Lorna Luxe on hair loss, grief, and finding comfort in makeup

The Beauty Desk

In this candid episode of The Beauty Desk, influencer and entrepreneur Lorna Luxe joins host Sarah Jossel to discuss navigating profound grief after the recent loss of her husband, John. She reveals how daily

Key takeaways

• Lorna Luxe founded the haircare line 98 Beauty after struggling with genetic hair thinning and wanting a multi-tasking mask scented with her home fragrance.
• She credits daily makeup application as a crucial psychological anchor that helped her process grief and maintain confidence following John's passing in February.

Main topics

• Grief and emotional wellness
• Hair loss and trichology

Notable quotes

"Beauty is a comfort, isn't it? For me anyway."

Conclusion

The episode offers a powerful reminder that beauty rituals can serve a

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Hi, I'm Katie Prescott from the Times Tech Podcast. AI is already changing business and medicine, but could it also change the way we look after our own health? In a special episode in Paid Partnership with Vitality, we look at how AI, wearables and everyday health data could help shift healthcare from treating illness to preventing it. Listen to the Times Tech Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (0:24) How do we truly navigate life's hardest moments? I'm Julia Samuel, psychotherapist and best-selling author. In my podcast, Therapy Works, I open the therapy room for candid, insightful conversations with people known and unknown. Discover what my guests have learnt and failed to learn about resilience and human connection. Listen to Therapy Works today. wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (0:57) I quite enjoy it. That feeling of going from Lorna, you know, the girl that just can't be bothered, to Lorna, badass, got a business to run. So Speaker 4 (1:06) basically, mine and Lorna's advice for fake town is just put more on. Speaker 5 (1:10) Just keep slacking it off. Slap on, slap on, slap. It's the only time where you can justify drinking, you know, alcohol at 9am. Because you're actually doing something people are doing. It's Speaker 4 (1:20) the healthiest option. Lorna Lux is the most unfiltered woman on the internet. This Speaker 5 (1:24) year has been so incredibly challenging. And right before John died, he admitted to me that he was worried. Worried that I wouldn't cope. Speaker 4 (1:30) There is nothing she won't share with her millions of followers. From her fake tan disasters and makeup mishaps to her battles with hair loss and navigating unimaginable grief after losing her husband John earlier this year. Speaker 5 (1:44) We didn't have one of those like TV deaths where, you know, you tell each other how much you love each other. Speaker 4 (1:49) Lorna's early days as cabin crew. When Speaker 5 (1:51) I worked at Virgin, not that I am a Virgin, but when I worked at Virgin, I'd always be smashing, grabbing in the boots at Gatwick. To Speaker 4 (1:57) being diagnosed with androgenic alopecia during lockdown. She has never pretended that life or her beauty routine is perfect. Speaker 5 (2:06) I'm someone that's quite honest about the fact that I don't know what I'm doing half the time. I do not look the same without makeup. I look very different. Speaker 4 (2:13) Lorna. Hello. Welcome to The Beauty Desk. Thank you so much for joining me. So I guess I will always be completely honest and say what I'm thinking, which is I was not sure if you would say yes. I wasn't sure if you would feel like this isn't the right time to be talking about beauty. I listened to you on another podcast where you did say, I just want people to acknowledge what's going on. I don't want people to pretend it's not happening. So I do want you to know that. And I want to just say out loud that I am so beyond sorry for everything. that you have gone through and I can't even begin to imagine what you are feeling and I am petrified to talk to you about beauty because it might feel wrong. No, I mean, beauty is Speaker 5 (2:57) a comfort, isn't it? For me anyway. Speaker 4 (2:59) Well, that is quite literally where I thought we have to start, which is people have said to me in my time as a beauty editor, I know when I'm not feeling good because I don't want to put on makeup that day. versus I'm going to fake it to make it today and I'm going to put a full face of makeup on and you have walked in. You know, I would have understood if you text me this morning and