Andreea in Balenciaga

Andrea, Self Service
1
Andrea, Self Service

Given all of the buzz around haircuts this week on ITG, we figured now is as good of a time as ever to introduce Andreaa Diaconu: the model who once “got cancelled from three jobs because I had too much hair.” The twenty-one-year-old is now living—long, shiny locks and all— in New York and having a self-described “moment” (due in large part to the support of one miss Emmanuelle Alt). But back to that hair!

As it turns out, hers is thanks to mom—and not because of genetics. “My mom is all about home treatments—whenever I go home she covers me in masks,” Andreea told us during Paris Fashion Week, dropping by Self Service HQ for a collaboration series of beauty-centric posts lensed by Ezra Petronio (Voila! This is the first one). “It was a bob in December, and now it's down my back. I put olive oil in it, and gasoline.” GASOLINE??? “Wait…no, maybe it’s petroleum. Petroleum jelly. I should probably check.”

Check she did, and, without further ado, an email from Andreea featuring the beauty tips and tricks of her Romanian hair-whisperer mother. [Ed. note: We should probably say here, we know, we know. Petroleum Jelly: not an ITG-fan fave. But surely, better than gasoline...?! File this under: When in Romania? Let's be open-minded here, and hear her out.]

“Apologies for the delay but Ta-daa! all my mom’s quirky homemade tricks.

For thin brittle hair you should be doing an olive oil+castor oil+vitamin A (liquid capsule) oil mix which my mom adds petroleum jelly, not gasoline!!!, to. (Also don't let that castor oil fall onto your skin—hair will grow where it's not supposed to. Castor oil also works for eyebrows, etc.)

Now for those of you with greasy hair, I recommend washing it with natural organic soap. In my family we used to make our own soap (grandma does it) so it's very pure. She says that you should rinse that out with 1 spoon of vinegar combined with 1 liter of water... I would also suggest wearing a strong fragrance that day :) ! If that sounds like too much, strong chamomile tea for rinse will do (followed by water).

Skincare: the classic cucumber for under eyes. And a sugar/honey scrub. Cleanse face with chamomile tea bag (leftover from hair)

Body: my mom has been a health nut since I can remember so she doesn't do anything but use oats with honey as body scrub… (guess I'm going to go to Fresh for her birthday and get her 100 jars of body scrubs—now that I know where all my oatmeal disappears to!)”

Andreaa Diacono, wearing a Balenciaga headpiece from Spring/Summer 2013, photographed by Ezra Petronio in Paris on February 26th, 2013. Makeup by Emily Weiss. Part 1 of an ITG series with Self Service .