Makeup guru Jentri Quinn talks about her makeup line, opening a new store and her best summer skin-care tips.
By Kaiti Neuman, Photos courtesy of Jentri Quinn
Makeup has always been part of Jentri Quinn’s life. As a young girl, Quinn carefully observed her mother applying it in the mornings; in her teens, Quinn did her own makeup before school in her mother’s home makeup shop; in college, she discovered the creative and artistic potential of makeup while pursuing her radio-television-film degree. Today, she owns her own makeup store.
Quinn’s love of makeup has taken her from working as a freelance makeup artist to a full-time aesthetician to creating her own eponymous product line. Her mission is to provide safe, high-quality, cruelty-free makeup. She also wants to provide products suitable for all skin types after struggling with her skin in her early 20s.
“When it was happening, it was really devastating,” she says. “It was painful, and I didn’t understand it.”
A friend introduced her to her first face mask. She soon became hooked on skin care and decided to acquire an aesthetician license.
“Everything inspires everything, right?” Quinn says. “It’s a domino effect.”
Once her path was clear, Quinn was all in, practicing on anyone she could. She eventually developed her own products and later combined her business with that of her partner, Alex De Mola Serrato, owner and founder of Cotone Clothing.
Her business is successful, but Quinn knows there is still work to be done.
“It’s not over; it continues,” Quinn says, adding she believes in continuously perfecting her products, even the top sellers.
Her latest project is a customized body bar highlighting her body-scrub duo. Customers can customize the product, choosing the scent of their scrub. After several months of experimentation with different scents and essential-oil combinations, Quinn and her team have developed nearly 20phthalate-free fragrances for the new scrubs, in addition to the six signature scents, and plan to develop more in the future.
“It’s a nice way to interact with and get to know our customers,” she says, noting she also likes offering her customers “something they can’t get anywhere else.”
With summer here in all its sweaty, UVB-ray-filled glory, Quinn shares some of her top tips for protecting your skin—and looking good doing it—during these sunny months.
1. Protect your skin right off the bat.
It’s never a bad idea to wear sunscreen, but Quinn especially recommends slathering on some SPF 30 or higher when “beaching it” to avoid harmful UVB rays. Look for zinc oxide, which protects from both UVA and UVB rays, and is a natural, nontoxic sunblock found in many cosmetics, including all of Quinn’s vegan products.
Pro tip: UVA rays deeply penetrate the skin, often leading to premature skin damage. UVB rays are a force of their own, typically causing sunburns and damaging the outer layers of skin, which can eventually lead to melanoma. Don’t forget to reapply throughout the day.
2. Be diligent about aftercare.
So, you accidentally forgot to reapply your sunblock, and now your skin is bright red and on fire. Quinn recommends applying aloe vera multiple times a day to calm and heal the skin. There are many aloe products you can buy, or you can break off a leaf from the plant itself. She also says a lactic-based bath soak, such as Quinn’s new milk bath, can work wonders to soothe flaming, irritated skin.
3. Get that sun-kissed glow without the sun.
For those who don’t want the risks of sunbathing but still want to look like they just got back from vacation, Quinn has solutions. Body shimmers, tinted moisturizers and bronzers are all great ways to get that fresh-from-the-beach look. Quinn also recommends exfoliating to prep the skin and maximize the benefits of moisturizing products, such as her whipped body butter shimmer.
4. Stay hydrated.
Drink plenty of water—all the time.
“H2O is your friend,” Quinn says. “There’s really no substitute, unfortunately.”
She adds that caffeinated beverages will only increase dehydration. But, she notes, hyaluronic acid can be applied to the skin to increase and retain skin cells’ moisture, as well as plump the skin. She offers a vegan optionthat can be used alone or mixed into other products.
5. Oil Up.
For those areas of the skin that sometimes get neglected—elbows, feet, ankles—Quinn recommends using high-quality oils, such as extra virgin olive oil or argan oil, which can bring the driest areas back to life. Quinn’s Quinntessential Beauty Oil, in particular, can be safely used on hair, skin and nails.