Celeb Hairstylist Justine Marjan on Her Quarantine Must-Haves + Zoom Hair Tips

Plus, the time she sprayed sugar in Ashley Graham’s hair 24 times (?!)

Whether you’re a haircare fanatic and have never missed a beat when it comes to new products, styles and celebrity trends, or you’re totally removed from the world of hair and have never even heard the word “balayage” before, you’ve seen the work of hairstylist Justine Marjan. No, really. The stylist, who has been working in hair for the last 15 years (first in salons before transitioning to celebrity and editorial styling) is the mastermind behind some of the most memorable celebrity hairstyles of the last few years. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Remember back in 2019 when Ariana Grande was rarely photographed without a rhinestoned hair clip or bobby pin adorning her iconic ponytail, especially during her Sweetener World Tour? Those were courtesy of the Kitsch x Justine Marjan collection of accessories.

How about when Kim Kardashian started wearing her hair in a super-sleek half-ponytail?

Or when we all started wearing our thoughts and feelings in our hair? You guessed it. Marjan’s clips.

Having worked with A-listers like Kylie Jenner, Bebe Rexha, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Kehlani and more, we knew she’d have the answers to all of our burning hair questions. We caught up with Justine Marjan, who has also been the Global Stylist for TRESemmé since 2017, to chat all things haircare during quarantine (and beyond!).

How to manage split ends during quarantine

“Use a great shampoo and conditioner to maintain your hair,” says Marjan. “The new TRESemmé Maximum Lengths Shampoo and Conditioner are designed to fill in your split ends so if you aren’t able to get a trim and cut them off, you’ll see [them less]. But if your hair is particularly damaged from heat styling, colouring, hard water or bleach, the TRESemmé Keratin Repair line is more of a bond repair, so that’s great if your hair really needs damage repair.”

Justine’s quarantine haircare must-haves

“I’m a big fan DIY oil treatment before shampoo and conditioner,” says Marjan. She goes on to share the other things that have been saving her mane during the pandemic. “And the new Root Touch Up Sprays have been a go-to for me since salons aren’t open in L.A. and I get greys at the front of my hair, so that’s been able to blend them in for me. I also like it for updos and braids — any time there’s an exposed part, most people’s hair is a little sparse around the hairline, so spraying this directly at the roots makes the hair appear fuller. I also love a micro-fibre towel after a shower; it’s way more gentle than a regular towel and will cause less damage to the hair. I use the original Wet Brush Detangler in the shower to work through my conditioner. It really helps to prevent breakage when you’re brushing wet hair.”

Her go-to hairstyle for video calls

“My advice for anyone doing a video call is to keep a hair accessory on your laptop,” Marjan tells us. “I actually heard from another beauty editor that they keep a head band resting on the side of their computer so if they have to jump on a last-minute call they can just pop on the headband and look more put together. It’s also just nice to see some personality since you can really see someone’s fashion or style since you’re seeing them from the neck-up, but you can express that through your hair accessories. I’ve also being doing a lot of braided looks, playing around with heatless styles and playing around with different types of waves. We’re seeing such a resurgence of the ’90s voluminous blowout, so i’ve been doing a ton of blow-dries with different round brushes and then setting them using velcro rollers, just to get different effects and more volume in my hair.”

The most unusual non-hair related thing she’s used to complete a look

“I once had to go straight from the airport to Ashley Graham before the Miss Universe Pageant, and my hairspray exploded in my suitcase on the plane. I had to change her hair 12 times that day plus a dress rehearsal, so actually we had to do the 12 looks twice, and I didn’t have hairspray. And hairspray is my #1 product; if I could only have one product in my kit it would absolutely be hairspray. So I used regular sugar mixed with water in a spray bottle, because it hardens like hairspray.”