Lifestyle Beauty & Style Celebrity Fragrance Jennifer Aniston Breaks Into Haircare with the Launch of Brand LolaVie All about Jennifer Aniston's new haircare brand from the star herself: "I've been working on this for quite a long time" By Jackie Fields Jackie Fields Jackie Fields is a Deputy Beauty Director at PEOPLE. She has been working at the brand since 2005 and has 17 years reporting and writing, and eight years editing style and beauty content for the brand. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 8, 2021 10:55AM EDT It's official: Jennifer Aniston is a haircare creator! Less than week after the actor, producer and beauty icon, 52, took to Instagram to tease that "something's coming", today, she introduces LolaVie, with the launch of her 99% naturally-derived Glossing Detangler ($25). Though Aniston has collaborated with brands in the past, this marks her first venture as both founder and creator. For the star, the beauty move was a long time coming, she tells PEOPLE. Courtesy of photographer Emma Summerton "I've been working on this for quite a long time," the Morning Show actress shares the week before revealing her first product to the world. "I got the bug [to go] behind the curtain and figure out development of hair products years ago." To embark on this journey, Aniston enlisted the help of Amy Sachs and Joel Ronkin, who developed some of her fragrances. Now, they're her LolaVie co-founders. "When they moved on to create their own business, it was like a match made in heaven," she says of her now co-founders. For the brand's name, Aniston drew inspiration from her early years in California. "When I [arrived] and bought my very first car, a used car, somebody said to me, 'What did you name it?' And I looked at them and I went, 'Is that something you do?' And they were like, 'Uh, yeah!' So I named my car Lola on the spot. Maybe it's because I love that song [Sarah Vaughan's "Whatever Lola Wants"]. Then every time I'd come over, they'd be like, 'Lola's here'. So it just kind of became a name that I was called whenever I showed up [somewhere]." Courtesy of photographer Emma Summerton Aniston opted for classic black-and-white packaging for a timeless and refined look. When it came to product development, she had several goals, most notably: "How can we give hair that is really damaged and goes through the wear and tear that mine has gone through nourishment?" she says. "That's what we focused on we were all very particular about. It just had to be absolutely perfect." Aniston took the process to heart, and enlisted the help of her friends — both men and women — to perfect it. "Every time we'd have a new formula, I would hand it out to my friends because they have all different kinds of hair, and it was really nice to get feedback from them." The result: a cruelty-free, vegan formula that's packed with naturally-derived ingredients (key among them is repairing chia seed) and created without gluten, parabens, preservatives, phthalates, silicones and sulfates. Courtesy of photographer Emma Summerton Aniston calls the detangler "the Swiss Army Knife" of hair products because of its many benefits, including protecting hair from heat damage and enhancing shine — and has streamlined her routine to three steps because of it: shampooing, conditioning followed by a few spritzes of this. Jennifer Aniston Announces Partnership with Vital Proteins It's the perfect product for the star, who describes her head full of waves as having "300 personalities." "There's not one strand that's doing the same thing. And it's just always been a challenge for me, ever since I was a kid. Well, actually, I feel like [this is] punishment, because I had this incredible head of hair that was long and straight and down to my waist. And I always wanted to cut it, but my mom never let me. She said, 'When you're 13, you can do whatever you want.' And that was the biggest mistake I ever made because I cut it all off," she admits. "I think I might've hit the Dorothy Hamill!" Courtesy of photographer Emma Summerton From that moment, she says, "It's always been a problem growing it and keeping it healthy. So, it's been my thorn, for sure, which is why this all feels very organic for me to face a hair product head on and go, 'Let's make something great.'" See Jennifer Aniston's Debut Vital Proteins Campaign And though Aniston's hair has been a Hollywood beauty obsession for over two decades, the star says her approach is to stick to "what makes me feel the most comfortable." "I just love a good blowout. Hairstyles have never been my thing. I just want to feel good in my skin at the end of the day, no matter what I am wearing." Courtesy of photographer Emma Summerton Over the past year, Aniston's been able to double-down on that low-key approach. "It was nice not to wear a lick of makeup or put a blow dryer to your hair and just lather it in conditioners. I did enjoy the simplicity of that. But now that we've slowly started to venture out in the world, I have forgotten how to put on makeup, or do my hair, or what clothes to wear! The first dinner I was going to go to, I was stumped. Absolutely baffled" she says. Courtesy of photographer Emma Summerton She laughs, "When I finally got my act together, I was like, 'Oh, I'm in heels. Look at this.' And I went to the house and the first thing that happened is they were like, 'Can you please take your shoes off?' Finally I'm wearing heels for the first time in a year. And I was like, 'What?'" Aniston plans to release more hair products when they meet her standards, and says when it comes to her beauty dreams, this is only the beginning. "Right now it's hair, but there's all sorts of ideas cooking in my brain. I don't see any limits to anything."