Donald Trump and his wife Melania last week left their home territory for a State Visit to the UK, where they were feted by the Royal Family with frankly mind-blowing levels of pomp and spectacle.
Now that the President is safely back on American soil, some of the secrets of that spectacle – and what the watching Brits thought – can be revealed by a well-placed source.
Because while the Princess of Wales turned to her regular stylist, Amanda Cook Tucker, to tong her curls to perfection, Melania Trump wasn’t going to be left behind when it came to the battle of the glam squads. The former model hired London-based celebrity hairdresser Lino Carbosiero to create her styles during the trip.
He and an assistant spent two days deep inside Trump’s inner circle – and have plenty to share.
Carbosiero works at the Daniel Galvin hair salon and, in 2014, was appointed MBE for ‘services to hairdressing’.
He became famous thanks to his work with pop stars including Kylie Minogue, who he styled for the cover of her debut album. He was the head stylist on the first three series of The X Factor and from 2008 became the personal hairdresser to PM David Cameron and his wife Samantha – hence the MBE.
He also looked after the Trumps on their last State Visit in 2016.
The most pressing question, of course, is just what Donald Trump does to his hair and face – and who is responsible?
One source says Melania Trump does her own make-up… likewise the US President. The pair are pictured at last week’s state banquet
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My man with a long-handled comb says the answer is… that the Don does it all himself, having learned a few tricks from his wife.
I’m told: ‘Donald does his own hairstyling and make-up – it’s not a professional job.’
Another source tells me: ‘Melania does her own make-up. Her make-up is very heavy, although it looks good in photographs. Honestly, she was as orange as Donald when you saw her in person.’
Trump’s signature ‘do’ – which relies on backcombing, folding over and plenty of hairspray – has long been a source of fascination.
Some years ago, his former barber Adrian Wood said that Trump would allow him to touch only the sides and back of his hair. ‘He’ll say ‘cut here, cut here, cut here’, and you’d start trimming and he’d say ‘oh, that’s enough there’. Then you’d go here and ‘oh, that’s enough there’, and that’s the way it is with him,’ Wood said.
Gesturing, Wood added: ‘We never cut this part of his head. This part of his head, he takes care of himself.’
Former stylist Amy Lasch used to look after styling Trump’s hair when he was hosting the TV show The Apprentice. She said: ‘When I looked at the back of his hair I could tell it was not a hairdresser cutting it. It was scary. It was just cut in a straight line. Someone in his inner circle was cutting and colouring his hair. His wife or maybe his daughter.’
London-based celebrity hairdresser Lino Carbosiero was hired to style Melania’s hair during her husband’s State Visit
She added that it wasn’t possible to comb it because so much hairspray had been used.
Sources say that Carbosiero was initially recommended to the Trumps by the Palace on their 2016 trip and say that he has also styled the hair of other visiting dignitaries including Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton.
So how do the Trumps measure up? I hear that the power couple were nothing but charming in person.
‘The Trumps are lovely to each other and to Lino. He is always impressed that his assistant is treated with the same respect and courtesy that he is,’ says a friend. ‘They treat him beautifully.’
Amanda Cook Tucker has looked after Kate’s hair since 2012 and accompanies her and Prince William on foreign trips. The colour of her hair is generally said to be entrusted to Richard Ward, and sources say that the Princess does her make-up herself.
No word on who’s responsible for her husband Prince William’s low-key style… although a few years ago he reportedly paid £180 for a buzz cut to minimise his bald spot.
