Elizabeth Berrett
On a night when diamonds, drama and dodgy acceptance speeches all fight for attention, Emily Watson let her hair do some quietly devastating acting of its own at the 2026 BAFTA Awards on Sunday, 22 February. Nominated for Supporting Actress for her powerful turn in Hamnet, which walked away with Best British Film, Emily Watson stepped onto the red carpet in a statuesque gown and a polished low bun crafted by celebrity stylist Carlos Ferraz in partnership with British hair and scalp specialists Philip Kingsley.
Red carpet calm, not chaos
While some stars arrive at the BAFTAs looking as though they’ve lost a fight with a wind tunnel, Emily Watson’s look was all poise and control: swept back, clean, and silk-smooth without ever veering into helmet territory. That balance was no accident.
Ferraz – whose client list reads like a casting director’s wish list, including Ellie Bamber, Eva Mendes and Kim Cattrall – has long been a disciple of Philip Kingsley’s “hair health first” philosophy. He’s been snapped on the street proudly toting a Philip Kingsley carrier bag alongside Renée Zellweger, like a man bringing sacred scrolls to set rather than shampoo.
For BAFTA night, the brief was simple but ruthless: natural texture, long-lasting hold, and a finish that would survive red carpet flashbulbs, air kisses, and whatever the British weather fancied doing.
At the heart of his prep was Philip Kingsley’s cult pre-shampoo treatment, Elasticizer – the backstage workhorse stylists have leaned on for decades to boost elasticity, shine and overall condition before a big event. On Emily Watson, that meant hair that looked expensive rather than overworked, glossy rather than greasy.
Inside the Emily Watson BAFTA hair routine
Beauty obsessives who like to know exactly what went on behind the scenes got their wish when Carlos Ferraz shared the look on Instagram – and broke down the process product by product.
On how he built the look, Ferraz said: “Due to the statuesque and elegant dress, we opted for a swept-back, clean style with a polished low bun. After washing with Moisture Balance Shampoo and Conditioner and detangling with the Vented Paddle Brush, I applied Maximiser to the roots for body and lift.
Perfecting Primer followed by Frizz-Fighting Gloss was then applied to the middle to the ends and blow-dried with the Radial Brush. After securing the hair in a low ponytail, I added more Frizz-Fighting Gloss by twisting and wrapping the ponytail to create the low bun. Finishing Touch was applied all over for hold and control.”
If you were looking for the cheat sheet to “red-carpet hair, but make it real life”, that’s pretty much it. Start with condition (Elasticizer), cleanse and hydrate (Moisture Balance Shampoo and Conditioner), detangle (Vented Paddle Brush), then build in lift (Maximiser at the roots), protection and smoothness (Perfecting Primer and Frizz-Fighting Gloss), before finishing with a controlled, low bun and a mist of Finishing Touch to lock it all in.
The result on Emily Watson was a style that looked as if it simply belonged with her dress – not something perched on top of it.
Philip Kingsley: from Olivier to Watson
If it feels like Philip Kingsley was born for a night like this, that’s because it more or less was. Founded by pioneering trichologist Philip Kingsley, the brand has a long history of quietly supporting the great and the good of stage and screen.
Kingsley famously created his iconic Flaky/Itchy Scalp Anti-Dandruff Shampoo for none other than Laurence Olivier, proving that even the greatest actor of his generation didn’t have time for a temperamental scalp. That theatrical lineage chimes neatly with Emily Watson’s own career, which includes an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress – a shared thread of British stage heritage running from dressing room to dressing table.
For a performer like Emily Watson, whose work in Hamnet helped propel the film to Best British Film status, hair isn’t vanity – it’s armour. It has to withstand rehearsals, press lines, and the kind of tightly scheduled award season chaos that would make most of us want to hide under a hat.
“The secret behind some of the most beautiful hair”
For Philip Kingsley, seeing Emily Watson’s BAFTA look come together with Carlos Ferraz at the helm was less a debut and more another chapter in a long-running backstage story.
Anabel Kingsley, Brand President of Philip Kingsley, summed it up: “For decades, Philip Kingsley products have been the secret behind some of the most beautiful hair on the red carpet, stage and screen. We’re thrilled that Carlos chose Philip Kingsley to create Emily’s BAFTA look.”
In other words, what you saw on the BAFTA carpet wasn’t a fluke. It was the product of a stylist who knows his way around a scalp, a brand obsessed with hair health, and an actress – Emily Watson – whose understated glamour suits a look that’s meticulously built, then made to look effortlessly simple.
And if you happen to find yourself in front of a camera, a crowded room, or just the harsh lighting of your bathroom mirror, you could do a lot worse than borrowing a page from Emily Watson’s BAFTA playbook: start with the health of your hair, keep the lines clean, and let the shine do the talking.
