Leonard & Twiggy

Leonard Lewis is the British hairdresser who launched Twiggy’s career when he lopped off her long locks into the bob that made her famous.  A working class boy from Shepherd’s Bush, he mentored today’s hairdressing stars, John Frieda, Daniel Galvin and Nicky Clarke and had a four-storey salon just off Grosvenor Square where anyone who was anyone vied for an appointment.

He was as much in demand in the salon (Mick Jagger, Jackie Kennedy, Terence Stamp, Marisa Berenson, were just a few of his clients) as he was in the studio, where he created page after page of directional looks for Vogue and Queen magazines, working with Clive Arrowsmith, Barry Lategan, Terence Donovan and Bailey. Stanley Kubrick used him for most of his films, and had so much respect for his work that he paid for each wig for the film Barry Lyndon to have its own first class seat on the flight from London to Ireland.  Now retired from hairdressing and living in south London, The House of Leonard will take a look at the career of the legendary Leonard of Mayfair and bring his outstanding body of work to the attention of a contemporary audience.

Ngapali Beach, Myanmar

It’s about now that all the monthly mags are busy testing summer products. But sometimes what you like in April sitting at your desk in grey old London isn’t what you actually use when you go away. This for me is the definitive bit of kit, tried and tested and photographed in Myanmar where the temperature was around 42 degrees.

From left to right, in a very rough circle; Ormonde Jayne’s solid fragrance has a little gold dust in it, and a soft, buttery texture, very pretty for those nuggety bones on your decollete and the frangipani notes are divine for hotter climes.

Unlike Skinceuticals SPF 50 sunscreen which gives effective protection for your face but really smells awful.  I’ll stick with it because it works, but packaging and scent wise, they could do better.

Dermalogica’s lip balm is the best.

Sisley’s Night Complex is a ten day treatment – I quite like the idea that you can go away on holiday and treat it as a break from any usual skincare routine you might have.  Actually come back with better skin than you went with, which is what holidays should be all about, assuming you haven’t burnt your skin to crustacean levels.

The Moroccanoil products – I’d never had much joy with them, I think I was using the wrong ones.  But this trio is part of a travel kit, and it works, especially the oil, which kept my hair in pretty good condition in spite of the sea and the sun and general hairbrush-avoidance factor.

Christophe Robin’s Huile a Lavande -  my desert island product.  Kristin Scott Thomas (if I may allow myself a legitimate celebrity name-drop here) once told me she uses it on her skin as well as her hair.  It sat on my bathroom shelf for months, a hard, waxy substance I couldn’t get to grips with, you’re meant to put it in a bowl of hot water to soften and of course that was far too much effort for lazybones-me.  In the Myanmar heat it melts of its own accord into a luxurious lavender, creamy, oily slush that sinks into your skin and hair, just what you need after sun exposure.  Put it on before bed-time and the lavender is soothing, good for that first night in a new hotel where you never sleep well.

Elemental Herbology’s cleanser is great if you have a muslin cloth to hand, and like all those cloth cleansers, it’s a gentle exfoliant and not too drying.

Guerlain’s Terracotta sunscreen is the one I use for body.  It smells of tiare flower so you’ll enjoy re-applying it, and there’s a tan accelerator which helps get those grey shins looking browner quicker.

Becca’s Beach Tint is the only make-up I use while away.  Lips, cheeks.  Job done.