Jennifer Aniston - Jen News & Info #17

**Gracie** · 05-11-2014, 08:13 AM

Jennifer Aniston Talks Living Proof at WWD's Beauty CEO Summit

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One surprising thing was missing from Jennifer Aniston’s signature style Thursday afternoon: her trademark tousled blonde coif.

“This is the way God created me,” Aniston said with a chuckle as she addressed the executives gathered here for WWD’s Beauty CEO Summit. While her usual blonde is likely to soon return, Aniston, clad in a gray Dior dress and Christian Louboutin pumps, relaxed in her chair onstage as she noted that the reappearance of the medium-brown shade she had growing up was the result of her serious role in 2015’s “Cake,” in which she stars as Claire Simmons, who is trying to get her life back in order after a serious accident. Aniston also executive produced the film, which she wrapped Wednesday.

The hair might have been different, but Aniston’s signature smile was firmly in place as she discussed her role with Living Proof in front of an audience of the beauty world’s heavy hitters.

The actress, who bought into the Boston-based hair-care brand in 2012, isn’t a mere silent partner: she helps to oversee hair-care brand development and creative marketing direction for the hair products. She also collaborates with the company’s hairstylists and scientists on new hair-care product ideas.

“Who doesn’t want to have equity, especially at a company that is in its beginning stages?” said Aniston, who said she was eager to be a partner, rather than a face, of a brand, and is in fact still eager to expand her beauty repertoire. She described the Living Proof gig as “a great start.”

“It’s a wonderful product line that I believe in and which makes a difference to so many people — it lives up to its name,” Aniston continued. “And it’s fun to be involved creatively from concept to execution, sharing my ideas. After spending 25-plus years in makeup and hair, you learn what works and what doesn’t work, what damages your hair — what you have to mix five products together to achieve. And [in my Living Proof] role I have all these men in white lab coats where I can throw out ideas.”

The first project Aniston worked on as an owner was the newly released Perfect Hair Day range, which includes shampoo, conditioner and styling products.

Aniston likens the Living Proof experience to “like me evolving from simply an actor for hire to producing and directing. You have the ability to be part of something from the ground up. I geeked out at the MIT labs.”

She admits that she sometimes has to laugh when people look up to her as a hair icon, as she “hated” her hair growing up, lamenting its texture and its unwillingness to cooperate with styling efforts. “I always had problem hair,” she said. “But I sat in enough chairs of these amazing creators and learned how to manage it.”

While Aniston repeatedly praised longtime friend and stylist Chris McMillen, whom she has brought into the Living Proof fold as an adviser and stylist educator, she made it crystal clear what she thought of the “Rachel” cut, named for her “Friends” character. Reportedly, it was inspired by a cut done by famed hairstylist Ward Stegerhoek, a founder of Living Proof who still works with the company in product development.

“It existed? So this is [Stegerhoek’s] fault,” Aniston said of what was arguably the most-copied haircut of the Nineties. (A now-sober McMillen once famously admitted that he was stoned when he created the “Rachel” cut.) The audience laughed loudly at the sentiment as McMillen grinned.

Aniston’s favorite hairstyle? She demurred — saying that it’s easier for her “know what I don’t like.” But she named the beachy-tousled, shoulder-length look in 2004’s “Along Came Polly” as one favorite.

Best business advice she’s been given? Aniston is succinct: “Learn the power of how to say no.”

Any heroes? “Gloria Steinem. I’ve known her for years. She’s just been a wonderful inspiration for me over the years.”

Aniston’s fame has greatly benefited Living Proof, said Jill Beraud, the company’s chief executive officer. “Our biggest challenge when I joined the company was how to make it better-known,” she said. “Obviously, with Jennifer’s iconic status, she put a spotlight on the brand. And we didn’t just want a spokesperson. What we love about Jen is that she’s so entrepreneurial and she’s a great collaborator, so we had the same goals. She has amazing product ideas and suggestions about marketing and package design. More and more, consumers really do care about what’s behind a brand, who’s standing behind it. There is an awareness that Jen is a co-owner, and that authenticity adds to the brand’s credibility.”

And the company is positioned to continue its innovating ways. In addition to Aniston’s capital, Living Proof inked a $75 million deal in January with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. for an innovative polymer film technology. The creation, Strateris, is a proprietary cross-linking, breathable, flexible film that can be used a variety of beauty products, including skin care and color cosmetics, said Beraud.

While neither Aniston nor Beraud would discuss the size of the business, industry sources estimated that Living Proof’s sales were about $100 million in 2013.

Barstool Prophet · 05-11-2014, 11:02 AM

Tftnt!

**Gracie** · 05-13-2014, 01:12 PM

Yw

new short video for living proof

BA4eva · 05-16-2014, 02:24 PM

Tftnt!

**Gracie** · 05-16-2014, 03:26 PM

Jennifer Aniston’s hair care lab takes root in Cambridge

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Poor Jennifer Aniston was miserably cold, but at least her beloved tresses looked fantastic.

Sitting in what will soon be a hybrid lab and retail space in Kendall Square, Aniston was wearing a little black dress, but it was covered by a borrowed track jacket. Her hands gripped an oversize cup of tea.

