Lauren Gunn

I’ve been working with Stephen Marr for around 15 years now. As a teenager I had a crush on my hairdresser, he was very cool and stylish. I started out in Tauranga and had the privilege of working and learning from a woman named Bev Phillips who has great passion and integrity. Bev intoduced me to Stephen and Lucy Marr who have been the greatest influences in my life.
When I started out the ‘ Rachel ‘ cut was the height of cool, courtesy of everybody’s favourite Friends. My current obsession is creating thick, wavy midlength styles, along the lines of Bianca Jagger. New technology in creating volumising products has made this easy and achievable for nearly everyone. As a ‘look’ it’s strong and feminine.

I work really hard long hours so I have to take good care of myself. Everyday I take a shot of Lypo-spheric vitamin C and smother my skin in Osmosis Quench, I keep my hair simple, a sleek ponytail or braid, a bright lipstick and I’m good to go.
On special occasions I’ll lose the lipstick and smear lots of black eyeliner along my lashline, I love dark messy eyes so I’m deliberately rough with my application, then I add a heap of black mascara. To change up my hair at night I load it up with Wella Pro Series Volume Mousse to encourage waves and add body. My signature look would be considered quite natural but every now and then I will bust out with something spectacular. My favourite fragrance? Chanel No.5 parfum, it smells so old and classy to me.

I remember my favourite Aunt returning from Hong Kong with amazing gifts of Shisedo color palletes and going mad with them around age 7. I had no shame and wore all the colors all at once. Hehe, still a favourite look of mine.

I have no regrets and no desire to turn back time, my advice to myself and to the youngun’s is to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way especially the scary ones. I’m inspired by people who take risks and cut their own paths – Lee Miller, Vivienne Westwood, Godard, Duchamp…

Lauren works at Stephen Marr Ponsonby, a frequent fixture backstage at New Zealand Fashion Weeks she is highly regarded within the fashion industry. She is currently appearing in a campaign for Wella Pro Series.