Beauty for Jeans
A life-changing haircut in London, a sale at The Only Jane, and the products I use to feel pretty these days.
NOTE: This sale was for American Mother’s Day and has now ended. Get early access to all sales at The Only Jane when you become a paid subscriber.
Hello and happy Mother’s Day weekend to all those who celebrate. I’m currently in Spain, where Mother’s Day was last Sunday, but since my American mother-in-law is coming to Madrid today we’ll observe it tomorrow in our own family bubble. Truthfully, I’m not big on this holiday, but I do love using it as an excuse to give women gifts, like a discount on things at The Only Jane. This weekend only, I invite you to shop 20% off my best-selling jackets. Use code LoveJane25 at checkout.
The Trip (left/top) and The Josie in Salt and Jet are 20% off. The Trip in Salt (not pictured) is also on sale. Use code: LoveJane25.
Vale, OK, onto content (it’s a long one with a fun ending, so go ahead and “view entire message” if you’re reading this as an email). Last week was both Día del Trabajador – the Spanish equivalent of Labor Day – and Día de la Comunidad de Madrid, a regional fiesta commemorating the city’s independence from French occupation in 1808. Back-to-back bank holidays meant an extra-long weekend for the kids, and so, I booked us a trip to London. Why not? We were craving the feeling of familiar territory. We’d been abroad – and somewhat adrift, from Tenerife to Sitges – for seven weeks. There were things I wasn’t finding in Spain (comic book-themed band-aids, Water Wipes, and Nurofen) that I knew I could get at the pharmacy in Chelsea Green. I needed dear friends, fresh sets of my favorite kids’ pajamas, and a haircut.
The haircut is something to talk about.
To be clear, it’s not that Madrid is lacking salons. But I had very little faith in my ability to properly communicate with a stylist in Spanish – or even some mix of Spanish & English – about what I like, which is a bob, but a bob with a lot of invisible shaping, particularly in the back which can get really heavy really fast if it isn’t cut properly. Before I left L.A., the woman who cuts my hair at Chris McMillan gave me the greatest tip: Go to Vidal Sassoon. The technique used to cut a bob is the same at every House of Sassoon, anywhere in the world, she said. “It’s classic. It’s proven. You can’t go wrong.”
And that’s how I ended up in Robert’s chair at the House of Sassoon on Greek Street last Saturday afternoon. Robert, who’s been cutting hair “forever,” charges £164 (about $220) for a cut. He has kind eyes, a grandpa-sweater body, and a Santos de Cartier watch on his right wrist. His own silver hair fits like a helmet, with short, peaked bangs in the front. It’s hip. He was cordial. The minute I sat down I felt safe.
Happy to indulge me in the details, Robert explained that to get a bob to hug the neck, you must remove some of the weight in the back (yes!), by cutting a layer of hair under the surface just long enough to clear the head’s natural curve. “Some call it an undercut,” he told me, “but it’s not really that.” This was actually the most Robert spoke. For much of my cut, which took an hour and a half, he was silent. Surgeon-like. When he finished cutting, he applied mousse to my wet hair. Mousse! (Vidal Sassoon discontinued its signature mousse a little more than a year ago and Robert was still upset about it. The closest thing, he said, is this.) He then dried it straight. Simple. Or so it seems.
I left the House of Sassoon feeling light on my feet and completely myself. P.S. I did not get my color done that day. For a tint I went where I always go in London: George Northwood, and Sally there brought my brune back to life.
Other beauty stuff I currently swear by…
Perfumer H Petitgrain eau de perfum. Citrus-fruit forward and musky, I love it so much.
Westman Atelier’s Baby Cheeks blush stick + Lit Up highlighter. The combo makes my face look like I’ve been French kissing.
Daily sun protection: Aveeno’s Positively Radiant Broad Spectrum spf30, which I’ve been using for more than a decade. To add oomph, I sometimes mix it with a little SuperGoop Glow Screen spf40 in Sunrise. (I think Glow Screen on its own is too intense. Combining it with a non-tinted sunscreen mellows it out.)
I stopped plucking my eyebrows 3 years ago and started using this tinted brow gel from Striiike’s leading eyebrow lady Kristie Streicher. It was a good move.
Dr. Maryam Zamani’s Reviving Bio-Placenta & Stem Cell Serum. You’d never know I’m a sleep-deprived mom of young children.
The Fatty stick from Hanni is my bedtime ritual for drenching hands and feet.
True Botanicals Renew Pure Radiance Oil. I packed half a dozen bottles of this for 3 months in Madrid because I cannot live without it.
As I’m attempting a Sneaker a Week from Spain, there’s a Footnote below.1 If you like this post – or my haircut – please say so by hitting the heart button. Your support means a lot. Thank you for reading. Thank you for shopping. Thank you thank you. Denim Forever.
Jane
FOOTNOTE: Coolway sneakers are made in Spain, look a lot like soccer cleats, and come in a jillion fun colors. Today, I like the silver ones. Tomorrow I may change my mind. Follow me on Instagram if you care to see me try them on in the crazy WOW Concept store on Serrano street.
I would want to buy all of those dog paintings.
adorable haircut! loving the european dispatches.