January Jones Avoids Facials, But She’s Down with “Vanderpump Rules”

Actress January Jones has dyed her hair just about every color of the rainbow, from red to black to pink, for various roles and just for fun. But her natural color — blonde — is what we know the ex-Mad Men star best as. Jones, who just wrapped her second season of The Last Man on Earth TV series and was recently named the new face of Kerastase’s Nutritive hair-care line, has returned to her flaxen roots and she’s feeling more herself than ever. In an interview, Jones reveals that she just bought her first-ever blow dryer, hates self-tanning, and still carries Lipsmackers in her bag. Oh, and unlike almost every starlet out there, she prefers not to get facials.

What prompts you to change your hair? What prompts me personally is when I finish a role, just to feel different. My favorite thing to do is to add pink highlights in a wash just to change it up. What usually prompts me to cut my hair is damage. I try to trim it regularly.

It seems long… Yeah, I’m trying to grow it out. I try not to wash it too much, and I use masks and treatments to just try and shed the Betty Draper ‘do. I haven’t had long hair in eight years. It grows pretty fast, though. My hair is pretty resilient, considering what I put it through, but trimming it and not washing it are the only tricks I’ve come up with thus far. Of course, there’s always the option of wearing a wig.

Did you ever wear one for Mad Men? No. The one time I wanted to wear a wig was when they changed Betty’s hair black. I said, “I’m wearing a wig, right?” Nope. I was wearing prosthetics on my face that were glued on so we couldn’t do a lace front wig, so I had to dye my hair black. And I had just done a movie where my hair had been long and red. I went from blonde to red to blonde to black to blonde in four months. So after the season was over, I cut it very short.

How do you usually do your own hair? I’ll do a soft wave with a flat iron, kind of like it is now. Pretty simple, I don’t have much time for it. I never blow dry at home. I just bought my first blow dryer ever.

What’s your hair’s natural texture? It’s really straight. I’ll wash it before bed and wake up with it sticking out however it wants to.

What’s your first beauty memory? I used to play barbershop with my sister when my mom was taking a nap. My sister had this beautiful long, white hair and every one used to call her Smurfette, so I cut it off about six inches, then I cut my bangs really terribly. My hair was already short and messed up because I liked to cut my hair all different ways. Then my mom would wake up and start to cry. She got very mad at me. But ever since I was little, I’d do makeovers on my sisters and cousins. We’d also do plays and musicals, and I was always director, main actor, choreographer, and writer.

What was your worst beauty blunder? See above? I had a lot of looks that I tried, but I wouldn’t say they were blunders because they were fun and I liked them. I mean, it was the 90s, so it was the perfect time to try all those looks out.

What beauty trends do you not get? I can’t do contouring. Also, I’ve never been able to use self tanner. It just looks bad with my skin tone. Over-tweezing brows is another one, but I guess that was more of a 90s thing. When chokers came back, I thought those were a huge mistake, but then I bought three. I always go back. I always try something once. Now that the 90s are back, it’s so funny, because I have the same reaction that my mom had when the 70s came back in the 90s. I’m like, “Oh my god, why is this coming back??” But I’m totally into buying it, or at least pieces of it.

What beauty products are currently in your purse? Nars Red Square lip pencil. It’s the perfect red for me. I wore it with the red fringe dress at the Golden Globes a few years ago. Also, Charlotte Tilbury compact powder, By Terry Baume de Rose in Cherry Bomb, a Lipsmackers Strawberry stick, and a Cle de Peau concealer in ivory. That’s all I wear every day.

What’s your five-minute beauty routine? Cle de Peau, By Terry, and Chanel Volume Mascara. And I also do a lot of Tom Ford Eyebrow Pencil in Blonde.

What’s always in your suitcase? More underwear than I need, cozy socks and about 30 pounds of beauty products. I love all my masks. It’s like therapy for me. For my zen moments in the tub, I put on a hair mask and a face mask. Even when I’m at home, 20 minutes of me time with the masks and the exfoliators. I don’t like to get facials; I like to do them at home myself. It just makes me feel like I’m pampering myself for a couple minutes.

Do you always try new products? Yes! I love trying new products! I started doing Birch Box to try new samples of things. When I ran out of my Sisley face cream, they’ll send me new products to try.

Do you have a favorite moisturizer? Sisley Supremya. I use their face and body sunscreens, and their day cream, oils, masks, and toner. But I use lots of other brands, too, including a couple La Prairie products and I.S. Clinical. They have a serum I’m obsessed with.

Describe your look in three words: Modern, edgy, and bohemian. They’re not cohesive at all, but I like to try new looks.

You’re in head-to-toe Altuzarra today. Is he your favorite designer? I was just saying my two favorite New York shows were Altuzarra and Prabal Gurung.

What are you currently obsessed with? The People vs. O.J. Simpson — when I get back to my hotel tonight, I’m watching the finale. I did not want to like it, but it’s so good! I like Vanderpump Rules, too, but this is so good. The acting’s very good. Sarah Paulsen is incredible. I told her and she said she hasn’t even seen it yet. She wants to watch the whole thing together.

What are you working on now? I just wrapped the second season of Last Man on Earth. It’s really fun — a nice change.

Do you like doing comedy over drama, or vice versa? No, I miss my Mad Men family, but it’s nice to do something a little lighter.

I read that you’d like to do live theatre… I actually got offered a play. I couldn’t do it because of work, but I’m not sure I would’ve done it even if I could. It scares me. It has to be the right thing. Also, 20 weeks, eight shows a week. It was daunting to me. I have a little one, so maybe in the future, when I feel more confident. I like doing things that scare me, but I wasn’t ready.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? Saturday Night Live. That was the first time I’d ever gone on stage in front of an audience ever. And the last time.