The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania is no stranger to using style as a form of expression. Short-hair throwbacks, glamorous extensions, and playing with new shades have all been a part of Dolores’ changeups over the seasons. In the past, she has counted on blonde as one of her go-to trends. She proved as much when she shared a photo of her days with cascading, light curls from several years ago.
The look proved to be tried and true for a woman known for her signature brunette tresses, because years later, she resurrected the gold hue and added volumes of waves, as she flaunted in an Aug. 27, 2019, Instagram post. “Always be yourself,” Dolores said. “Unless you can be a mermaid… then always be a mermaid.”
Dolores Catania shows off a dramatic hair makeover
In January 2025, years after her mermaid strands, the Garden State Housewife invited followers to witness part of her hairstyle journey. Seated in the salon chair at Bella’s Beauté Studio in Edgewater, New Jersey, she made fans’ eyes pop when having 24-inch Frame & Thread Extensions woven onto her existing head of hair.
The two feet of hair added to her head was the result of many hands at work, all of whom she thanked in the Jan. 11 post. What’s more, the new length only helped showcase the caramel-colored highlights blending atop her natural brown.
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The enhanced look came only one month after another visit to the same beauty salon, where Dolores debuted a deeper brown dye job. As the RHONJ ’Wife announced with a kissy face, “Walnut is the shade.”
In March, the salon posted an Instagram video, walking audiences through the step-by-step process behind Dolores’s sought-after color and “refresh,” a four-to-five-hour process. Backcombing as part of a teased balayage method, said the stylist, “ensures a soft natural transition without harsh lines.” Following the color application, Dolores underwent a light gloss “to achieve a neutral to cool tone [of] dark blond,” plus a touch of “root shadow” color to give it dimension.
A fresh blowout and added volume was “the way Dolores likes it.”
Related: Dolores Catania Stuns Alongside Paulie Connell at a Special Wedding: “What a Blessing”
Per the business’ caption, “From ‘Jersey Strong’ to ‘hair game strong.’ Dolores Catania’s transformation is proof that in the Garden State, we don’t do subtle — we do fabulous!”
The Season 3 winner of The Traitors was delighted with the result, adding a bunch of clapping emojis underneath the stylist’s video.
Dolores Catania shows off her hair at BravoCon 2025
Dolores, as seen at BravoCon 2025 this November, is currently wearing a lighter shade of brown hair (photo below). Now that she’s engaged to Paul “Paulie” Connell, we wonder what hair color she’ll opt for on her wedding day.
Dolores Catania reveals her recent cosmetic procedures
Dolores has always invited fans into her hair and beauty routine, and she did just that in September when she underwent Renuvion, a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure that utilizes radio-frequency energy to tighten skin. In her case, she opted to have the procedure done on her hands, sharing before-and-after photos to show off its anti-aging effects.
“Now [my hands] reflect the strength and confidence I feel on the inside,” she announced.
Dolores’s use of Renuvion was a no-brainer after she felt satisfied by its results on her knees following a years-old liposuction surgery, she candidly told Bravo’s The Daily Dish in November 2024.
Related: Melissa Gorga, Dolores Catania & More Real Housewives Team Up For a Good Cause: “Best Night”
“Well, because for a long time now I’ve been looking for something for skin-tightening,” she explained. “Anybody who’s been doing plastic surgery as long as I have, I have to say, I’m pretty lucky — except for the fact that back when we were getting liposuction years ago, no one warned us about the loose skin that would follow it.”
She thanked plastic surgeon Dr. Adam Rubenstein for a job well done regarding her hands.
Not long after, the proud mom of two returned to Instagram to reveal the results of new lip injections, as administered by her future daughter-in-law, Nicole Perricho, a.k.a. “The Lip Boss of New Jersey.”
“Soooo excited my lips look hydrated and beautiful,” Dolores wrote over the Sept. 15 post. “Pain-free, no bruises, amazing!!!”
She reported feeling “back to [her]self” following AFib surgery earlier this year.
