Gloss Boss: how alopecia inspired Lorna Luxe’s haircare range
With 1.5 million followers, the luxury lifestyle content creator may seem to have it all, but she has struggled with hair loss for years — and now she’s on a mission to transform your hair, too
“I’m skint, babes!” confides Lorna Andrews, the 42-year-old fashion and travel influencer known as Lorna Luxe to her 1.5 million Instagram followers. “I’ve ploughed everything into the business,” says the woman who appears to have it all, but whose struggles with hair loss have led to a new damage-repairing haircare line, No 98 Beauty.
Andrews is known for documenting an ultra-glamorous lifestyle – shopping at Tiffany New York, hopping onto a private jet with her husband John, relaxing in their architecturally striking modern home in Warwickshire.
Lorna Luxe and her husband John on a private jet (left) and on holiday in Venice (Images: Instagram @lornaluxe)
Yet, while her Instagram aesthetic might look visually perfect – and we all know that the influencer life relies heavily on gifts and brand collabs – she does not claim to be that herself. It’s her willingness to let viewers into the realities beneath the glossy surface, such as her mental health, John’s battle with cancer, and her best-friend energy, that makes her utterly likeable. The former Virgin Atlantic cabin crew member, who grew up on a Manchester council estate, says her friends and family keep her grounded: “They tell me when I’m being an idiot!”
At home in Warwickshire and en route to a skiing trip in Courchevel, France (Images: Instagram @lornaluxe)
She is radically open about her mental health, including her battle with anorexia and bulimia during her 20s and 30s, which she describes as a “car crash”. Her community, she says, “probably like that I am ready to be raw and admit when I’m not coping”.
But it’s her hair loss journey that has particularly captured her audience’s attention. After visiting a trichologist at the Philip Kingsley Clinic in Mayfair, she was diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia, a hereditary type of hormonal hair loss characterised by thinning around the temples. “It was a ‘kerching!’ moment. I’d thought it may be linked to my anorexia, which I’m sure didn’t help, as the first thing the body does is take nutrients from the hair. But they said it’s probably hereditary, as my mum and nanna had similar issues. It affected my self-esteem.”
Now her hair is noticeably healthier and her confidence restored. She ploughed all her learnings (and earnings) into her haircare line No 98 Beauty, so-called after her own home fragrance Ghost No 98 (she also collaborated with Provence rosé wine producers Lady A on a rosé of the same name, Ghost by Lady A). The scent is part of her homeware business, LA Space, launched in 2023, loved by the likes of actor Michelle Keegan and The Pussycat Dolls. Apparently, her pyjamas were ordered to Lionel Richie’s house recently.
The range comprises a shampoo and conditioner and her personal hair saviour No 98 Beauty Hydra Bond Hair Mask, £35, which is rich in plant oils and bond-building proteins, especially for hair recovering from damage.
Dialling in from the Le Bristol in Paris (John pops in, in a fluffy white hotel dressing gown), she is wearing zero makeup with her hair in a messy top-knot and is game for a screenshot, “just keep it real at this point,” she laughs.
A makeup-free Lorna video-calling writer Florence for their interview
Andrews is open about the fake-it-until-you-make-it approach needed to succeed in content creation. In 2012, she started out sharing photos of her outfit every day before work. At this point, she’d left the airline to manage the social media for a homeware company. Her GRWM (get ready with me) videos, became wildly popular in lockdown and her following rocketed to more than a million.
Initially, the couple had to fund the trappings of glamour themselves. “We got into £200k of debt building Lorna Luxe, from spending on things like holidays and Chanel handbags. We paid it off in a year from brand collaborations. John believed in me: he said, ‘I had no idea what you were trying to do, but you were happy, you finally had a twinkle in your eye, so it was worth every penny’,” she says.
Now with her hair back to health, her brand flourishing and her new haircare selling online across Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia, she shares her secrets to self-made success against the odds.
My lightbulb moment
“Speaking to the trichologist at Philip Kingsley, changed the game: I finally understood the breakages and volume loss, and that my hair will always need extra TLC — it can be reversible, if you catch it soon enough. However, the shedding worsened with stress in recent years, since John’s been in the hospital [he was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus and stomach three years ago and is currently battling an adrenal tumour].”
She was put on a three-month treatment plan, which involved using a special shampoo for protecting fine, flyaway hair and applying hair masks every other day to reduce breakage and protect the hair she did have. Also she was prescribed hair growth drops containing minoxidil and was advised to change her diet to include more protein.
“Hair masking became a big part of my routine: I was doing four a week, for scalp exfoliation, hydrating, bond structuring and toner. But I was also time-poor. I thought, why can’t I have something that does it all in one go? I wanted a one-pot wonder. So, I started working with experts with 40 years of experience, in a lab in Scotland to formulate a mask that did everything. Not just moisturising but strengthening, smoothing and generally making things more manageable — while smelling lovely. After 18 months, we finally launched No 98 Beauty in June.”
“Yet, it’s not just a haircare line, we have plans for four new products soon — which might be skincare… So watch out!”
Lorna showing the before and afters of her three-month hair transformation programme with Philip Kingsley (Image: TikTok @lornaluxe); and the new No 98 Beauty hair mask, shampoo and conditioner
My biggest crisis
“I knew I wanted the No 98 Beauty Hydra Bond Hair Mask to have our signature ‘Ghost No 98’ scent, which had to be just right. It’s inspired by our home in the Warwickshire countryside, which is called The Ghost House — I had it profiled to create a bespoke room fragrance, with smoky, sexy notes of cedar wood, frankincense and myrrh.
