The actress gets candid about ageing
Jennifer Aniston has always been a beauty icon, and there’s no denying her influence, especially when it comes to hair.
The actor has embodied #HairGoals throughout her career, starting with the Rachel, the famous layered haircut her character Rachel Greene wore on Friends. Three decades after the popular sitcom first premiered, countless iterations based on the original are still trending and inspiring TikTok teens to copy the cut.
Aniston’s envy-worthy hair prompted millions of women to want what she’s having on their own heads. Fortunately, The Morning Show star made that a possibility in 2021 when she launched her own hair care line, LolaVie. The inaugural collection included her go-to Glossing Detangler and Hair Oil, so fans could finally experience their very own versions of Aniston-approved hair.
This autumn, Aniston has an even more exciting surprise.
As of September 2022, LolaVie has finally answered our prayers for more products, adding Restorative Shampoo and Conditioner to its assortment. Excuse me as I run out and get a Rachel-inspired butterfly cut to celebrate.
In honour of LolaVie’s new launch, Jennifer Aniston spoke with Glamour US about her own LolaVie hair care routine and how she deals with pressures around ageing, as well as what advice she has for women who want to embrace grey hair.
Glamour: What’s your secret for effortless hair?
Jennifer Aniston: The secret is using the right products that not only deliver on performance but are also formulated with the best ingredients. I try to keep it simple and limit the number of products I use, which is why I love LolaVie. Our products are designed to be multitasking and are made with the highest-quality plant-based ingredients.
Why was it important to include skincare ingredients in LolaVie’s shampoo and conditioner?
Just like your skin, your hair needs hydration, moisture, and protection. We use squalane, a common ingredient found in skincare products, in our Superfruit Conditioning Complex, which hydrates and seals in moisture and also helps protect hair against environmental stressors. Chia seeds, also a well-known skincare ingredient, help repair the look of existing damage while also protecting the hair from future damage.
There is so much pressure on women to age the “right way”—either they’re not doing enough to conceal their age or have done too much. How do you tune out all the noise?
Two things are inevitable. The first aging. The second, there’s always going to be critics. For me, it’s more of the question of how do I take the best care of myself, physically and mentally? We can still thrive when we’re older, and that’s thanks to all the advancements in health, nutrition, technology, and science.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to go grey but might be a little afraid to do it?
You do you! If you want to go grey, go for it! If you want to keep colouring your hair, that’s great too. I think everyone should feel confident in whatever choices they make, including embracing natural colour or texture. Hair is a creative way to express yourself, and I love that your mood and energy can change with the change of a hairstyle, cut or colour. Embrace whatever is going to make you happy.
This story was originally published in GLAMOUR (US).
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Jennifer Aniston On Collagen, Her Hair Brand, And What She Misses Most About The Nineties
Hint: It’s not all about Friends.
Like seemingly everyone else these days, Jennifer Aniston is nostalgic for the nineties. “Is it corny if I say I miss Friends?” Aniston wonders aloud, laughing. “You know, more than anything, what I miss about the nineties is that there was no social media. I miss the connection people used to have. And I miss coffee shops.”
Of course, a coffee shop—the iconic Central Perk—figures prominently in the hit show in which Aniston played Rachel Green for ten seasons. And though Friends fever is still going strong eighteen years after the sitcom aired its final episode (nail polish brand Sally Hansen recently debuted a limited-edition collection based on the series), Aniston’s life couldn’t be more different than it was back then. Married and divorced twice, the actor has conquered the big screen (her films routinely gross more than $200 million at the box office), launched a successful haircare brand called Lolavie, and has become somewhat of an icon in the health and wellness world.
One of Aniston’s most recent partnerships in that space is with ingestible collagen brand Vital Proteins (she joined the company as Chief Creative Officer in 2020). The two just launched a collection of protein and collagen bars inspired by Aniston’s morning smoothies. “It makes sense,” she tells Women’s Health of the collab. “I’d been using the product for years before I started working with the brand.”
Here, the star shares wellness musts, what’s coming down the pipeline from Lolavie, and why taking a break from workouts was the best thing she did.
BU: You’ve been using ingestible collagen for a while now—what are some of the benefits you’ve noticed?
JA: My hair is indestructible, and I’ve noticed an improvement in its quality and texture. And, you know, my skin looks better, and my joints feel better. You just notice it. Also, my workouts were wonderfully fueled.
BU: Speaking of workouts, are there any specific ones you’re very into right now?
JA: I always switch it up because I get bored. But, you know, I was away doing a movie for three months and I kind of let my workouts fall to the wayside a little bit. And I have to say, I’ve never done that before. I usually wake up and work out no matter where I am, no matter what time of day it is. I make sure I get at least a good twenty minutes of sweating in. But I didn’t, and I felt such a difference. It really affected me. We were on location, and it was the pandemic, and there was just so much going on. It took everything for me just to get up and go to work. To try to exist when the world was so crazy—it was all too much. Plus, trying to make a comedy when there’s a global pandemic and a war in Ukraine was a lot.
BU: How did it feel to take that break?
JA: I realized that what I really needed more than a workout was a meditation. I mean, we’re so focused on working out, working out, working out, but sometimes you just must give your body a break and listen to what it needs. And sometimes it’s not going to be physical. Sometimes, it’s going to be mental. Sometimes you need to give your body a little R & R.
BU: We love your hair brand, Lolavie. Any new launches coming?
