Some friends from the U.S. like to tease that my life in Paris is enchanting – jet setting across Europe, indulging in the world’s most fabled restaurants and pastry shops, regularly rubbing elbows with the most well known local talents, starting my days with historic views of the city and ending them with serenaded sunsets on my Haussmann balcony. Almost all of the fantasies are untrue (but make me laugh) and play into common stereotypes about living in most European cities.
The reality is, few are able to lead the kinds of lives worth envying (at least outwardly anyway) and life is no easier (but usually harder) than in the U.S. But if I had to pick someone whose experience and set-up in Paris comes pretty close to parfait, it would be American hairstylist Rubi Jones.
Rubi’s move to Paris may have been motivated by her husband’s job, but within only a year she has carved her own prominent place within the community, styling for Fashion Week, photo shoots all over France and private clients all over town (she is Anne’s go-to stylist!). All summer long, you can find her leading a twice-monthly hair workshop (free!) at Wanderlust,the creative space that recently opened at Les Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design along the formerly derelict industrial docks of the Seine. When she’s not traveling for work, she’s exploring her adoptive hometown. Here, she talks differences:
Describe what you love about France in three words.
History, food, art.
Hardest adjustment to living in Paris?
All the waiting and paperwork that is involved in everything! I moved here from New York where I had a steady salon clientele as well as freelance work. The hardest adjustment to living here has been to start building that up again from scratch.
Biggest differences between French and American beauty rituals?
Most French people shop at specialty stores – they would never buy cheese or bread at the supermarket, instead they go to a fromagerie and boulangerie. The same holds true (in general) for beauty products – French women buy their beauty products at pharmacies or other specialty stores where they get products suggested especially for them, while Americans buy a lot of their beauty products at non-specialist grocery stores, where they get more generalist, self-prescribed products.
Favorite activity for a rainy day (in or out of the city)?
Staying in and watching a Mad Men or Greys Anatomy marathon with my VPN that allows me to watch Hulu and Netflix from abroad!
Most amusing or frustrating interaction with the French?
I did an intensive language immersion course a few months ago and before starting I had to be interviewed to see where my level of French was. The director (who is French) asked me how much French I had studied before. I answered “4 years in high school, 2 in college and 3 months living abroad in Paris” to which she responded, “Oh, so not much,” and enrolled me directly into the beginners’ program!
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Thanks, Rubi! If you can’t catch her at Wanderlust this summer, follow her fresh take on hair and beauty on her blog She Lets Her Hair Down . And be sure to check out the accessories line she and her husband launched last fall, STNTN!
Connect with Rubi:
{All photos courtesy of Rubi Jones}
