The Daily Telegraph

THEBODY BEAUTIFUL

Your guide to make- up and more by Lesley Thomas. This week: a new hair colour

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You know how, in your twenties, it dawns on you one day that you are never, ever going to go on a date with Brad Pitt? It’s one of the seven signs of ageing. From that moment, all your other limitation­s unfold. In your thirties, you realise that you can’t make your legs longer (or whichever physical flaw you wish to correct).

As the years progress, the fantasy that is your future starts to look all too improbable and, as far as I can make out, that’s when you are a vulnerable target for sports car salesmen, plastic surgeons and bits on the side.

It’s less expensive and catastroph­ic, though, to change your hairstyle. I had another Pitt moment a few weeks ago, when I realised that I am never, ever going to walk into a hairdresse­r’s and say anything more radical than “ A trim, please”.

I do so admire those women who experiment with their hair but I’ve never been one of them. It’s partly because I haven’t got the stomach for image makeovers and partly because my hair can undergo radical changes of its own without going near a salon. Depending on the richness of my conditione­r, the type of styling products I use, the surroundin­g temperatur­e and humidity or the fact that I may or may not be carrying an umbrella, I can go from straight to curly to frizzball in one day. Ultimately, it’s out of my hands. All I can control is that it’s collar to shoulder-length, which, give or take some punk-lite experiment­s in the Eighties, it has remained for a quarter of a century.

So with my conservati­ve follicular future ahead of me, I made a panic-booking with a colourist and before you could say Beyoncé, I was having my hair highlighte­d (or “microlight­ed”, as the “colour technician” called it).

Halfway through – with a quarter of my head full of those silver dreadlocks – I had an anxiety attack. I have never dyed my hair before. What if I looked ridiculous or even noticeably different? I might have to change my personalit­y or, worse still, my whole wardrobe to go with the new colour. I plucked up the courage to share my fear.

“Well, we wanted a change, didn’t we?”

Why do stylists always claim ownership of your hair?

“ Anyway, you can always colour it back.”

I was not reassured. My head started to heat up and I wondered whether I was having an allergic reaction to the dye. It can be fatal, you know. I decided not to voice this concern and simmered in silent terror.

I needn’t have worried. I came out of the salon unharmed and with subtly sunkissed hair that few have noticed. To save the jitters, hair colour virgins should seek a consultati­on with the colourist beforehand, instead of rushing in as I did. However casual they seem, reputable colourists will not just paint your hair at will. Sibi, a senior colourist at the Daniel

Hersheson supersalon, says: “I

always look at skin

tone and eye colour

as a guide. Pink

skin tones can take

a cooler hair colour,

while yellow tones

take warmer hair

colours.”

If you are trying

to colour your own

hair, she says, don’t

stray more than a

couple of shades

from your natural colour.

“If you’re thinking of doing something dramatic,” she says, “consider your eyebrows.”

Aftercare is very important, says Sibi, who favours the Kerastase Reflection­s range (www.kerastase.com), especially for blondes. Frédéric Fekkai, the Hollywood hair guru, has a good selection of goo for coloured hair, among them the marvellous Technician Colour Care Mask (above, £ 27, at SpaceNK, or tel: 020 8740 2085), packed with nourishing avocado oil. Redken also has a great Color Extend range, which includes shampoo (£ 8 · 50; 0800 444 880) and marvellous conditione­r (£ 9 · 95).

“You can’t get away with just Wash ’n’ Go, if your hair is coloured,” says Sibi. “ Always use conditione­r and a hair mask, once a week for thick hair and twice a week, if it’s thinner.”

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