Kerry Washington Just Dropped Some Fabulous Silk-Press Season Inspo

Ask anyone with textured hair, and they will tell you: Silk-press season is a surprisingly short window of time. Yes, you can wear the style all-year round, and many do. But often, the maintenance level is just too exhausting. Summer brings sweat and humidity, and spring and fall are filled with unexpected rainstorms, all of which can immediately snap straightened strands right back into curls and coils. Which means the prime time to pick up the flat iron is — you guessed it — winter. And Kerry Washington just dropped some of the best silk-press inspo of the season.

While in London promoting her new Apple TV+ series, Imperfect Women, the actress stepped out with silky, straightened black hair parted down the center. The mid-length layered cut, styled by hair artist Rio Sreedharan, featured a few face-framing pieces and very subtle bends at the end. While still firmly in silk-press territory, the hair still had some body to it — nowhere near fluffy press territory, but also not quite the pin-straight finish most associate with the look.

Though she’s no stranger to long, straight hairstyles, this is a bit of a change of pace when compared to many of Washington’s most recent looks. In January, she attended the last Park City Sundance Film Festival with blonde boho braids swept up into a snatched ponytail, and last fall she promoted Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man in a fluffy, chocolate-brown lob.

The impeccably pressed hair wasn’t the only perfectly wintery element of the ensemble: On her fingertips, the Scandal star wore what appeared to be the same navy blue polish she donned at BAFTAs earlier in the week.