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Gillian Anderson and Vanessa Kirby’s Colourist Jack Howard at Paul Edmonds

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Paul Edmonds
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Jack Howard at Paul Edmonds is much in demand for his faultless hair colour, and autumn sees two of his clients hit our TV screens with binge-worthy shows (alongside lust-worthy colour). Gillian Anderson is currently starring in BBC2’s cat and mouse thriller The Fall alongside Jamie Dornan, while rising star Vanessa Kirby stars in the hotly anticipated Netflix drama The Crown (playing Princess Margaret).

Jack is widely credited with bringing the Balayage revolution to the UK and has a number of clever techniques for making hair look thicker, healthier and more vibrant, especially on TV.

Gillian Anderson wears Babylights, superfine strands of colour running throughout, done with meche or plastic wrap. Jack says,

You can either go heavy or light depending on the finish you want, but the idea is they’re micro to look super natural (if you go heavier it’s a stronger look but still lovely and soft, if you go lighter it’s so fine it looks like you were born with it). This technique makes the hair look multi-dimensional because the pieces are so fine. My go-to lightener is L’Oreal Professionnel’s Platinium; it lifts beautifully but leaves hair shiny and in good condition. Always care for this colour with Shu Uemura Silk Bloom shampoo, conditioner and mask. Maintenance wise, you’ll need to retouch every eight weeks on heavier Babylights, but you can go longer (12-14 weeks) on more gentle microlights. This technique can be done on any shade, not just blondes, but I love the impact it has for blondes.

Vanessa wears a classic balayage root to tip; Jack says,

Vanessa has been every colour for so many different roles, but this blonde is our favourite colour on her. It’s tough on hair to make dramatic colour changes so I have a few recommendations for healthy colour: firstly I recommend Smartbond to all my colour clients because it helps with oxidization so hair doesn’t fade as quickly, and it strengthens hair during the colouring process. I also tell clients to take Viviscal Professional for thicker fuller hair, and have regular in salon treatments – for colour clients like Vanessa I do alternate months - protein one month, moisture the next – if you use too much protein on the hair it snaps – it’s great to repair but too much can make hair brittle.