Welcome to “Unsung Heroes,” my column that asks beauty brands about their respective hero products—their bestsellers, and often a product that embodies the brand’s identity—but also dives a little deeper into, as the column’s title suggests, its unsung heroes: products that may not be as out front and in the spotlight as others, but still pull their weight and deserve recognition. In this column, we’ll also delve into brand ethos, the why behind beauty brands and what’s next for the company.
Jennifer Aniston is, of course, an actress—and an A-list one at that—but, thanks to a certain haircut dubbed “The Rachel” that was named after her character on the hit sitcom Friends, she’s also become a hair icon.
It makes sense then that, in 2021, a quarter century after “The Rachel” took off in the mid-1990s, Aniston launched her own haircare brand, LolaVie. The brand’s name, she told Refinery29, is portmanteau of Lola—a nickname her friends have called her since she first moved to California, and also once the name of her car—and Vie, which “means life,” Aniston told the outlet. “So I wanted to incorporate the idea of living my life and being authentic.” She’s also a fan of the classic song “Whatever Lola Wants” by Sarah Vaughan, she explained.
Hair icon though she is, like the rest of us mere mortals, Aniston’s relationship with her mane hasn’t always been perfect. “I’ve always had a lot of hair, and it’s always been a challenge for me because of my wonderful Greek heritage,” she previously told Forbes. “My mom had curly hair, so it’s never been an easy job to blow dry my hair or brush my hair. It’s kind of ironic at the same time that it’s iconic because it was sort of that, ‘Ugh, do I have a good hair day? Am I going to have a bad hair day?’ And, like every woman, we still do—and as you get older, your hair is also changing.”
Of being a hair icon, she said that she has “embraced it,” but added that “there’s challenges for everybody, and I’m included in all of that, every day.”
This September, LolaVie will celebrate five years of existence. “I didn’t even expect the amount of people that come up to me that do and just go on and on about how it’s changed their hair and they couldn’t be more grateful,” she previously told Forbes.
Aniston wanted to launch a brand with natural ingredients that were also effective; after originally selling products exclusively on its website, in 2023 it expanded into its first retailer, Ulta Beauty, with more to follow afterwards. Founded alongside co-founders Joel Ronkin and Amy Sachs, LolaVie was in the works for around five years before it came to market. “We’ve had an incredible response, and it was worth every second of it,” Aniston previously told Forbes.
“We really took our time with this,” Sachs added. “We didn’t just launch 12 or 15 products. We took a lot of time with each product and made sure we weren’t rushing. So I think we were really happy with the response from consumers and from the beauty industry in general.”
After all, who better than Aniston to understand the importance of hair—and, vis a vis, quality haircare products? “I think our hair is a big part of our expression—of how we feel,” she told Forbes. “You have a good hair day and you have a bad hair day, so it was really important for me to see proper haircare and to have products that had multiple benefits. That was something that I used to always do, was I would pull out a paste, I would pull out a serum, I would pull out a body oil. I would combine all of these different products that I had in order to get the results that I wanted. So figuring out a way to have all of those results in one bottle was really exciting and quite challenging, and also having the proper ingredients and yet still perform. So it was hard and it was a challenge, but we got it. We sort of checked all the boxes.”
In addition to demonstrating how the products work herself, Aniston has also employed the help of boyfriend Jim Curtis and longtime close friend and Friends co-star Courteney Cox to test out the products on camera. The brand feels authentic to Aniston’s life, and it was important to her not to “just slap my name onto something,” she said. “This has been a really fun and exciting experience for me and something I love to do. My vision—our vision—to create this platform where we could deliver clean, plant-based products that were also high-performing.” Her goal, she added, was to pull the curtain back and “see what goes into haircare,” she said.
Co-founder Ronkin added that “We will send things back 20 times to get it right, because Jen wants to make sure that if we put it out there, it’s the best. It has to be the best, not just from a science standpoint, but it has to be good for them.” Sachs called Aniston “demanding” in the best way, previously telling Forbes that Aniston “knows exactly what she wants and she won’t settle, and I think she makes us better every day. She works harder than any celebrity I’ve ever worked with on anything. She’s the reason we’re as successful as we are at LolaVie.”
Aniston wants to be in the details, she explained. “Everything that I’ve done in my career has been very organic and come in a very organic way, whether it’s products that I have used for years and years that I fully believe in—and then starting to get more involved creatively from the ground up,” she said. “It’s so much more satisfying and exciting for me.”
