Katy Perry covers the October issue of InStyle Magazine. We’ve debated her hair many times, right? Or was that Rihanna? I forget. Is this Katy’s real hair or is this a wig? I don’t know. I hope for her sake it’s a wig, because I imagine keeping up this odd pink shade would be exhausting. As for the photo shoot – some of the photos are very pretty and striking, but… is it just me, or is Katy seriously channeling Gwen Stefani in these pics? In a few of the photos, the visual similarities are striking. I guess Katy got tired of channeling (“Copying,” I say under my breath) Dita Von Teese, and now she’s on to someone new. Also: the dress on the cover is Ungaro and the belt is Louis Vuitton. Anyway, here are some highlights from the article:

Katy on her red carpet style: “I kind of use this inner dial: Either I turn it up or down

On having kids with Russell Brand: “Not yet, I think if you’re married, it’s often in your future”

On raising kids: “I think in the future – the very far future – when I have children, I’ll have a more open approach, setting boundaries and showing them what their decisions and choices will breed.”

Getting her way: “I’m not going to sit and be steamrolled,” she says. “I am full of unicorns and Care Bears 99 percent of the time, but don’t open Pandora’s Box of that other 1 percent—because it’s there!”

Makeup time is sleepy time: “I ordered a special chair from the dentist so I can lie back and wake up looking like a million bucks—I call it my Sleeping Beauty makeup.”

On her passion for inspiring others: “I want to inspire people to let their true light shine to live a full life and achieve their dreams.”

On her expanding horizons since reaching stardom: “I feel like I’ve gone from living in a 2-D world to a 3-D world. It’s a product of traveling, having an open mind, and being open in general.”

On her 1940s and ’50s influence: “I take a lot of influence from pin-up girls of the ’40s and ’50s – when everything was done with a wink and a grin.”

On her passion to push the limits: “I love challenges. In fact, I get off on them.”

[From Celebrity Gossip & InStyle]

I’m always rather fascinated by the bait-and-switch she pulled on Russell Brand. She put herself out there as a girl-power chick who wanted a “real” relationship and wouldn’t put up with just a fling, insinuating that when she got serious about a guy, she would settle down and be a more “traditional” wife and there would be babies too. Seriously, go back and read some of Katy’s older interviews, the ones before she met Russell, and the interviews she did when they first started going out. And now she’s all “kids are a long way away, my career is the most important thing” etc. I don’t blame her and I’m not judging her – her career has made an incredible leap over the past year, and she’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world right now. It would be crazy for her to put that on the back-burner to start a family. She’s only 26!

But I do think the whole bait-and-switch thing is interesting – be careful what you wish for, because you just got it, Russell Brand. You wanted to have a real relationship, you wanted a “nice girl” and you wanted to “settle down”. This is what happens. Of course, I’d be willing to bet that Russell is pretty much over it and that he’s probably already got some strange on the side. Which is just another reason for Katy to not put her career on hold for him.

Photos courtesy of InStyle.