Meet the hair whisperer

Globally celebrated hair colourist Nicky Lazou is the newest member of the House of Talent by The White Door Salon, Mumbai. Kanishka Ramchandani catches up with her to talk about trends, training and everything in between.

Celebrated across the globe for her signature bespoke hair colour blends, Nicky Lazou is one of those rare stylists who approach hairdressing as an art form. Starting off at a young age of 16, Lazou turned her hobby into a lifelong passion by honing her natural talent with dedication and discipline.

Her satisfied clientele is spread across England and the Middle East, especially Dubai. Mumbai was her latest pit stop as she came down to The White Door Salon, Bandra, in an exclusive collaboration for their House of Talent. As a shared commitment to personalisation and excellence in luxury haircare, Lazou took appointments of select clients during her short stint in the city, promising to return for more such sessions. She also hopes to add training to her repertoire of offerings for India.

As we settled down for the interview, I couldn’t help but notice Lazou’s vibrant energy, which was quite high at the end of two whole days of back-to-back customer appointments. Although she had a flight to catch later that evening, she promised to give my hair a quick colour makeover. Her expert eyes easily fathomed the environmental damage on my fast-fading red hair. She added deep brown tones with a treatment product to my tresses that completely changed my look. She said, with humility and confidence, “I am incredibly good with colour.” One look at my shiny locks, and I knew it was absolutely true.

Here’s an excerpt from my exclusive interview with Nicky Lazou:

'' We will see a lot of the CLASSIC BLOW-OUT as well as CARAMELS and GOLDS . BABYLIGHTS are going to be huge in 2025 where you see RIBBONS running through your HAIR ''

Tell us about your journey in the world of hair.

I was originally studying journalism. I wanted to be a weather lady.

I had beautiful hair and I used to style it rather well. People in the streets would stop me and ask me about my hair. Then, I started styling my friends’ hair. So, at the age of 16, my journey in the world of hair started with styling. To this day, I think my blow dries are the best.

Eventually I started doing styling at weddings. It led me to travel to different countries with my VIP clients. I thought to myself since I am so good at this and I am earning good money, too, I might as well get the necessary qualifications.

They say, no one can take away your skill from you. Keeping that in mind, I went ahead with my training with hairdresser Leslie Frances in Barnsley, Yorkshire. It was one of the best you can train with!

I used to work on the floor for five days and learn for two days at the academy. I got started with colour, and honestly, it was crazy. I was just very good at it!

We got to work on models, too, and my chair was always fully booked. While working on the floor, I was always interacting with the clients, building relationships. They used to tell them they can’t wait for me to qualify. Ever since, I have never had a dead day.

While I’m naturally good at hairdressing, I am also a perfectionist. I dabbled in Balayage long before it blew up as a trend. Because my hair was thick, a colourist gave me horrible highlights. I went back home and played with colours and created a flawless transition. People from the salon community appreciated this technique but other people couldn’t understand how come my highlights were not as high. It’s not meant to look like it’s growing out of your brain. It needs to be blended, but not many understood me back then.

I’ve had such a great journey in hair colouration. I think I’m like a hair whisperer – I take one look at the hair and know exactly what it needs.

Since your niche is colour, don’t you do cuts and styling anymore?

I definitely do! I do cuts because I have a lot of clients that fly in just for a cut because they say I have a ‘green thumb’. My cuts work very well because I stick to classic techniques. There are so many different techniques and trends but I feel hair should always look elegant and classy. You can still have fun with the styling, but deep down women just love beautiful, healthy, luscious hair.

So, the way I prefer cutting hair is to just stop the split ends from working their way up and making the hair look heavy. And I want hairdressers to learn this classic technique of cutting. We have lost classiness in hair cutting these days, and I would like to bring it back. Even while blow drying, there is a certain way to hold the hairdryer to prevent breakage and to avoid hair from snapping.

How does this collaboration with The White Door happen?

My friend who does microblading is associated with The White Door, and she encouraged me to come to India. I have always been eager to work in India as a large part of my clientele is Indian, and they have supported me throughout my career while I was in England. I love working on Indian hair.

I have been approached to work in India before but nothing really clicked. I like to work with people who understand the business, collaborations and long-term relationships. Working with The White Door and Sana Dhanani (owner) was a great experience as they are professional, eager and excited. And we both share the same passion of client satisfaction.

This was my first trip to India, and my agenda was to meet up with the clients at The White Door. Eventually I will get into training too, including masterclasses.

You work extensively in Dubai and England. How is the hair industry in these places different from each other and from India?

Dubai is a happening place right now with everybody wanting to go there. It’s got so much glamour!

Women there like pampering themselves and are very well maintained. That’s what I love about Dubai as our industry needs such clientele. In England, people get groomed for special occasions or maybe go for root touch-up. But in Dubai, your nails must be done, your hair must be perfectly blow dried. So, it’s a great market for our business.

I think India is definitely moving in that direction. The White Door has already noticed these details ahead of competition. I love that the women here are really into beauty and hair care. Men are also opting for blow dries and scalp and hair treatments. So, it’s good to be here and be a part of the growth of the Indian market.

In India, why did you choose to collaborate with a salon instead of a brand?

Because I am still really in love with the idea of meeting my clients and being hands-on. I feel like what I do is very unique. We are living in social media world where everybody does hair.

I have 25 years of experience behind me. I look at someone’s hair and know exactly what it needs. I want people to experience that one-to-one.

I am working brands around the world, but when you are working for a brand, you’re selling products and training hairdressers. But I want my customers to experience what I really do and have that one-to-one connection and trust with them. I would eventually like to have the Nicky Lazou Association.

Which colour trends do you predict for 2025?

I think we’re definitely going back to the ’90s, back to elegant hair. We will also see more of the sleek, flat gel finish-like look.

But it’s not for me! I’m more like a Victoria

Secrets girl – the bouncy, flowy hair and the ’90s supermodel look. We will see a lot of the classic blow-out as well as caramels and golds. It’s not orange and brassy. It’s that golden look!

Babylights are going to be huge in 2025 where you see ribbons running through your hair. Although I create incredible blends, I will still do that. I will have the odd kind of ribbon running through the hair to create the ’90s look.

What advice would you like to give to Indian colourist?

With the heat and humidity here, always focus first on haircare.

Even if that means that the client needs two or three appointments to achieve the goal. Invest time and invest in good products for your clients. Invest in the best and the latest colours. You need to constantly be up-to-date about new colours and new trends.

I’m always buying the latest colour, and looking out for what’s new. For instance, now you can do treatments along with colour. That’s how you’re going to get the trust of your clients. That’s how you will be able to give them beautiful hair and long lasting colour. If the hair is not healthy, no matter how good the colour is, it will not stay.