It's not easy letting go of the familiar things you love -- and for women, that goes double for hairstyles. If you've ever worked the same cut and color for years, you know it's not easy to say those four little words to a stylist: "I want something different." But Caitlin, 25, was ready for a change. For more than a decade, she's had the same straight and long, natural-blonde style, and Caitlin wanted to dive into a new look.

"I was ready to try something new," said Caitlin. "I've had the same look for a while now and I thought it would be fun to experiment."

Her laidback style and go-with-the-flow personality matches her signature style to a T, and she admitted that styling and experimenting with her hair and makeup has never been easy for her.

"I'm not really good with hair," she said. "Occasionally I'll try and curl it, but I mostly just leave it straight."

After a brief consultation, the expert stylists at Cristophe Salon in Beverly Hills rallied to give Caitlin the look she wanted: something new, fun, and refreshing for fall.

For the past year, Caitlin made an extra effort to grow out her hair so she'd have long, healthy blonde waves for her wedding day. She scheduled regular trims to keep her hair in shape, but beyond the most basic maintenance, Caitlin let her hair do its all-natural thing -- for a hairstyle makeover, the equivalent of giving an artist a perfectly prepped canvas to work with.

With zero chemical or heat styling damage, Caitlin's hair was in great shape, but a good wash was key to prep her hair for the highlights stylist/colorist Adrina Mekertichian had planned for her. Mekertichian used Dove Daily Moisture Shampoo, $3.49, a formula that goes below the hair's surface to the cellular level. Hair is beautifully moisturized without excess residue or weight. The wash was followed with Dove Daily Moisture Conditioner, $3.49, leaving hair shiny and silky. Used together, this shampoo and conditioner duo delivers up to 5x smoother* hair -- making Caitlin's hair easier to manage and style.

*When using shampoo and conditioner system vs. non-conditioning shampoo

Gripping the edge of her seat, an anxious Caitlin watched as Mekertichian gathered her hair into a ponytail to go for the big chop. Caitlin's hair has never been shorter than shoulder-length, and this single snip was a major moment. Caitlin's worst fear: a complicated new cut that would require a lot of styling know-how. "I was so shocked to see my hair all over the floor. I'm typically low-maintenance with my hair," she said, post-trim. "I stick to the same routine and just wake up in the morning and go. So, hopefully this will be just as easy to style."

As Mekertichian began cutting, she created new layers within Caitlin's cut, adding depth and movement at her crown and at the front of her hair.

"I took off about nine inches of her hair, but this style will still be very consistent with her current styling routine," said Mekertichian. "It's a very wash and go type of look with lots of movement. It's very sexy, with a symmetrical fringe and lots of body -- flowy and fun."

Because her hair is naturally stick-straight, Mekertichian said the cut would create natural texture for Caitlin and a natural bend in her hair.

"She won't really have to work it," says Mekertichian. "Just a spritz of texturizer and scrunching her ends a little will do the job. It's modern, simple, sexy and sophisticated."

Caitlin is a natural blonde, and over the past five years, she's had some partial highlights added, but she wanted to refresh her color to fit the new style and her skin tone.

"We kept her blonde and brightened it up just a bit," said Mekertichian. "I decided to ombre the back and add some framing blonde highlights in the front. The color will be progressive, and coupled with the layered cut, it will give her hair more movement. So the color 'decorates' the cut."

After washing the color out of Caitlin's hair, Mekertichian dried it using a vented brush. After drying, she created a deep side part and styled Caitlin's hair with a medium flat iron.

"The flat iron created waves and really bumped up the texture," said Mekertichian. "I put a little more severity in her side part to go along with the cut and the heavy fringe."