The British Beauty Council named “Bridgerton” actor Golda Rosheuvel, 56, its British Beauty Week ambassador for 2026 on Oct. 12. In a council interview she said stylists early in her career lacked knowledge of Black skin and hair, so she brought her own products to work.
The council announced the appointment in a website post and told Cosmetics Business about it at a British Beauty Week event in London. Rosheuvel plays Queen Charlotte in the Netflix series. Her other credits include “Luther,” “EastEnders,” “Lady Macbeth” and “Dune,” the council’s interview says. She was born in Guyana and raised in Britain from age 5.
Rosheuvel’s Experience with Black Hair on Set
The council’s interview begins with a scene from the first season of “Bridgerton.” Rosheuvel cried that season, the interview says, and the cause was not the pressure of playing a queen. It was a moment in the hair and makeup chair. Producers had discussed working some of her own front hair, including braids and textured hair, into her wig. Rosheuvel said that moment made her feel seen as a Black actress.
She described a different experience earlier in her career. Hair and makeup departments, particularly in theater, were not equipped for Black performers, the interview reports. “When I started, there was no understanding of Black skin and Black products,” Rosheuvel said in the council interview. She often supplied her own hair products. The interview says that changed on “Bridgerton,” where the production provided them.
She also said she accepted whatever makeup artists chose for years because she did not feel she had a voice. On ageing, she said the beauty industry does not celebrate older women enough and leans too heavily on youth. She praised “Bridgerton” for showing strong older women.
Her own early idea of beauty did not center on cosmetics, according to the interview. Sport filled her childhood. She played rounders, tennis and hockey for her county and aimed for an Olympic team. She said she wants to champion a broader definition of beauty that includes different skin and hair types.
How the Council Chose Her
The partnership began by chance, the council’s interview says. Rosheuvel was at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with her mother-in-law and was invited into the Weleda tent, where she met the British Beauty Council. She said they had an amazing conversation.
Millie Kendall, the council’s chief executive, spoke about the choice with Cosmetics Business. Kendall said the council chose Rosheuvel because she “really depicted the contribution hair and beauty makes nationwide,” Cosmetics Business reported after speaking with her. Kendall also said she hopes Rosheuvel raises visibility of how she relies on beauty and hair services.
Rosheuvel has held ambassador roles before. The Theatrical Guild announced on July 29, 2021, that she had joined it as an ambassador. The timing of this year’s announcement differs from last year’s. The council named Jerry Hall and Georgia May Jagger as 2025 ambassadors on Oct. 24, 2025, during a week that ran Oct. 20 to Oct. 26 under the theme “The Future of Beauty.” Rosheuvel’s appointment came 12 days into October.
What the Council’s Figures Show
Kendall published an essay on Oct. 12 that accompanies a report compiled by Oxford Economics and supported by L’Oréal Groupe. The essay argues that beauty is a social necessity. The essay reports that consumers spend an average of 13 minutes a day and £27 a month on personal care. By calculation from those figures, 13 minutes a day comes to about 79 hours a year, and £27 a month comes to £324 a year. Only 7% of consumers see personal care purely as a treat.
The average adult visits a hairdresser or barber every two months. More than 55% of personal care appointments take place on the high street. The essay also describes a social function. For nearly one in five users, a visit is one of their few human interactions in a given week. Among men ages 18 to 24 the share is 42%. Separately, 44% of frequent users report meaningful personal conversations with their providers.
The Oxford Economics page says the report combines a nationally representative survey of 2,116 UK adults with a geospatial analysis of about 191,200 beauty and personal care amenities. The essay reports UK-wide totals. It does not split them by ethnicity or hair type, which are the subjects Rosheuvel raised in her interview.
Where the Figures Disagree
The council has published more than one total for the industry’s size in 2026. The council’s Value of Beauty 2026 report page gives a £28.3 billion economic contribution for 2025. It lists £8.8 billion in tax revenue, up 7.5% from the previous year, and about 595,000 people working in the sector, down 2.8% during 2025.
It lists £4.2 billion in exports. The report page says its funding comes from council patrons and names Oxford Economics as insight partner. A separate blurb on the same page cites “close to 28.4Bn” for the UK GDP contribution. The council’s March 24 announcement of new Standard Industrial Classification codes gave a higher number. It said beauty contributes £30.4 billion to UK GDP.
The Oxford Economics page for the October report lists the same £28.3 billion, £8.8 billion and 595,000 figures, but describes the 595,000 as jobs supported. The Value of Beauty page describes the same figure as people who work in the sector. Oxford Economics dates its page Oct. 13, while the council posted Kendall’s accompanying essay Oct. 12. Kendall’s separate opinion piece in Cosmetics Business rounds the tax figure to nearly £9 billion.
Two ratios follow from the council’s own numbers. Dividing £28.3 billion by 595,000 gives about £47,600 of GDP contribution per job. Dividing £8.8 billion by 595,000 gives about £14,800 of tax per job. Both are calculations from the published totals. They are not average pay, because the figures measure contribution, and the two sources describe the 595,000 differently.
The March announcement also marked a policy change. The new codes are the first change to the industry’s classifications since 1948. Hair, beauty and spa services had sat in a single group with other personal services such as laundry and funeral services. The new group, code 962, has three sub-codes: 9621 for hairdressing and barber activities, 9622 for beauty care and other beauty treatment, and 9623 for day spa, sauna and steam bath activities. Kendall said in that announcement that the old classifications were “outdated.”
What Comes Next
Rosheuvel said in the interview that she was filming the fifth season of “Bridgerton.” Netflix says season 5 will air in 2027 and that filming is underway outside London. As of Oct. 18, the council’s ambassadors page lists 17 ambassadors and does not include her.
