The Israeli-born hairstylist Adir Abergel has, for the last 25 years, been go, go, go, spending most of his time on airplanes and prepping clients for magazine shoots and red carpet appearances. As with everything else, the last year has changed all that. Abergel, who calls Los Angeles’ Ladera Heights home, has used the time to focus on creating haircare products that work and that his clients love to use. Abergel got his start at age 15 assisting the legendary stylist Arthur Johns at his salon before freelancing in the music video industry and then moving on to celebrity and editorial. As Johns’ apprentice, Abergel had the opportunity to work with clients like Nancy Reagan, Betsy Bloomingdale, Tina Turner and Julie Christie.
Recently, Adir Abergel was named creative director for haircare brand Virtue. “After years of being in the industry and helping build so many other brands, this partnership was really inclusive,” says Abergel. “Innovation and technology in a haircare brand is something I have been searching for my entire career. The products work and I believe in them.” The brand offers shampoos, conditioners, treatments and styling products that feature Virtue’s trademark Alpha Keratin 60ku ingredient. “The keratin in Virtue is like a GPS system that goes into the hair and finds the damage and repairs it,” explains Abergel.
The stylist has worked with many of his celebrity clients for decades. Actors like Jennifer Garner, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway, and Kristen Stewart are devotees of Abergel’s styling. “I don’t homogenize any of my clients but focus on their individuality,” he explains. “Hair is a medium that allows us the freedom to evolve. Throughout history, it has given us our greatest source of individuality.”
Here’s how Adir Abergel spends a typical day.
7:00 a.m. Wake up and take a quick grateful meditation. When I say meditation, I mean literally 30 seconds of taking a moment to acknowledge that I am alive.
7:30 a.m. I have a tall glass of room temperature water and then make coffee. I love Intelligentsia coffee beans, which I make in my Jura coffee machine. I like it black.
8:00 a.m. I look at my texts and emails. I like to answer anything urgent, especially if it has come in from Virtue’s CEO, Melisse Shaban.
9:00 a.m. Leave the house to get my workout in. During COVID-19, I have been committed to more self-care. I work out with a friend. We either train in his garage that he transformed into a gym or we go to the park.
11:00 a.m. Arrive at the Hair Factory, which I converted from my three-car garage into a studio where my team and I work. It’s decorated with furniture that I bought from Lena Horne’s personal collection. I have full walls of hair extensions, wigs, built-in closets filled with fabric, textiles and an assortment of thousands of hair accessories. We have a quick meeting and I direct my team on any wigs or extensions we need prepped. Then I check in with my agent and review my schedule.
11:30 a.m. Zoom meeting with Virtue’s product development team to discuss product launches slated for 2022. Innovation is a big part of my role at Virtue. I am constantly thinking about how to make hair healthier with our star ingredient Alpha Keratin 60ku. Afterward, I have a Zoom meeting with our creative agency to discuss the upcoming campaign.
12:30 p.m. I have roasted vegetables with a protein for lunch. There’s a great restaurant down the street from me that does the best Southern cooking called Swift Café. I usually get shrimp and grits with collard greens.When I want to be fancy, I order sushi from Katsuya. I’m an intermittent faster—my friend and client Gwyneth Paltrow would be very proud of me.
1:00 p.m. Zoom meeting with a longtime client to discuss her upcoming film project. I presented inspirational mood boards and hair color options that we sent to the director to help build her character.
2:00 p.m. I am in the middle of construction right now on my home, so I have a quick touch base with my designer, Janice Barta of Barta Interiors, and Brian Tarr from BTC Builders. Afterward, I walk around my block to clear my mind.
4:00 p.m. House call with my bestie and longtime client Jennifer Garner. We just gave her a new cut and we brainstorm on some upcoming social content for Virtue.
5:00 p.m. I stop at this amazing Japanese market in Santa Monica called Mitsuwa for fish and vegetables. I love to support my local businesses.
6:00 p.m. Unwind with my husband [Marcelo Freire] at home.
7:00 p.m. My husband and I cook dinner. He’s a Harvard professor and scientist in the Genomic Medicine and Infectious Disease Department at the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla. He focuses on the immune system and identifies ways to improve our ability to heal. Over dinner, we talk a lot about what’s happening in the world and especially in the fight against COVID-19.
8:00 p.m. We watch an episode or two of Schitt’s Creek before bed. We are obsessed and are watching it for the second time.
10:00 p.m. I get ready for bed: wash my face, moisturize, brush my teeth and floss. Then I situate our dog DuDu, who is 17, and turn on my alarm for the next day.
