"I'm an old woman. [Laughs] It's been 52 years since I started hairdressing, and I started when I was 14—very young, that's not normal. That was in the '60s, when you could get out of school and do a [career program]. I started in Jutland, Denmark, but moved to Copenhagen when I was 20 because I wanted to move to a city. It was a big step, and you'll never know how it will go, but I went for it. My name was kind of special—you remember Gun-Britt—and I had done a lot of magazine work already, so that's what helped me set up my own shop when I was 26. It was just me and a receptionist, which is important. You need to have somebody to take the phone so you're not running out all the time on the customer! Now, I'm on the floor every day at 10, cutting hair. It's been many years, but I still love it.
My hair was colored dark until I was 50, and then I said, 'Time to go white.' Because it was already white! I had started going gray when I was 25, but I didn't want to show it. And then when I was 50, it was enough. And I think now it's my signature. People in New York always ask me if it's my natural color. They like it but they don’t have the guts to do it. I wash once a week with blond shampoo—not more, because I don't need to. I have my fantastic GB by Gun-Britt Dry Shampoo, and I use that in the middle of the week. I put it all over my hair and brush it and I think it looks fresh. I think good styling products are important—I use some of my soft hairspray and some dry booster that make the hair a little bit bigger, too.
Then, once a week, I use a styling iron. But I like my hair to look not too nice, which is in the haircut. Different girls at the salon cut it—I always pick someone new, and I like to use the youngest junior stylists because I want to sit and feel how they do it. It’s low layers, no huge layering. When you have long hair, it’s very important that it isn’t too thin at the end. I don't think I'll ever change it. When I get so old, I think I’ll just have it up in the back and be a little bit eccentric. But I always say, I don’t have the time to have the wrong haircut now.
I've been in the sun this summer, so I'm using La Mer Reparative Face Lotion SPF 30. I use a lot of La Mer—I like La Mer's Cleansing Lotion and Sisley's All Day All Year Serum for daytime. Then, at night, I use Sisley's Gentle Make-Up Remover. It's fantastic, and you can use it on your eyes and take your mascara off. I use a La Mer serum and then night cream. In the winter, I use my own products—I especially like the DB by Gun-Britt Night Cream.
And I love Bobbi Brown makeup... I think it's a little bit more grown-up. I admire that kind of maturity—I think Julianne Moore is so beautiful. She's grown-up, but I feel like she likes where she is and she isn’t trying too hard. Glossy and brown lipstick looks best with my hair—I use Chanel. My mascara is Chanel Le Volume, too, and I use an M2 Eyelash Serum every evening before I sleep. I never forget. My eyebrows I get dyed.
Nearly every morning, I do Pilates on the reformer. I do TRX also, which is hard. I do that once a week, every Saturday morning, before I come into the salon. But the important thing for my health is eating well, I eat very healthy. In the mornings, too, I'll take Welle Co Super Elixir, that's good for everything. I'm very good with food. Sleeping is important, too, but I'm not so good with that. I also need to be better about drinking water...when I drink, I drink champagne!"
—as told to ITG
Gun-Britt photographed at her studio in Copenhagen by Tom Newton on August 12, 2016.