So what’s the secret to iconic hair? Well, unfortunately, “there’s no magic trick,” Aniston told Forbes. “It’s the consistency. It’s about taking care of your scalp and giving your hair what it needs, and taking time to take care of it—brushing it gently, proper conditioning and giving it a really good support system.” The magic formula to a successful haircare brand, though—or, in Aniston’s words, what is “making everybody want to keep going back for more”—is “because it’s priced well and the product is great,” she told Forbes.
“It’s not just a ‘fluff’ project,” she said. “It is a passion.”
Aniston admitted to Allure that she has felt pressure to have her hair look its best “all the time,” but, as she told Forbes, “I don’t always have perfect hair.”
“Honestly, my hair has always been a thorn in my side,” she said, adding, “I’ve always had that issue of not having good hair days.” When she was looking to create products with LolaVie, she was her No. 1 customer. That said, she tested the products out on her group of girlfriends—all of whom have different hair types—and “I think we got to a place where it’s pretty universal,” she said.
“The end result is better than what I could have ever imagined,” she told Elle Canada. “What was once an idea has come to life before my eyes, and it’s been extremely rewarding.”
As someone who has had bad hair days, sure, but a whole lot of good hair days, too, “I’m a firm believer that if you feel that your hair looks good, you feel more confident,” Aniston told Harper’s Bazaar. “Consistently using products that are naturally derived, plant based, and clean has done wonders for my hair health and natural texture.”
LolaVie just launched its latest product on March 22—the brand’s Speed Dry Heat Protectant Spray. Here, I chat with Aniston about her “why” behind founding LolaVie and the question she asked herself before creating the brand, LolaVie’s newest launch, how her curiosity has shaped how the brand has developed products and how, in her words, “When your hair is cooperating, everything else feels easier.”
Rachel Burchfield: When you founded the brand, what was your why? And how have you stuck to that in the years since?
Jennifer Aniston: My “why” came from spending most of my life in a hair chair. Between working on set, photoshoots and everyday life, I’ve tried just about everything. Over time I kept thinking, “Why isn’t there a line that truly does what it promises while still feeling simple and effortless to use?” With LolaVie, the goal was to create high-performance products that solve real hair frustrations that we all have—I’m talking frizz, damage, dryness—without overcomplicating your routine. We’ve stayed true to that by being incredibly intentional. We don’t rush launches. Every formula takes time because if it doesn’t genuinely improve your hair and make your life easier, it doesn’t belong in the line.
RB: What would you consider your “hero” product to be?
JA: If I had to pick one that people consistently fall in love with, it would be our Glossing Detangler. It’s one of those deceptively simple products that ends up doing everything. It detangles, hydrates, smooths, adds shine and protects against heat, all while staying incredibly lightweight. I’ve always hated products that make hair feel heavy or coated, so that was really important to me. It’s won 15 beauty awards so far, has become a real fan favorite and is definitely one I can’t live without.
RB: What is an “unsung hero” that you’d like to spotlight?
JA: A few come to mind. Our Perfecting Leave-In [Conditioner] is one of those products people try once and suddenly their hair just behaves better. It hydrates, smooths, strengthens and protects in a really effortless way.
I’d also say our Let There Be Hair Scalp Serum. Healthy hair starts at the scalp, and this formula helps support a balanced scalp environment while making hair look fuller and stronger over time. You just have to stick with it.
And I’m really excited about our newest launch, the Speed Dry Heat Protectant Spray. It came from a very real place. On set there’s always heat styling happening, and time is never on your side. This formula protects hair from heat while actually helping cut down blow-dry time, which makes getting ready so much easier.
RB: What drives the work the brand does?
JA: Curiosity and problem-solving. I’m always asking questions. If something isn’t working with my hair, I want to know why and how it could be better. That curiosity has really shaped how we develop products. We also care deeply about creating formulas that are thoughtful and modern with naturally derived ingredients. At the end of the day, we just want people to feel great about their hair. When your hair is cooperating, everything else feels easier.
RB: How will you keep that driver in mind going into the next year of the business?
JA: By continuing to listen—to our community, stylists and the everyday frustrations people have with their hair. We’re very focused on innovation that simplifies routines. Haircare doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective. The launch of Speed Dry is a perfect example of that thinking. It protects hair from heat while helping speed up styling, which feels very real-life to me. Looking ahead, we’ll keep exploring smarter formulas that help people achieve healthier-looking and feeling hair without adding extra steps.