Helping midlife hair colour shine
Colourist to Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet and more, Nicola Clarke at John Frieda shares her secrets for shining holiday hair, and midlife colouring tips.
Happy Tuesday! I hope your week’s off to a great start.
A special welcome to all those who’ve joined us over the last few days.
Today, I’m thrilled to welcome Nicola Clarke, Creative Colour Director, John Frieda Salons, and founder of the Nicola Clarke at John Frieda salon, London, to share her secrets for helping midlife hair shine. Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett and Kate Moss are among those who turn to Nicola to keep their hair red carpet-ready.
Nicola’s glowing reputation as a colourist goes back a long way.
When I first met her in the mid-90s, Nicola was already hotly sought after for her celebrity and editorial work. I was lucky enough to have her colour my hair a few times (she was endlessly patient when, in her salon chair, I’d pull out a scrappy magazine picture—Kate Moss’ honey highlights circa Gucci’s 1995 catwalk show of satin shirts and velvet trousers comes to mind—and she always, 100% nailed it).
Of course, Nicola doesn’t only create the brightest blondes (although, I can’t not mention that Brad Pitt’s Grand Prix platinum for the F1 movie, coming next year, was her handiwork).
Read on for Nicola’s tips for gorgeous, glossy hair colour—of any shade, including stunning silver—during the holidays.
Put a gloss on it
Thinking about tweaking your colour for the party season, but don’t want to make a permanent change or risk damaging more fragile midlife hair? “Glosses are an easy way to add a bit of sparkle to a brunette,” suggests Nicola.
Professional gloss treatments are designed to dial-up the shine, for all hair types, whether or not your hair is coloured. Clear glosses focus on boosting shine only, whereas colour glosses also help to brighten or refresh colour, adding depth or vibrancy.
Ideal for the holidays, glosses are a great, low-commitment way to combat dullness and enhance condition, for a fraction of the cost of more complex colour techniques (for example, a Gloss Treatment at Nicola Clarke at John Frieda, in London’s West End, costs £60).
“Warmer tones are on trend at the moment, so adding pieces are always a fun way to tweak hair for the party season,” adds Nicola. “Then you can add colour to them avoiding damage to your own hair. It’s a good way to go if you feel your hair is prone to damage or fragile.”
Holiday highlights
“Not just for the party season, I like to add lights to a blonde or brunette,” says Nicola. “Even a redhead can add a few sparkly golden lights.”
How gorgeous are Kate’s bright and beautiful lights, seen here at the premiere of her movie Lee in September, and created by Nicola?
An inspiring screenshot to whip out at the salon if ever there was one.