Gabby Douglas Goes Glam For Essence Magazine

A seemingly spontaneous hair and makeup makeover for an Olympian may not have been so spur of the moment after all. Gabby Douglas, 16, was photographed in New York last week looking primped and polished at the hands of hairstylist Ted Gibson, who revamped her look at his salon. Now it appears that the new look was for ESSENCE magazine who recently invited the teen out for a photo shoot.

Gabby along with several of her family members, including her mother, visited the mag’s office for a shoot focused on the gold medalist’s newfound stardom. For one of the shots Douglas donned a J. Mendel dress and Jimmy Choo heels and wore a designer peplum frock in another.

“ESSENCE has been so welcoming,” said Gabby during the shoot. “I just wanna thank you all for having me and I love you so much.”

Her hairstylist couldn’t stop gushing over the teen. “I have the most incredible opportunity to work with someone fabulous, yes that’s Gabby Douglas,” said Ted Gibson. “Doing her hair was one of the highlights of my career because today was about making her feel the most comfortable in front of the camera.”

Douglas’ spread will be featured in ESSENCE‘s November issue. Check out behind the scenes shots of Gabby’s new photo shoot below.

–danielle canada