I can picture the scene clearly. David Beckham is standing in his (marble? Probably) bathroom appraising his reflection. Tomorrow is a big day. Royals and press are involved, nerves abound, and the inner critic is roaming his appearance unchecked, looking for something to improve, for the easily-fixable chink in the armour. Things that looked fine before the big event was on the horizon no longer look quite as fine, and panic sets in.
Hair is the low hanging fruit in this situation; everyone knows that tweaking colour or cut can have a transformative effect not only on the way we look but on the way we feel, and making a big change to appearance is relatively speedy via altering either.
This is the only possible explanation to my mind for the pictures that have emerged today of Beckham alongside Prince William while visiting the new London Air Ambulance Charity helicopters sporting markedly coloured hair, every single grey on his entire head – beard and brows included–vanquished.
We’ve all been there, David. Admittedly hanging out with the heir to the throne isn’t usually involved, but some version of a momentous day and the amped up critical eye and making a rash decision as a result has happened to all of us. Mine was at a wedding in Italy. I’d been travelling a lot and bore all the signs of being tired, primarily in the form of being puffy and pallid. So keen was I to refine the woman looking back at me, that I hacked a fringe with a Swiss Army knife my then partner had in his bag. I was thinking Hepburn, but the result was more Spock.
Perhaps David too had someone else in mind, but I suspect he wasn’t aiming for a dye job that is quite so pronounced, so all over, so intense. Gives the game away which, when it comes to covering greys, isn’t generally the aim.
I called Sara Cassidu, Senior Colourist at HARI’s King’s Road, to ask what she’d do in an SOS situation, had a client coloured their greys in this fashion. She was unequivocally of the opinion that highlights on top would save the day, adding a little contrast and a little shimmer. Better yet: if opting for one colour, as David seems to have done, using a comb to just pop a little through the lengths and then leaving it for half the suggested time offers a much more natural result.
While everyone knows that the best possible outcome is always achieved in the hands of experts (who have for many years worked their magic at covering my persistent grey sections) there are always times when they can’t be part of the equation, either because time or money doesn’t allow for it. Sara’s advice here is not to do a David and make a drastic change before a big event, but rather to go for a temporary fix in the form of either the L’Oreal Magic Retouch spray (£9.99, Boots.com) or the Color Wow Root Cover up (£29.50, cultbeauty.co.uk).
Another option, should you wish to hide, or disguise, your greys? Ask your colourist to blend them into your highlights. It’s a technique Melanie Smith, Senior Colourist at HARI’s is an advocate of, and she will encourage those wishing to subtly include greys into the mix to “generally go a bit lighter to blend them out, using soft woven multi-tones for a super flattering finish.” And if you, like Beckham, are tempted to dye your brows and beard, too, remember that you’ll need a dedicated dye for the job as skin in that part of the face is more sensitive.
While it seems unlikely that anyone will be trying to ape David’s latest look, there is one surprising effect his hair has had on me: it’s endearing. There’s something sort of reassuring about David’s all-over dye job, reminding us that a man of great wealth and fame who is considered by many to be a bit of a fox can also feel in need of the magic of a beauty transformation. That David isn’t above such feelings makes me like him a little more, humanises him. So maybe it isn’t a blunder at all but rather another master move on the part of the Beckham behemoth.