said, I'm staying in bed today. But you're here and you look stunning and you've been to the hairdressers today. Speaker 5 (3:26) I have. Speaker 4 (3:27) So the way that we start every beauty desk, and it's quite a thing to ask people to do, but here's a mirror. Speaker 5 (3:36) Brilliant. Speaker 4 (3:36) We ask people to just look in the mirror and what do you see? Speaker 5 (3:41) Probably my mom's eyes. I've got my mum's eyes. Thank God I'm turning into my mum. We are though. We all turn into our mums, don't we? 100%. I turned 44 on Tuesday. Speaker 4 (3:52) Happy birthday. Thank you. Speaker 5 (3:53) How Speaker 4 (3:54) was it? Speaker 5 (3:54) It was all right. I think like any birthday, you just want to be surrounded by people that you get on with and love, don't you? So I just went out with mates. And then more mates came and joined that I didn't expect. It's like not a Speaker 4 (4:07) pub crawl, it's a birthday crawl. It was a birthday crawl. People just kept joining. Speaker 5 (4:10) And we got to Scots at one, they booted us out at seven. And then we switched and went to Isabel and they booted us out at 11. So we did a really good day of drinking wine and Nasserine. It was really good. Speaker 4 (4:21) You know you've succeeded when they're just booting you out of each place. Speaker 5 (4:24) Yeah, Speaker 4 (4:24) yeah, yeah. You've done well. It was a really good day. Speaker 5 (4:26) But yeah, that age thing is, yeah, I am really not noticing my ageing. But I feel like the... things that you go through in your life, they do play out in your face, don't they? And your hair. Yeah. So I've not managed to swerve that, unfortunately. But, you know, doing my best. Speaker 4 (4:43) And then what about younger, Lorna? What was your relationship with your reflection like as a young girl? Speaker 5 (4:50) I had lots of freckles. And I was quite a chubby kid. Speaker 4 (4:54) Okay. So Speaker 5 (4:55) I used to just see that. I always thought I was quite unattractive. And I had very curly, tight, mousy brown hair. But big blue eyes. Speaker 4 (5:04) Always had the big blue eyes. So I've always liked Speaker 5 (5:06) my mum's eyes, you see. Speaker 4 (5:07) So Speaker 5 (5:07) that's why I would always notice my eyes when I look at pictures of myself or anything. Speaker 4 (5:12) You are so happy to be on camera, make-up free. Yeah, don't mind. Speaker 5 (5:15) I Speaker 4 (5:15) mean, most days you go on and you... Don't have any makeup on. Your hair's in a top knot. And you're so comfortable. Speaker 5 (5:21) Yeah, I don't care. I don't mind. But have you Speaker 4 (5:24) always been like that? Not Speaker 5 (5:25) at all. And in fact, when I first talked to camera, it would have been in lockdown before that. I'd never spoken to camera before. Speaker 4 (5:31) Wow. I Speaker 5 (5:32) never really took photos of my face. In fact, I started on Instagram by taking photos of my torso. They were called chest fizz. Because I always thought if somebody, if my head was removed, they could imagine themselves being in the outfit. And that was kind of how I grew my Instagram back in the day. Speaker 4 (5:49) That's so interesting. Speaker 5 (5:50) And Speaker 4 (5:50) of Speaker 5 (5:50) course, when lockdown kicked in, we couldn't leave our houses. We couldn't do street style photography anymore. And John was like, you know what? Why don't you just talk to camera while you're doing your makeup in the morning? Because that's what you do to me. So it was just like coming on, chatting to a pal. It was like a FaceTime. Speaker 4 (6:03) Yeah. Speaker 5 (6:04) And that was quite different back then. I think no one really did that. And so I built up a nice little community of people that quite enjoyed watching me put my slap on. And because I wasn't someone that knew loads about skincare back then. I'm a late starter on that. It was quite fun because I was experimenting with stuff and we were kind of learning together. And I feel like that I've kept that even now. I'm someone that's quite honest about the fact that I don't know what I'm doing half the time. That's why Speaker 4 (6:29) people love you. Yeah, they do. Speaker 5 (6:31) And also Speaker 4 (6:31) it's that the amount of people that I've met in my career that I'm like, oh, wow, you are nothing like what you are online. Whereas you are. The exact same person. I Speaker 5 (6:41) probably am, but I think it's that FaceTime piece, right? Because I come in each morning and I'm nattering online like I would to