JA: We have an oil that’s coming out in the next few weeks. And we’re also working on a shampoo and conditioner that I am obsessed with. There’s a dry shampoo that we’re trying to perfect and a mask that’s a weekly deep conditioning treatment. I want to do a paste. I’ve got this lots in the works and I’m excited about everything.
BU: Are you a morning person?
JA: I’m never in a bad mood. I’m not a “don’t talk to me in the morning” person. But ultimately, I’m a night owl. I stay up. I love to putter. I love to get things done. It’s quiet. The world’s asleep.
BU: Being a night owl, is there anything that you do in the morning to start the day right?
JA: Usually the first thing I do is meditate. I try to wake up mindfully. I don’t look at my phone, which infuriates everyone. But if it’s a real emergency, people will call me on my home line, right? Yes. I still have a home line.
We Regret To Report That Jennifer Aniston Does Not Eat That Viral TikTok Salad
“I would never have that much chickpea in a salad, to be honest.”
Blame the chickpeas. See, it all started with Courteney Cox’s 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times. The actress told the paper that Jennifer Aniston ate the same salad on the set of Friends every day for 10 years, a “doctored up” Cobb. It’s gone viral over the years as folks on social media authoritatively describe Aniston’s love for mint, parsley, and garbanzo beans while tossing the ingredients for an overhead camera. “It looks like a delicious salad,” Aniston tells ELLE.com over Zoom, “but that’s not the one I had on Friends.” The problem? Aniston would never pour an entire can of chickpeas into a salad like that. “Not good for the digestive tract,” she attests.
(The plot thickens slightly: In 2015, Aniston documented her day for haircare brand Living Proof and wrote on its Instagram that her “perfect salad” includes, among other things, garbanzo beans, according to People. Maybe she and the salad are on a break.)
So, it turns out, the salad is viral, but not vital. These days, Aniston is happier snacking on blueberries and sipping almond milk. All this talk of vitality came about because she now holds the title of chief creative officer for Vital Proteins, a collagen powder purveyor. She worked with the brand on three new protein bars—so if you want to actually eat the same thing as Aniston, these might be a safer bet. We chatted with Aniston about all things vital, including that infamous salad and her Netflix guilty pleasure, The Ultimatum.
WHAT ARE YOUR THREE VITAL ESSENTIALS?
Oh my god. In terms of…anything? My dogs, my proper nutrition, and sleep.
WHAT ARE THE VITAL FOODS IN YOUR FRIDGE?
I have chopped celery and cucumbers, blueberries, and almond milk.
WHAT ABOUT INGREDIENTS FOR THE FAMOUS TIKTOK JENNIFER ANISTON SALAD?
Well, that salad, dare I debunk that? That’s not the salad that I had every day on Friends. I feel terrible because it’s literally taken off like crazy, and it looks like a delicious salad, by the way, but that’s not the one that I had on Friends.
YOU HAVE EVERYONE IN THESE STREETS MAKING THIS SALAD AND YOU’RE LIKE, “I’M SORRY. LOOKS GOOD, BUT NO.”
It really does. I would never have that much chickpea in a salad, to be honest. Not good for the digestive tract.
WHAT’S ONE VITAL ACT IN YOUR DAY?
Meditation.
WHO ARE THE VITAL PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE?
My best friend, Andrea.
WHAT’S A VITAL STEP IN YOUR MORNING ROUTINE?
I keep going to meditation. I have a mantra. There are apps that you could get on your phone depending on what your mood is. Sometimes I like guided, sometimes I like to just sort of have my own mantra.
HOW ABOUT A VITAL STEP IN YOUR NIGHTTIME ROUTINE?
Washing my face and brushing my teeth. Never go to bed with makeup on.
WHAT’S YOUR VITAL TRAVEL SECRET?
I don’t have one yet. If there’s a secret anybody can give me… Well, there was one about working out wherever you go. The first thing you should do is have a workout. I’ve only done that once in my lifetime, to be honest. I did it one time and it was great. That was vital for that one time. It was the Along Came Polly press junket. I thought I would play better on that one.
WHAT’S YOUR VITAL READING RIGHT NOW?
All I’ve been reading honestly is scripts. I’m in the midst of reading Morning Show season three scripts. My morning is water, meditation, season three, reading scripts, and outlines.
WHAT’S YOUR VITAL GUILTY PLEASURE?
Bachelorette, but that hasn’t been on in a while. Bachelor, Bachelorette. I’ve lost my love of it the last couple of years, I have to say. So this is a problem. My guilty pleasure has been letting me down the last few years.
YOU NEED A NEW REALITY SHOW. HAVE YOU TRIED THE REALLY WILD ONES LIKE LOVE IS BLIND?
Do you know what my girlfriend made me watch one night and I watched almost all of them? It was The Ultimatum. It’s just these couples. One is like, “I want to marry you.” and the other’s like, “No, I’m not so sure.” And then they go in with a group of couples, each one has a, “I want to marry you,” and the other’s not so sure. Then they date other people. What is up with this Ultimatum? Then they date someone else in the same room. The two people that did not want to get married are dating each other.
IT’S NUTS, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO SHOULDN’T HAVE GOTTEN MARRIED ENDED UP GETTING MARRIED.
It was just… I was irate; I was like, “I can’t make it through an Oscar-nominated film and I can watch 19 episodes of this damn show.” Please. Please.
WHAT’S YOUR VITAL KARAOKE SONG?
I don’t have one. Oh my gosh. When was the last time I even sang karaoke? I’m sure it would be a Journey song. Don’t Stop Believing, Open Arms, or one of those from the ’70s. Well, there you go. I mean these are important topics we have to hit. [Laughs.]