How Jenn Agnew Came to Celebrate Her Natural Beauty

In partnership with Burt’s Bees, FASHION is celebrating natural beauty and the women who define it.

For Jenn Agnew, natural beauty “is about embracing what you’re already blessed with and being comfortable in your own skin. But also being comfortable enough to branch out and be fearless and do something different, whether it’s to your body, your hair, your makeup, your career, anything.” Jenn joined us on the set of our shoot with Burt’s Bees and while she was getting her nails done, we stole a few minutes to find out more about her path to self-love.

“It’s been a journey,” she shares. “I tend to be very hard on myself, whether it’s how I look, how I’m feeling, how much I’m working out, whether I’m doing things right in my career but I feel like I’m at a place right now where I have accepted how I look and how I feel. And I feel like that has helped me personally and professionally to feel happier and allow those around me to see that beauty and that happiness come out.”

Mindfulness has also played a role in her journey. “When I was younger, I wasn’t in tune with my body, my thoughts and my own mental health so [now it is about] being aware and mindful of how I treat myself internally and externally: how I talk about myself to myself when I look in the mirror, and how I present myself to others,” she explains. To help get herself in a good mood, Jenn says she’ll do “something that gets my body moving” like going for a run or a walk as “it puts some colour on my face.” Or it could be buying  “a new lipstick, or a mascara, something that’s a treat for me that I wouldn’t normally do” as it’s “something that I’ve done for myself that I can then put on the outside as well.”

As for her daily routine, Jenn says she likes to keep it simple when it comes to her hair and makeup. “It’s usually minimal skin coverage, mascara and lip gloss.” In fact, if she could only put on one product in a day it would be lip gloss. “I just can’t handle dry, chapped lips,” she tells us. For this shoot, we followed Jenn’s natural beauty by using the Burt’s Bees Goodness Glows Tinted Moisturizer, Defining Eyeliner in “Hammered Bronze,” Eye Shadow Trio in “Dusky Woods” and Lip Gloss in “Flushed Blush.” Each product is consciously crafted with nourishing ingredients from nature (think green tea, avocado oil and shea butter), meaning Jenn could feel good about what we were putting on her skin. Plus, all Burt’s Bees products are formulated without parabens, phtalates or petrolatum and are not tested on animals. The product packaging is also crafted using post-consumer recycled content to make it as recyclable as possible.

Keen to lead a more natural life but not sure where to start? Jenn offers this advice: “I think what is important is making an effort to learn and [have] awareness. That’s the first step. It’s not an overnight change.”

Get Jenn’s natural beauty look below:

Main photograph by CARLYLE ROUTH. Product photography by SANDRO ALTAMIRANO. Creative direction by GEORGE ANTONOPOULOS. Styling by ELIZA GROSSMAN. Hair by JUSTIN GERMAN FOR P1M.CA/BANG SALON. Makeup by SUSANA HONG FOR P1M.CA. Manicure by ANA MAE VILLAGRACIA FOR P1M.CA/TIPS NAIL BAR. Photography Assistant: ASHLEY VAN DER LAAN.