Diane Kruger on why she loves Cher and hates a blow dry

Truthfully, I have lost count of the number of times I have walked into a salon for a hair colour appointment with the an image of Diane Kruger up on my phone. Her lived-in linen blonde is everything I want my colour to be. Have I ever managed to achieve it on myself? Absolutely not.

So, when I received the news earlier this month that the award-winning actress had been made a Schwarzkopf Ambassador for the brand's For Every You campaign, I was intrigued. When the brand invited me to Berlin to sit down with Diane for a chat, I figured now could be my moment to finally discover what it is that she does with her hair colour that I just can't seem to get right. And while I quickly found out that her colour of choice is actually Schwarzkopf's Oleo Intense in shade 8-05 Beige Blonde (I've already got a box ready to hand over to my colourist), getting the chance to sit down with Diane meant I had plenty of time to chat over other beauty topics, too.

This is Diane Kruger's life in beauty...

My earliest beauty memory...

“My grandfather was a barber, and he would do my grandmother’s hair in a perm. I would spend a lot of time with them growing up. So, my earliest real beauty memory was my grandfather putting in those tight little curlers. He would teach me, and I would hand the pins to him. He did my mum’s highlights in the days when you could put the plastic cap on and pull out the strands. I loved doing that. I always wanted to be a hairstylist, to be honest.”

A beauty moment I wish I could relive...

"Being very young and the time spent in the bathroom when my mum or my grandma were teaching me to braid my own hair. Those are the moments I cherish, not because it was a great beauty moment but because it was a moment shared."

A beauty moment I wish I hadn't lived...

“I remember my cousin was getting married, and I was a flower girl. I must have been 10 or 11. I had really long, natural hair, and I insisted that I wanted to get a perm. I don’t know why my mum agreed to this but she let me have one. It was really flat on top and then these super-tight curls. It truly looked horrible. In the village I grew up in it was really not a look. I have a lot of pictures from my childhood where I have a scraped-back pony, sprayed to one side, with these tight curls. It was awful.”

The first beauty product I ever bought...

“I don't remember specifics, but it was probably an eyeshadow for the fun colours. It was the late eighties/early nineties, so it would have been some version of blue eyeshadow and liner.”

My go-to beauty destination is...

“I love a Duty Free and a Sephora. You can never go in there and not come out with 10 products. I also love having my hair coloured in Paris by John Nollet. They either come to me or I go to his boutique at the Park Hyatt Hotel Paris, and that’s always a lovely moment.”

My biggest beauty icon is...

“Cher. She has always looked great. Her make-up is always just right. That beautiful hair? Just iconic.”

A beauty product I have fallen in love with is...

"The Chanel foundation that has those little pearls in there [Chanel Les Beiges Water-Fresh Complexion Touch]. It is so beautiful. I just love it. It’s so nice to wear—light and fresh.”

The people who have taught me most about beauty are...

"Because I used to model, over the years I have picked up so many tricks from make-up artists. I love how things have evolved because when I was 16 and I started out, there was a lot of baking and now it’s changed so much. Although, I’m also not a fan of the no-make-up look. Especially as I get older, I think I need to define. I’ve learned from make-up artists on movies, too, which is very different to when you’re on a photoshoot. It’s all about how, with very little, you can change the shape of your face—even the shape of an eyebrow can totally change your face.”

My first red carpet look was...

"The premiere of Troy in Cannes. We went for something really simple and natural, and it was beautiful weather and the carpet was outside—it was lovely. I had always felt like there was a difference with American make-up artists at that time, there were a lot of lashes. To me, as a European, that didn’t [feel right]. I look at a lot of those pictures from my early career and wonder why they put so much make-up on me—I didn’t need that.”

My first catwalk look was...

“They were crazy. I didn’t do a lot of runway because I’m not that tall, but I remember doing Comme des Garçon and they had white clay in my hair. It looked super cool but it got solid, so I remember coming home and trying to wash that out for days. There was a lot of creativity in fashion in those days.”

The best blow dry I have ever had was...

"None. I hate a blow dry. I don’t like my hair straight. I get my hair done a lot, but I like to have my natural curl. Sometimes they blow it to then tong a curl in, but I really hate the look of a blow dry.”

The worst hair cut I've ever had was...

"When I was younger, my mum gave me that typical bowl cut. Although, I’ve had a few terrible ones.”

My biggest beauty lesson has been...

"Less is more. It’s such an individual thing and what works for some people might not work for you, but I know for me less looks best. However, I must say I love to play with make-up. I own an obscene amount of make-up, it freaks my boyfriend out."

My definition of beauty is...

“I admire girls who are so themselves. That’s what I want to be. I look up to that. I wish I could just say: 'Fuck it, I’m going to cut my hair and make it pink'. I get to do it for movies sometimes, so it’s fun to do that with a wig and take it off. I love it when my daughter wants to wear her hair in a certain way—things have changed so much, you can express yourself so much more.”