If you're feeling a little down, you're never fully dressed without a strong heel. But only if you're depressed - if you need a pick-me-up.
— Jonathan Van Ness
I used to be pretty hard on myself, like, if I didn't like a haircut I did on someone, I would think about it a lot and second-guess myself. But after therapy and a lot of work, I know how to dust myself off a lot faster, and those things don't knock me down as much as they used to.
I've been an Amy Winehouse fan since her first album, 'Frank.' I always listen to her music when there's a lot going on and I want to be a bit grounded. It's like my musical warm fuzzy blanket.
I think that I'm, like, an introverted extrovert. At the end of the day, when I get done doing hair at the salon or shooting a day of 'Queer Eye' or whatever, I definitely want to come home and, like, order pasta and sit with my cat or just one person or no people.
I was someone who wore bright purple sweatsuits with tall Doc Martens boots. I would iron Hanson decals on my sweatshirt. I was extremely flamboyant as a child.
I think that the ideal of men's physiques in general, gay or straight, is one of the most under-talked-about things ever. Ninety-five percent of these bodies that we're seeing, that we're striving so hard to look like, are genetically engineered - like, let's be very clear.
My biggest secret is that I don't over-wash my hair. I wash it twice a week at the most, unless I'm on set every day.
We focus so much on our relationships with other people, and beauty, for me, is about facilitating your relationship with yourself.
I grew up in a town of 30,000 people, and 'Queer Eye' was a beacon of light.
Getting married is a good time to revaluate all of your relationships. Have you had the same haircut since seventh grade? Have you found products that work for your skin? You need time to experiment.
Coming from a town of 30,000 people on the Mississippi River, having 'Queer Eye' in 2003 through 2007 when I was in high school was really important.
In states where there's one really big city, a lot of outlying counties and smaller towns really don't have very many resources.
Be able to see people's humanity. I think the way that you do that and see people for more than their surface value is, say, you're reading something in the news: the gender pay gap, or gay adoption, anything that involves a group of people being marginalized.
I want people to fall in love with themselves and to be really proud and full of joy for the space they take up. If someone else appreciates the space you take up, then that's icing on the cake.
Gorgeous exfoliants are expensive.
One of my closest friends is a trans man who is incredible. And a lot of my clients are trans women.
Please don't compare the nature and authenticity of 'Queer Eye' to 'The Bachelor.'
There are times when you should listen to what people say about you, but also a lot of times you just don't need to listen so much. Don't worry so much and just go. Unless you're, like, in danger, and then don't. And then run, girl.
God, I miss TLC.
Loneliness is, like, when you wish someone else was there, and solitude is when you enjoy being alone. I don't always wanna be alone, but I definitely like pockets of solitude to recharge and come back to myself. I think that's so important for everyone.
In yoga, we say that everyone has a magnet on them, and you're either positively or negatively charged. So if you're liking how you're looking, you're gonna be more positively charged.
I always wanted to play with people's hair. I was really into 'The Golden Girls' and how big their hair was. I always had Barbies and Ken dolls, whose hair I wanted to play with and was always styling. I was very lucky - I never had to wonder what I was passionate about. I've always known that I'm really, really passionate about grooming.
I went from being pretty fit to 230 lbs., which isn't, like, the biggest for being 6-feet-tall, but I had been 165 lbs. just three months prior. That taught me a lot about how people treat you differently when you're fit and when you're bigger.
When I moved to L.A. in my early twenties, I was growing my hair. Then, when I was 25, I cut it off and was like, 'Oh no, I think I'm a long hair person until I go bald!'
So often, grooming is meant to make you feel better about yourself, and a lot of times, we use it to make ourselves feel worse.
How you take care of yourself is how the world sees you.
When I'm having a song-in-the-shower moment, I go to 'The Blessed Unrest' by Sara Bareilles.
I just - I come from a very little town where the militarization of the police force is a very real issue.
I've had the honor of working with so many trans people as a hairdresser over my career in some way.
You gotta floss!
It's nice to have a safe place to have a conversation going; whether it's a friend or family member, you can use 'Queer Eye' as an entry point to have a conversation that's meaningful.
I want to show straight men and gay men alike that self-care and grooming isn't mutually exclusive with, like, femininity or masculinity.
If you have body hair, I'm like, 'Have your body hair. Have it sticking up the top of your shirt.' I'm really about body positivity and self-love.
From the extreme political polarization that is everywhere - there's so much suffering going on - so many people are really thirsty to feel good about something.
To my younger self, I would say unless you're literally in danger, ask forgiveness instead of asking permission.
A song like 'Tears Dry on Their Own' is really sad, but it's hopeful, too - that was my theme song for the first boy who broke my heart.
As a kid growing up, I really hated being alone. I was always that kid that was like, 'Do you want to hang out? Let's go to the mall. Let's go to the movies. Let's go to the park.' I would call people and call people and call people. If I was alone when I wasn't at school, then there was something wrong.
I'm the youngest of three boys. Both of the older two are very heterosexual, football-watching, married, child-rearing, cornfed Midwestern guys.
When you've been on Instagram and Twitter long enough, you know how mean people can be.
I was a chubby kid who got made fun of a lot, and I got fit in high school, and I stayed fit in my 20s, until my dad died.
I remember saying I wanted to be a cosmetologist when I was really young.
You want to be more hairy, that's beautiful. You want to be more clean-shaven, that's great.
Blotting pads are great in case you get sweaty or oily. But don't rub. It's a slow, methodical blot: set the pad on your skin and let it absorb, then move it to the next location.
I vividly remember D'Angelo's 'How Does it Feel?' as a song I listened to around the time I came out.
If my energy was fake, then I would feel pressured, because I gotta, like, keep this up. I thank God it's just how I am. But I find myself wanting to work on being more comfortable in the silence with people.
I think, for a lot of people, men or women, it's easy to have things not affect you because, it doesn't affect you. So to be a better ally, you have to look at it as if it's someone you know instead of this abstract person you've never met.
My podcast 'Getting Curious' keeps me really busy, which I love.
You have to create little pockets of joy in your life to take care of yourself.
Confidence is sexy.
I don't want to do transformations on people for the sake of a visual. I want to do it because it makes sense.
