The beauty BFFs reflect on 20 years of friendship and fabulous hair

PHOTO: EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY

In Hollywood no relationship is more intimate than the one between an actress and her hairstylist. After two decades of blowouts, buns and beachy waves, Jennifer Garner, 50, and Adir Abergel, 44, are so close that the actress interrupted a Zoom interview to confirm that her friend was wearing pants, because “you never know with him,” she said before the two erupted in laughter. It’s a glimpse into a friendship that started in 2001 when Abergel did Garner’s hair for a magazine shoot.

His talent has made him one of the most in-demand and innovative stylists in the world (in 2017 he was named creative director of Virtue hair care; Garner joined as brand partner in 2019), but it’s Abergel’s heart that his clients which also include Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart and Anne Hathaway value most. “Adir is all about giving love,” Garner tells PEOPLE. “He has an EQ of a billion.”

Like any best friends, they know exactly how to boost the other’s mood. “Adir’s gotten me through some of the worst days — just messy days,” says Garner. “It doesn’t even have to be something huge, but it’s still a hard day for me.” In return Abergel says Garner has helped him when he “needed a bit of love” and calls her “one of my favorite humans on the planet.”

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And when it comes to confidence building, great hair days go a long way. At the 2013 SAG Awards, Abergel knew how to make Garner feel her best postpartum.

“I had just had a baby, and I was feeling really fluffy,” Garner reminisces with PEOPLE. “My hair was voluptuous, I was voluptuous.” Abergel adds: “Her hair was the perfect length for that style.”

Jennifer Garner attends the 2013 SAG Awards (left) and 2018 Oscars (right).

Of her 2018 mic-drop Oscars look, the duo shares that it was the sexy cobalt Versace dress that started it all.

“When she put it on, her body was like, shaboom-boom!” says Abergel. Adds Garner: “I was crazy in shape, so I said, ‘Let’s show up.’ It was va-va-voom.”

The two — who call each other “Boogie” — also share a sense of humor, often making up songs while they get ready for events. “We have a specific goofiness that’s built over 20 years,” Garner says. “It’s that wonderful combination of taking your work really seriously but not taking ourselves seriously at all. He wants to make me feel good, he wants to do something interesting and fun, but he also knows that I’m going to have a laugh at the end of it.”

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Abergel and Garner are known for having fun with their hairstyle collaborations — even when they can’t be together to do it. Garner has posted silly in-shower tutorials showing off Virtue’s, well, virtues, and during the pandemic, Garner posted a video on Instagram of Abergel giving her a remote hair tutorial before a virtual appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

“It was actually really good to have him watch me do my hair because I’ve never paid attention to what he is doing,” Garner told PEOPLE of the lockdown lesson. “He even talked me through how to cut my kids’ hair snip by snip. He would just pour a glass of wine and FaceTime with me and talk me through it.”

Thanks to those lessons, Garner picked up a few great styling tips from Abergel. For starters, before you blowdry your hair, remove some of the moisture with a paper towel.

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“You can even save those paper towels and reuse them once they dry,” she notes. Also, when you’re doing a blowout, rough dry first on cool so you don’t damage your hair. And lastly, how to create texture. “I never used product before, but he taught me that if I put the Virtue 6-in-1 in my hair then I diffuse it, I actually have more movement which is exciting for someone with bone straight hair.”

With Garner back in Abergel’s chair, they’ve been busy creating some fresh new styles, including her recent shoulder-skimming lob that Abergel calls, “The Jen G cut for Gen Z.” He explains, “This cut works for anyone at any age. You can have a transformation at any stage and hair is a wonderful reboot.”