my mates. There's no difference. Well, my Speaker 4 (6:48) friend said last night, she said, I will blink and I'll be like on Story 46 and I'm still listening to her and I don't even realise I'm still listening, but I'm in. I'm hooked and I'm just watching. Anyways, back to beauty. That's why we're here today. So let's talk a bit about your relationship with makeup. So everything that you have been through in the... or consuming grief that you are feeling, waking up in the morning, what sort of lifeline does beauty give you, make up? Speaker 5 (7:13) Well, it's confidence, isn't it? Yeah. And actually, so John died in the February and I quickly moved house because I was in a rental and I wasn't very happy there. And so I texted my next door neighbour and I said, my house is nearly ready to move back into, but I've got like three or four months. Could I move into your house, which is empty? And he was like, yeah. And when I moved in, it's a mirrored house. So the entire outside of the house is mirrors, but also all the doors, internal doors inside are mirrors. And within about two days, I was like, I'm going to have to start putting slap on every morning because I can't be wandering around the house catching myself every second and thinking, oh my God, sort yourself out. So actually, it was the house that in the last few months has motivated me to get dolled up. Speaker 4 (7:55) That's so interesting. Even if you're staying at home, I was going to say, you're still going. But it is also that ritual where you just... I don't know, it just keeps you busy, it keeps you like doing something. It keeps me Speaker 5 (8:06) doing something. Quite often, I know a lot of influencer and content creators batch their content, but I don't really. Okay. So quite often I need to, at some point in the day, put makeup on to do a piece of content. Yeah. So that's been quite good for me. Speaker 4 (8:20) Yeah. Speaker 5 (8:21) And I think there's something really cathartic about the transformation, and it is a transformation for me. Anyone watching, I do not look the same. without makeup. I look very different. So Speaker 4 (8:31) there's people who you're like, oh, has she got anything on? I'm just not that person. I'm not that person. I've got Speaker 5 (8:35) loads of eyeliners on. I love all the smudgy, smoky eyes. I want big lips, cheeks, the whole thing. So I do know that I look quite different and I quite enjoy it. That feeling of going from Lorna, you know, the girl that just can't be bothered to Lorna, badass, got a business to run. Speaker 4 (8:52) Tell me also about your hair because you've spoken very openly about, how old were you when you got the diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia? Speaker 5 (9:02) 38 or 9, I reckon. Okay. And Speaker 4 (9:05) I mean, that's... Well, Speaker 5 (9:07) I always remember Annabelle Kingsley saying to me, I said to her, I've probably had this like a couple of years. And she was like, Lorna, you've probably had this for 15 years. It's such a, because androgenic alopecia is just a genetic hair thinning. She said people have it very early. and just don't deal with it because they put it down to ageing. And actually, the quicker you reverse it, the better. So the quicker you treat it, the more successful your results will be. And yeah, that kind of alopecia is in my family. I remember my Nana having very thin hair. My mum will admit to having much thinner hair now. And yeah, I just went all guns blazing in lockdown because we had nothing else to do. And I was like, right, I'm going to treat my hair, my scalp. I'm going to do all the things. I'm going to pay attention to what I've got to do. And I was quite diligent with it back then. I had a proper routine and it was great. Speaker 4 (9:57) I would say you have become sort of a voice of authority in the hair and hair loss space because you, well, you have so much wisdom. You've been through it and look at your hair. sitting here today. I mean, it looks incredible. So I guess anyone who's watching this or listening to this, who's going through it, what would your advice be to them? Speaker 5 (10:18) So I ultimately ended up consulting with a trichologist and getting my bloods done through a trichologist. But Speaker 4 (10:23) you'd be surprised, firstly, how many people don't even know what a trichologist is. Speaker 5 (10:27) You Speaker 4 (10:27) know, everyone's now heard of a dermatologist, but trichologists are still these sort of best kept secrets that can...