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The woman behind Jennifer Lopez’s sun-kissed highlights, Anya Taylor-Joy’s icy blond, Dakota Johnson’s decadent chocolate brown and Emma Stone’s career-defining red (yes, she was the first to take her there) answers my Zoom call from The Hamptons. Casual. Tracey Cunningham, Hollywood’s most-in-demand colourist, has dialed in from an undisclosed client’s (I asked…) sun-drenched home. While she waves it off as “just another work trip,” when your job takes you from vacation homes to Oscars prep (Cunningham reportedly coloured, glossed and highlighted at least 17 big-name clients before last year’s ceremony), it’s hardly a nine-to-five. “I’ve always been a worker,” she says with a shrug. “Some people are, and some people aren’t.” That work ethic was ingrained long before Cunningham ever touched a celebrity’s head of hair. Raised in Seattle, she had her first taste of salon life at Gene Juarez. “Basically, I was a maid—served tea, swept up, did laundry—but at the time, I thought it was the most awesome job ever,” she recalls with a nostalgic grin. From there, she followed her instincts south to La Jolla, Calif., where she worked as a receptionist at a real estate office before impulsively packing up for Los Angeles.
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF TRACEY CUNNINGHAM
The big break came in the most unexpected way—through Bette Midler. While working as Midler’s nanny, Cunningham casually offered to blow out the star’s hair. Midler quickly noticed her talent, and the morning ritual stuck. Midler even paid for Cunningham to attend beauty school. “Bette really took care of me,” she tells me. Soon after, Cunningham found mentors in some of Hollywood’s most-sought-after talents: Robert Ramos, Philip Carreon and Chris McMillan (the man behind Jennifer Aniston’s “The Rachel”). Her early influences, she says, gave her a front-row seat to a golden era of L.A. hair and instilled the lesson she still repeats to her own assistants: “Less is more.” Natural, lived-in colour is now her signature, although she’s the first to say that rules are made to be broken. Cunningham’s career has grown almost entirely through word of mouth—a rarity in today’s Instagram-driven beauty world. “Clients spend hours in your chair,” she says. “It’s not just about the colour; it’s about who you are as a person.” That combination of talent and trust has put her on call for everyone from Drew Barrymore to Paul McCartney. One defining moment came in 2008, when model Lily Aldridge asked her for a colour correction after she’d appeared on the cover of an international edition of Vogue. Cunningham responded by creating the now-iconic ombré—luminous, rooted highlights that looked effortless and low-maintenance and were instantly trendsetting. After years of working in some of L.A.’s top salons, she eventually co-founded Mèche Salon in Beverly Hills with Neil Weisberg. She describes the space as Cheers, “where everybody knows your name.” “We’re in the feel-good business,” she tells me. [instagram-oembed url=”https://www.instagram.com/p/DN5kuUkEaoP/?hl=en” /] Although her schedule is jam-packed (during the holidays, she sees around 50 clients a day with the help of a team of assistants), Cunningham still carves out time for education. As Schwarzkopf Professional’s U.S. creative director of colour and technique and a longtime Olaplex ambassador, she has been at the forefront of industry innovation. One of the very first colourists to champion Olaplex’s bond-building technology when it launched more than a decade ago, Cunningham remains fiercely loyal to the brand. “It literally changed all of our lives,” she says. Beyond products, she’s equally passionate about sharing knowledge. My own colourist in Toronto has studied under her for years, travelling to attend her master classes. It’s a testament to the way Cunningham has shaped not only Hollywood hair but a whole generation of colourists. For all the glamour of her resumé, what she craves most now is balance. “My number one goal in life is to hang out with my family and get enough sleep,” she admits. Still, days off are rare. “My job is a party. I get to see everyone, and I love it.” Even after decades at the top, Cunningham has an energy that feels unstoppable, proof that hard work (and a little serendipity) can transform not just hair but a life. [content_module id=”1″] This article first appeared in FASHION’s November 2025 issue. Find out more here. Continue Reading
