Tomlin.
"At the same time she was reading newspapers, talking with me and her crew, laughing and joking," Martin said. "She has a very cute sense of humor and, honestly, I didn't want the day to end."
Martin said Fonda was "very happy" with his work, which she put on display a week later at the Academy Awards.
"I got the chills when she walked onstage," he said. "She really owned the show completely with her new look, she shocked everybody. I could not be more proud than that moment."
Osbourne, 67, had actually heard about Martin six months ago. But it was after seeing Fonda's new hair that she finally decided to take the plunge and go gray.
Martin said Osbourne had been coloring her hair red every week for 18 years.
"She had very bad experiences before, trying to get out of the red color," he added. "But every time she did, they turned her hair into a disaster."
Martin said Obsourne's hair was "definitely harder" compared to Fonda's, and he told "The Talk" host that there was no guarantee he could get her to silver.
But after eight hours, Osbourne's hair had been completely transformed.
"Oh my god, her reaction," he said. "She was like, 'You are a magician, wow my hair even feels much better than when it was red."'
Osbourne later spoke about her new hairdo during last Tuesday's episode of "The Talk."
"I was just so fed up of going and having it dyed and having it dyed, and I was just like, I can't do this anymore," Osbourne told her cohosts. "Why am I trying to do something or be something that I'm not? Just be who you are."
Osbourne's comments are similar to what Martin says he hears every week from the women in his salon chair.
"They are so frustrated of the commitment or the trap of coloring every two to three weeks," he said. "They just want to free themselves."
"There's nothing better than being natural, you know," he added. "But we can enhance that nature by allowing ladies to grow their own natural hair and add a little bit of enhancement to it and make it a little more glamorous. They even look younger in the after photo compared to the before photo."
Martin always has his clients grow out 3-4 inches of their natural hair before coming into his salon. This allows him to see the pattern of their natural roots, which he then tries to match.
He then bleaches the rest of the hair, leaving the peroxide in for longer (instead of using heat) to keep the locks safe. Martin then adds dimension to the strands by blending two to three different shades that fit with the natural gray pattern.
The process can take anywhere from eight to 15 hours - depending on how long, thick, and dark the client's hair is - but the upkeep is extremely minimal.
After their gray transformations, Martin's clients tend to come in only two to three times a year for a toning service that brings the icy silver effect back to their strands.
Martin also gives his clients a toner formula to take home, along with a list of simple tips that include washing with cold water, using purple shampoo, and staying away from hot tools.
After transforming Fonda and Osbourne's hair, Martin said business has never been better. And he doesn't see the gray trend going away anytime soon.
"It's already all over social media with groups like 'Silver Sisters' and 'Silver Hair Don't Care,'" he said. "Ladies are supporting each other. Silver hair isn't related to just old age anymore, and I like that."
"Gray hair doesn't know age," he added. "I've met people in their 20s who have gray [hair]. Why do they have to fake it and why do they have to cover it? No, make it a trend and wear it and be proud of it. It's your heritage, you inherited that."
"People will have gray hair no matter what, that is something that will never end. It's going to grow bigger and bigger. So I do advise stylists to get trained doing this, because they're going to have a lot of business in the future."
- Read more:
- Here's what 24 celebrities looked like before they went gray
- For years I dyed my hair bright colors. Here's what caused me to embrace my natural hair color again.
- Jane Fonda rewore a red dress from 2014 to the 2020 Oscars after vowing never to buy another item of clothing again
- The reason people go gray in their 20s, according to a dermatologist