Aniston was enduring the damp chill of Cambridge last week to check the progress at the first retail space of the hair care company that she co-owns. Living Proof is currently sold online and in stores, but the company is opening its first free-standing store in Kendall Square at the end of August. It’s not opening here because Aniston is a fan of our delayed springs, but because the formulas used in the shampoos, conditioners, and a host of styling products, were developed by an MIT scientist.

When she enthusiastically explains how it all works, the ghost of Cher’s 1990s hair care infomercials with Lori Davis comes to mind. But this is Aniston after all, a woman known for sporting the biggest, most popular hairstyle of the 1990s: The Rachel.

“That somehow happened . . . yeah,” she said of her hair icon status. “I didn’t want to feed into that so much, but this was different. I was asked to partake in the ownership so I would have creative input. And having sat in a chair for the past 25 years getting my hair styled, I’ve seen everything. This was different.”

Aniston was at a loss to describe the technology behind the products, but it happened something like this: MIT Koch Institute professor Robert Langer teamed with fellow scientists to create Living Proof. A team of medical, pharma, and biotech scientists from outside the beauty industry were brought in to look for new solutions to hair care problems. In 2008, the team discovered a humidity-blocking molecule. That was the breakthrough that convinced Aniston to get involved a few years later.

“I just watch them,” she said of the scientific team. “I go into the lab. I see them explain about the molecules and we see the demonstrations of the dirt tests. It’s all so fun and fascinating. It’s like having your own little science channel right in your room.”
The new Living Proof store that will be opening in Cambridge this summer.

The new Living Proof store that will be opening in Cambridge this summer.
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Aniston has been focused on the design of the Kendall Square space. In addition to the retail space, there will be a “beauty test kitchen,” where customers can come in for hair consultations. The appointments include washing and styling, in some cases with products that are not yet for sale.

The store and lab are being designed by Boston architectural firm Hacin + Associates, but Aniston also takes credit for the look of the place.

“They came to me and showed me the space and the drawings and the materials,” she said. “There was a lot of metals and lacquers. I said you have to warm it up. Hair salons in general have a little bit of a warm feeling to them, and something that I love so much about [celebrity stylist] Chris McMillan’s salon is that it has wood floors, brick walls, and a fireplace.”

Aniston has no professional background in interior design, but sees herself an amateur decorator.

“I’ve done interiors in my own houses,” the actress said. “I’ve even said if I didn’t love my job so much that this would be a hobby. An expensive hobby, but I really do love it.”

Aniston recently underwent a make-under while filming the drama “Cake,” in which she plays a woman who becomes fascinated by the suicide of another woman (Anna Kendrick) in her chronic-pain support group. The movie, which finished shooting last week, had Aniston in long brown hair and wearing drawstring pants.

“It was a relief not to have to go through the usual hair and makeup routine,” she said of the filming. “It was very liberating to be that vulnerable in such an unglamorous way.”

But during her recent Cambridge visit, Aniston was looking glamorous again, wearing a chic asymmetrical bob. It’s one of the reasons why haircare companies have been looking for her endorsement since her “Friends” days.

“Bob Langer has been curing cancer and heart disease for years. All of the sudden he wants to cure women’s hair problems,” Aniston said. “I asked him ‘Why this?’ and he said ‘I just love to problem solve.’ How could I not be a part of that?”

BA4eva · 05-17-2014, 10:26 PM

thanks for that

**Gracie** · 05-18-2014, 09:28 AM

Barstool Prophet · 05-18-2014, 10:19 PM

Thanks for the update.

**Gracie** · 05-19-2014, 11:10 AM

I'm glad we're getting so much news

Now if only she would do a talk show or interview

BA4eva · 05-19-2014, 01:04 PM

ooh yes that would be great

**Gracie** · 05-19-2014, 01:05 PM

preferably Ellen or Chelsea

BA4eva · 05-21-2014, 10:29 AM

Yes!

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Jennifer Aniston Stars As Jilted Wife in New Life of Crime Trailer with Isla Fisher, Tim Robbins

It's a tough life for Jennifer Aniston in her latest movie, Life of Crime. The Emmy-winning actress, 45, stars in the upcoming dark comedy as a jilted wife—a role she has some experience with.
The first trailer for Life of Crime made its debut this week, in which Aniston appears alongside Mark Boone Junior, Isla Fisher, Tim Robbins, Mos Def, Will Forte, and John Hawkes.
PHOTOS: Summer 2014 movie preview
Directed by relative newcomer Daniel Schechter, the flick focuses on Aniston's character of Mickey Dawson, a middle-aged woman who is kidnapped and held for ransom in an attempt to extort her husband Frank Dawson (Robbins).

The plan goes awry when Frank admits he doesn't care if he sees his wife again and tells his mistress Melanie (Fisher) that he is filing for divorce.
PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston's hair evolution
Due out on August 29, Life of Crime is based on Elmore Leonard's novel The Switch, and first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie made headlines at the time of its initial debut, as it features a gritty scene where Aniston's character fends off a rapist.