Red nut needing hair preparations (6)
I believe the answer is:
engels
'red' is the definition.
(I know that Engels is a red)
'nut needing hair preparations' is the wordplay.
'nut' becomes 'en' ('nut' is printers' slang for an en space).
'needing' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'hair preparations' becomes 'gels' (I've seen this in another clue).
'en'+'gels'='ENGELS'
(Other definitions for engels that I've seen before include "Friedrich ---, helped Marx" , "German political philosopher who collaborated with Marx" , "Co-author of the Communist Manifesto, 1848" , "Marx's co-author" , ". . . and his friend, Friedrich" .)