She's The Boss.(Louise Galvin)(Interview)

Byline: editor: Sarah Brown

How many people does it take to run a burgeoning hair-care business and get home in time to feed the baby? Plum Sykes meets beauty's one-woman wonder.

One of the strangest by-products of having a new daughter has been the noticeable rise in compliments I get about my hair color. "Plum, she has such amazing hair!" exclaim girlfriends, admiring little Ursula's unfairly thick and glossy mahogany locks. "I guess she takes after you."

Well, not exactly. Little Ursula takes after the ultranatural brunette shade British colorist Louise Galvin has been providing me with for the last two years. My natural hair color is a nondescript shade of mouse--with the odd gray. I was delivered from this life sentence of dull hair two years ago, when I ran into an English girlfriend, Alice, at Soho House in New York. Alice's hair--also once a bland brown--looked

different. Her hair was now that elusive, honey-kissed tone of brunette that gives the impression you've been picking apples in a sunny orchard for the last week. Louise had been coloring Alice's hair for several months, and the change was extraordinary. Within days I had an appointment with Louise in London. I have been seeing her ever since and using her natural shampoos religiously.

When I visit Louise at her immaculate, minimalist flat in West London, baby Ophelia is on the way to Hyde Park with the nanny, and Louise is waiting for me in her airy drawing room. Her glossy, long blonde hair--I'd describe it as the color of spun gold--is offset by her neat black sweater, skinny navy jeans, and ballet flats. We drink herbal tea from fine Herend teacups.

Louise runs her operation by herself. "I send every E-mail; I sit with the chemist; I organize the mail order," she says calmly