“But, when we tried to use this same fragrance directly in the haircare formulation, I realised it was too overpowering for something you wear directly. It needed something different, and it took multiple iterations to find that. What we’ve now created for No 98 Beauty is more subtle and wearable, yet still long-lasting and evokes the same emotions — but, for a while, I didn’t think we’d pull it off”.
Lorna with her husband John at The Ghost House (Image: YouTube The Luxury Homeshow)
How I get things done
“I’m fairly relentless if I have an idea. When I started as an influencer, I was a one-woman band: John took my pictures, I did everything else. But as my business has grown, I’ve acquired a team and realised I need them to make stuff happen.
“For example, I don’t use a laptop and can’t do email! So they know to do everything with me over Whatsapp groups instead. Learning to delegate and accept that I’m not the smartest person in the room has been key. I surround myself with good people, who keep me in check”.
What I tell my doubters (including myself!)
“I’m probably not the best person to ask, because I have tunnel vision with my business. I ignore negativity and doubt: it’s draining, I can’t afford to give it any oxygen. So, you won’t see me being critical on social media. If I don’t like something, I don’t mention it. This has helped me to avoid trolling.
“But I do believe it’s good to take on board criticism — customer feedback is a gift, and listening to advice from peers, who’ve walked the walk, is invaluable. But I wouldn’t accept criticism from anyone who hasn’t at least attempted to walk in my shoes.”
What I do to stay sane
“I spend a lot of time on my phone, so anything that distracts me from that, I’d consider wellness. I enjoy reading on my Kindle or having a sing-along in the car. And I especially love snuggling up with our Maltese terrier, Bear, to watch Love Island with a glass of rosé while I do my hair mask! I can sit and tune out for an hour, it keeps me from feeling overwhelmed.”
With her Maltese terrier, Bear (Image: Instagram @lornaluxe) and Lorna’s rosé wine collaboration (Image: Lady A)
How I put my game face on
“I’m a Leo and big into horoscopes, so I always have to have my ‘lion’s mane’ looking good. If I’m having a bad hair day, it all goes wrong! I don’t often book blow-dries, but I’ll do a hair mask the night before a big event, and use nourishing oils — we’re currently developing a lightweight version for No 98 Beauty, which I can’t wait to bring to market — to make it look extra glossy if I’ve got something important on.”
Lark or owl?
“I am a night owl and often stay up til 1am, but find my work productivity peaks around 4pm, then I’m done for the day mentally. So, I wake up at 8am each morning, usually to lots of texts from my business partners.
“No day is the same, and I’m ok with that. I work at my own speed and do as much as I can. This is a luxury of being self-employed.”
Where I get my energy from:
“I get mental energy from mates: we’re always on the phone, and many are in the same industry, so they have the knowledge, ideas and lived experience. It helps me stay sane and get excited, because it’s so inspiring to hear all the amazing things they’re doing.”
The last time I cried…
“It was in the hospital last month, when I saw my husband deteriorating. He was fighting a fairly relentless infection. I felt completely helpless, and, as I spoke to a nurse, I burst into tears. Before that, it was probably 10 years ago: I’m not one for crying.
“Recently, however, we had a positive update after seeing an oncologist and found that he’s a suitable candidate for a treatment to blast out the tumour. He’s living with cancer, and that’s the goal for the next 30 years. There’s nothing we can do, you just have to get on with it and do the things you enjoy. I’m very happy with John. I just am positive, and he keeps me positive.”
What you’d find on my desktop
“I don’t have a desktop or workspace — I don’t even have a laptop! I do everything from my phone. If I need something beyond that, my team do it for me. This keeps me way more productive and mobile.
“Whenever I’m up in Manchester, I work alongside my small team in one big office. There’s no hierarchy, we’re all mucking in, but I’m the leader.”
My work/life boundaries
“I’m a 24/7 business, so I don’t have time for boundaries or switch-off days. Being self-employed is a lifestyle.
“It’s the same with John and my relationship: we don’t switch off from talking about work. We’re consistently sharing what we’re doing and discussing how to remain interesting online, because it can be boring following people after a while! You have to be intentional. So, often we’ll say, shall we go stay at a hotel? Or think of other cute, little things to do. This has forced us to keep dating each other, so actually, you could say that Instagram has saved our marriage!”
Lorna and John Andrews on their wedding day in 2009; and the couple now (Instagram: @lornaluxe)
My dream boss
“I’m an only child, so I will always rather be my own boss! But, a business inspiration of mine is Richard Branson. At 21, I joined Virgin Atlantic as crew, and he was the first entrepreneur I’d met in real life. In training, his philosophy of customer service was: if you can do it, do it. So, if a passenger asked for something which meant going the extra mile, he encouraged us to do it, win them over and log it so HQ could understand what was missing. This is something I’ve carried into my businesses: we’re always looking for ways to improve the customer journey and have an in-house Whatsapp group dedicated to it.”
Lorna Luxe (right) when working as cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic; and today, flying by private jet (Image: Instagram @lornaluxe)
My one piece of advice for you:
“If it won’t matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes worrying about it now.”
