The stylist behind singer Rita Ora's unique, over-the-top hairstyles has revealed how much work the chart-topper has to put into ensuring her blonde locks remain totally healthy. Chris Appleton, who has been working with natural brunette Rita, 24, for the past two years, confessed to Daily Mail Online that her demanding haircare routine does require a hefty amount of work and 'maintenance'. 'We have to color the hair every three weeks,' he explained. 'We've managed to get the timing perfect so that she's not coloring it all the time. If you keep bleaching it, you push it too far and it can look awful, which has been done in the past by other celebrities! Scroll down for video . Style icon: Chris Appleton (R) has been working as singer Rita Ora's hairstylist for two years . Haircare regimen: According to Chris, Rita's blonde locks need to be colored every three weeks, a process which can dry out the hair if done too frequently . 'I also make my own hair masks, which I make her sleep in, to ensure that her hair stays in the best condition possible. 'I'm so strict with Rita, I want to make sure that her hair always looks great, and that means a lot of work. When she has any spare time, I make her condition.' But despite the seemingly endless hours of maintenance required in order to keep Rita's barnet looking its best, Chris insists that the singer isn't planning to follow in Kim Kardashian's footsteps and make a change to brunette any time soon. 'Blonde is such a statement, despite the fact that it's a lot of maintenance behind the scenes,' he said. 'We've never done anything deep or dark and we change the actual style so much that I'm eager to keep the color consistent.' The singer did have a chance to experiment with a darker hairstyle when she appeared in the recently-released Fifty Shades of Grey movie however; Rita's role as Mia, the younger sister of charismatic businessman Christian Grey, saw her don an extremely short, dark wig, which Chris believes helped Rita to separate herself from the character. Innovation: Every hairstyle that Rita models has something unique and different about it. 'I always want to do something to make her hair look special,' Chris explains . The girl with the pearl... hair: This embellished hairstyle is one of Chris' favorites . 'It worked for the film, because she wasn't Rita, she was Mia Grey, and I think that was a good thing,' Chris said. 'But I don't know if it's a style we will be trying out on Rita in real life!' While Rita might not be planning to replicate Mia's severe hairstyle any time soon however, Chris says that she is certainly not averse to experimenting with a variety of different looks - be they temporary, or permanent. Indeed, the decision to cut Rita's hair into a much shorter style just a few months ago was actually made on a whim, during a late-night styling session. 'I was talking to Rita about chopping her hair for a year, but it was about finding the right time,' he explained. 'Then at two in the morning, I was working on her hair, and we'd been doing it for hours, and she just said: "I think it's time." 'She called me the next day and was so happy with it, which was great. And it looks amazing, it was just a bit weird that we decided to do it then and there so late at night, or early in the morning I guess.' CopyKaty: According to Chris, singer Katy Perry recreated two of Rita's hairstyles for her This is How We Do video . Something different: For her role as Mia Grey in the recently-released movie Fifty Shades of Grey, Rita had the chance to experiment with darker locks . And beyond the length and color of Rita's hair, Chris is determined to ensure that her style is always fresh, unique and interesting, and is often experimenting with different textures, embellishments and colorful accessories. 'Sometimes I get a lot of time to work on a look - I'll know what outfit she's planning to wear for a red carpet, or an appearance, and I can plan accordingly,' he explained. 'Other times, I don't really get any time at all and I just have to pull it out of the bag! 'But I always want to do something to make her hair look special; if she's wearing a really detailed dress and we want the hair to be more simple, I'll do something really subtle - like the gold leaf that we used in her parting at the 2014 Met Gala. 'But if we want to go all out, then we'll work with loads of different accessories, or colors. I loved when we sewed loads of pearls into her hair, I thought that looked amazing. And it was so different and unique.' 'It's all about the details - I’m all about adding details to the hair. People will watch, [so] make it worthwhile.' Put a ring on it: Chris and Rita will often work together in order to come up with a new and unique way of accessorizing her hairstyle . Twisted: Rita often showcases Chris' work on her Instagram account . While Chris admits that he and Rita don't always see eye-to-eye about what hairstyle they should go for, he adds that she is always willing to go the extra mile in order to create something that is totally unique. And it seems that the seemingly endless hours Rita and Chris have spent working on maintaining and perfecting her varied hairstyles have more than paid off, with many of the more elaborate styles inspiring numerous other celebrities and style icons to create similar looks. 'The people behind the new Star Wars movie loved the hair we created for the UK version of The Voice [on which Rita is a judge] so much that they are going to use it in their next film,' Chris revealed. 'Katy Perry also did a similar style to the gelled baby hair that Rita had at Coachella for her This is How We Do video. 'The same look was also used at a number of fashion shows including DKNY and Givenchy.' 'Chris is incredibly talented,' Rita says of her ongoing relationship with the hairstylist. 'We work so well together drawing inspiration from any number of things - from Marilyn Monroe to London street fashion. Chris is always up for creating real moments, trying something different while keeping me smiling the whole way.'
Hairstylist Chris Appleton explained the inspiration for 24-year-old Rita's unique and over-the-top hairstyles . He confessed that her blonde mane requires a lot of 'maintenance' and has to be bleached every three weeks . Unlike Kim Kardashian however, Chris doesn't believe Rita will be going back to brunette any time soon .