MINUTES WITH ... JEN ATKIN
The celebrity hairstylist and founder of Ouai Haircare reveals her hair no-nos and thoughts on the throwback to ’90s trends. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR TRADE? One of the things that really drew me to doing hair was the idea of transforming a person and making them feel really good. With the rise of social media, I’m also really passionate about helping more women learn how to do their own hair. On our website (TheOuai.com), we do tutorials of real women doing their own hair, just to show people that you can achieve certain looks on your own. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR PHILOSOPHY? Take a chance, take a rest, and try layers. PET PEEVES WHEN IT COMES TO HAIR? Using products incorrectly—I’ve seen when people have used too much hair oil. Also, not cutting their hair or getting stuck in a long hair rut where they don’t play around with their hair colour. I wish people would do more! WHICH DECADE ARE YOU MOST INSPIRED BY STYLISTICALLY? I’m inspired by ’90s supermodels such as Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington; there was also a lot of variety in hairstyles then. I like Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer’s long, layered hair, and then there was also Gwen Stefani and Shirley Manson from Garbage. WHO WOULD YOU TRADE HAIRSTYLES WITH FOR ONE DAY? Dora the Explorer. I just did it! [laughs] I love Bianca Jagger’s hair and everything from the ’70s. Everything then was so cool! Ouai Haircare is available at Sephora stores nationwide. www.sephora.my