Inside Hairstylist Jen Atkin's Time at Home
For our June/July issue's Home is Where the Heart Is portfolio, celebrities and beauty pros share portraits and thoughts while staying at home during the pandemic. Atkin (above) is in Los Angeles with her husband, photographer Mike Rosenthal, and her two dogs, Roo (pictured) and Chewy.
As told to Elizabeth Siegel.
I have been watching a lot of '90's rom-coms, so Julia Roberts has been top of mind. I was inspired by her really bouncy, fun curls, so I thought I would show girls in quarantine how to get that on their own. I've been doing impromptu hair and makeup tutorials on my IG TV. It's my way of trying to help. Beauty is something that brings us joy, and it is such a strong connector for everyone.
[For this picture,] I started with wet hair, put in Ouai Wave Spray, then I used the Dyson Supersonic diffuser to get my hair, maybe, 60 percent dry — I was just trying to get as much volume and natural wave as I could before I went in with the iron. I used the Dyson Airwrap's small curling rod — it dries and styles your hair at the same time, which really comes in handy. Atkin is global brand ambassador for Dyson. Then I sectioned my hair and tried different finishing products on each section: Amika Curl Corps Defining Cream, Ouai Finishing Crème, Gisou Polishing Primer, and Not Your Mother's Curl Talk Sculpting Gel.
I have a whole closetful of products I haven't had the chance to try, so I thought what better time than quarantine time to do that? And then I used KKW Beauty eyeliner to make my mole more prominent, and sometimes I like to give myself fake freckles with Anastasia Beverly Hills' brow pencil. And the cashmere sweatsuit you see in the picture — I’ve been picking that up off the floor for a few days.
That's my dog, Roo. He's a rescue. I've been using my time during the quarantine to advocate for fostering, [and] in the past weeks have placed 25 dogs. I basically peer-pressured four of my friends into getting fosters; three of them are foster filled, [which means] they're keeping the dog, so I'm happy. I've been using social to show different rescue centers in New York, L.A., Chicago, and Boston that are looking for fosters, like Wags & Walks in Los Angeles.
My husband took the picture. He's a photographer so that works in my favor. He was like, "Babe, we need to do this before the light leaves!"
We're trying to keep a routine…. sitting down for lunchtime...talking with friends in the evenings on Houseparty. We set up a yoga mat and heater in a corner of our garage. Exercise and meditation have been super helpful for me. You know, it’s an anxious time right now for everyone.
I've been trying really hard to stay positive. But honestly, yesterday, I was feeling heavyhearted and I was like, "What can we do to help hairstylists?" So I'm sending $100 gift cards randomly to hairstylists who are hurting from salon closures. Hairstyling has felt recession-proof, but for the first time we've seen a complete stall.... But salons will open again and people will flood in.
You'll be working early and late at night. Post-quarantine, I think we'll see this amazing creative surge of people in fashion and beauty.
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A version of this story originally appeared in the June/July 2020 print issue of Allure. Learn how to subscribe here.
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