emma willis hair

The Voice host Emma Willis has the BEST hair! Her stylist reveals all the secrets

Thinking of going for the chop?

Director of Lifestyle & Commerce
January 26, 2019

Emma Willis' hair will always be at the top of our wish list - she always looks cool. The 42-year-old, who is currently on our TV screens hosting The Voice, is the Queen of short hairstyles. Whether it's quiffed, slicked down, brunette or blonde, she always looks picture perfect.

We spoke to her hair stylist of four years, Louis Byrne, who revealed everything you need to know about Emma's hair. From the products he uses to the colour techniques, and even the hair brush he swears by for getting Emma's incredible volume.

We have to talk about her new white blonde hairstyle that she debuted at the 2019 NTAs. Looking gorgeous in her Alex Perry dress, the TV star made us all want to reach for the bottle. Louis tells us it wasn't a decision Emma made on a whim, telling us: "It's been something we've been working on for quite a while. I developed a hair technique called Spotlight Colour, it's really about personalising the hair colour that you have. With Emma it's about enhancing the quiff area and using the colour to do that - creating a spotlight effect in the hair to give it a natural gleam and shine."

At the launch event for The Voice in early January, Emma was sporting lighter hair than usual, and it went perfectly with her millennial pink suit. Louis said: "We've been going from darker to light in a kind of gradual process. In the past year, we've taken it from stage to stage."

"Sometimes taking dark hair into a blonde can be quite damaging, so the Spotlight technique protects against that."

SEE PICS: Meghan's most stylish hairstyles since joining the royal family

The relationship between a hairstylist and a client is a special one, and Louis agrees. "I've worked with Emma for four years, she's very trusting and open. And when you have a relationship like we do - she respects me and I respect her and she knows that I would never make her look stupid, so that really helps."

Would she ever go bright pink or try a violet hue? Never say never, Louis said: "I think if there was an event or something like that, she'd definitely be open to try new things."

Emma's hair is fast-becoming one of the UK's most requested hairstyles, and Louis can see why. "I get loads of requests all the time for Emma's hair and how it's done. She wears it with confidence. "

Louis shares his advice for anyone wishing to recreate Emma's look: "If you're going to go for it you've got to really decide you want to do that, you've really got to commit to it. There's no point in going in-between, or half measures, you've got to wear it with confidence and pride. Go to someone who knows what they're doing and make sure it suits your hair texture."

Revealing his go-to products, Louis told us: "I always use Sealed Ends by Schwarzkopf Professional, it's a great leave in treatment. And I tend to use a thickening spray like Oribe Maximista. I use Sam McKnight's Cool Girl because it's like a cross between a dry shampoo and a hairspray but it doesn't make the hair sticky, but gives more hold than a dry shampoo."

If you're thinking of getting hair like Emma's the upkeep isn't too stressful. For cut and colour, Emma sees Louis the standard six to eight weeks. "I like short hair grown into something else, and if it's cut well it'll do that," he said.

"To style her hair, I use a Mason Pearson bristle brush which gives it a natural finish. And then occasionally, depending on the look, I give it a once over with irons but you have to be careful with which direction you put the irons in. If we're doing a big quiff we'd go straight up from the head rather than back or forwards."

What are the pros of going short? Well, Louis can list plenty. "Time and ease, for sure! It gives an air of modern, strong femininity. It's quite fresh, it's quite cool to have short hair and it's a strong look. I think short hair is more versatile than long hair … it can be the subtlest of changes that make the biggest difference."

This is Emma posing on the red carpet back in 2006 looking very different to the Emma we know and love. 

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