Hair expert adds touch of colour

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She has been described by Marie Claire magazine as "the First Lady of Colour" and hailed by American Vogue as "the best tinter on the planet".

She opened her specialist colour salon in London's Mayfair in 1993 with eight staff. It now has a team of more than 40 colourists, stylists and assistants and boasts a client list including actress Elizabeth Hurley, model Yasmin le Bon and celebrity chef Nigella Lawson. She also formed the charitable trust Foundation India to support the next generation of Indian hairdressers after judging a hair colour competition in the country in 2005.

As part of the initiative, the hair colourist and her team host four seminars a year in India and donate a percentage of their annual earnings to fund the foundation.

She has also worked with the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund since the death of her husband seven years ago.