Lighten Up

It's an age-old question: Do gentlemen really prefer blondes? Hollywood's hottest stars seem to think so. As their careers heated up, the following group of naturally brown-haired babes decided to lighten up their locks … and we know you're just dye-ing to see the results!

Jessica Alba once told Elle agazine, "People pay attention to blondes far more than they do brunettes." That belief may account for her blockbuster blond 'do in 2005's "Fantastic Four." Then again, it may also explain why the new, low-key mom has returned to her roots.

When it comes to tress transformation, Madonna is the reigning queen. The Italian-American pop star was born a brunette, but gradually began to highlight her hair in the early '80s. She finally hit it big with "Like a Virgin" in 1985, but suddenly did an about-face for her next album, 1986's "True Blue," chopping her hair off and dyeing it peroxide blond like her then-idol Marilyn Monroe.

Since then, Madonna has gone back and forth between hair hues depending on her mood. She was a brunette during the "Like a Prayer" phase, a blonde for "Blond Ambition" (natch), a brunette geisha for "Frozen" (see left) and now seems to be at peace again as a blond mom … but for how long?

When Greek-American actress Jennifer Aniston shot to stardom on "Friends" in the mid-'90s, her hair went along for the ride. Just about every woman in America was asking her hairdresser for "The Rachel" — basically a modified brunette shag.

However, once Jen married Brad (Pitt, of course) and set her sights on a big-screen career, the natural brunette slowly but surely began to lighten up. In fact, she's so committed to her honey-blond hue now, the only brunette glimpses we get are in movies like "The Good Girl" where she played a boring, dowdy character.

Puerto Rican-American fly girl Jennifer Lopez was an exotic babe dancing her famous butt off on "In Living Color" and in the background of Janet Jackson videos before she shot to superstardom with her portrayal of Mexican-American singer Selena, who met a tragic end. The beautiful brunette actress soon became a hugely successful singer, fashion designer and businesswoman. And with that fame, of course, came many boyfriends, husbands and hair colors. In fact, her naturally dark hair has been a lovely light shade of tawny blond for so many years now, it's hard to even remember "the real" Jenny from the Block.

When Beyonce first hit the music scene with her all-girl group Destiny's Child in the late '90s, she was a certified brunette. But with fame came hair transformations. Much like Diana Ross and the Supremes, the lead singer had to set herself apart — not with a giant beehive or bouffant — but with eye-catching color. She's been going back and forth between tress shades ever since, and as far as we can tell, Jay-Z's happy with Bey's hair either way.

When Tyra Banks first hit the fashion runways as a model in the '90s, she was an all-natural African-American beauty. But once again, with fame came great hair-care responsibility. As her career skyrocketed towards supermodel-dom and later morphed into acting in films and hosting TV shows, her hair changed, too. Tyra's luxurious jet black locks gradually became a lighter shade of brown, then ginger red, and now seem to stay a shade of softly frosted sandy blond.

Cuban-American beauty Eva Mendes is known for her dark, exotic looks. She was first noticed as a brunette vixen in Will Smith's "Miami" video, eventually breaking through as Denzel Washington's hot Latina girlfriend in "Training Day."

As an actress on the rise, it made sense to keep her dark look steady. But as we've seen before, once a gal becomes mega-famous, anything goes — including hair color. As Eva picked up lead movie roles and cosmetics contracts, she gradually lightened up. Today she works quite happily as a honey-highlighted blonde.

Beautiful Jessica Biel owes her unique looks to an unusual heritage: She's a mix of German, English, French, Irish and Choctaw (Native American) roots. The actress and former model began her career as a brunette on The WB's "7th Heaven," but as the show gained a wider audience, her hair became increasingly lighter. Now a film star, Biel seems comfortable going back and forth on the brunette-to-blond color spectrum. Plus, it seems Justin Timberlake loves how her locks look both ways.

Victoria Beckham is a natural brunette whose dark locks looked posh and polished next to her fellow Spice Girls back in the '90s. But when Victoria teamed up with British soccer — and style — star David Beckham, she dared to experiment with her look. The former singer has gone peroxide blond and back again, always staying on the avant garde edge of style.

British beauty Keira Knightley's first major film role was as Natalie Portman's doppelganger in "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace." But with films like "Bend It Like Beckham" and "The Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy, the brunette actress rose to fame in her own right and became comfortable going in her own hair-color direction. She turned heads when she arrived as a blonde to the 2006 Golden Globe Awards, and it looks like her own golden 'do is here to stay.

"High School Musical" actress Ashley Tisdale may be best known for her blonde portrayal of Sharpay Evans, but the teen queen is actually a true brunette. Like most women her age, Ashley plays with her hair color quite a bit. Recently she's been sporting an in-between shade of sandy blonde, but who knows? She could be back to her brown roots any day now. Luckily, she looks great sporting either color.