An Inventor of Olaplex Just Launched His Own Brand

“I was the scientist behind it. It started in my garage.” Eric Pressly is talking about Olaplex, the cult-favorite haircare brand credited with saving damaged, over-processed hair. Olaplex introduced us to the idea of “bond-building” haircare—products that can prevent or repair damage by strengthening the bonds that make up our hair’s internal structure. And now, years after kicking off one of the most successful haircare brands on the market, Pressly is back at it with a brand of his own, Epres, and new products that will be coveted by those seeking hair nirvana. “It’s the best bond builder,” says Pressly.

“We’re a trustworthy, science-led brand. So what we say we can do, we prove it. And we do it,” says Pressly. “We make claims about being the best in the space, and you can back it up with the performance of the product.” So what are the products that the newly minted Epres is launching? The first one is the Professional Bond Repair, a salon-only product that helps keep hair strong during chemical services—such as bleaching, perming, and relaxing—without disturbing the pH levels, a common factor that results in hair damage. “A lot of damage that people have is from the bleaching in the salon,” says Pressly. “And if you can stop it before it starts, then you’re in a much better position to deal with it going forward.” The Professional Bond Repair is also formulated without acid, which means professionals don’t have to be too concerned with precise measuring when they use it during chemical treatments.

The second product launching is the Bond Repair Treatment Kit, which addresses damage that’s already occurred. The kit comes with two bottles of an oil-based concentrate—the active ingredients, if you will—and a spray bottle. First, you pour a concentrate bottle into the spray bottle, then you fill it with water. Give it a shake, then saturate your hair with the mixture. “More is more,” says Pressly. “The water part will evaporate out, and then the oil part that we added will stick, and it’ll continue to keep repairing your hair.” The concentrate method serves another purpose as well: “We’re free of as much stuff as possible,” says Pressly. “Silicon, fragrance, preservatives. And part of that is why we have to concentrate. That allows us to go preservative-free.”

“We want to be the Apple of haircare.”

After soaking my hair with the Bond Repair Treatment, the effects were nearly immediate. As someone with (bleached, unhappy) curls, traditional cream bond-building treatments can be difficult for me to apply. The mist, on the other hand, made it easy to evenly coat my entire head. When I washed it out the next day, my hair was softer and completely frizz-free. “I recommend [leaving the product in for] either 10 minutes or overnight,” says Pressly. “[The hair is] definitely smoother and shinier and stronger. Frizz is down for a long period of time.”

After Olaplex, Pressly didn’t think he would stay in the haircare space. “I was a scientist with a broad background, so I wanted find my next adventure,” he says. “I got hit with a wave of creativity being locked up in a small space in COVID, and part of that wave of creativity led to this brand.” Pressly is well aware that bond-building haircare has exploded over the past decade. “Being around in the beginning of this category, and as an innovator, sometimes you want to make something that didn’t exist before. And then you want to make something better than everything else that exists,” he says. “I’ve done the former, we’re now doing the latter of making it better at solving for inefficiencies. And making things simpler. We say it internally, and it sounds maybe a bit arrogant, but we want to be the Apple of haircare.” 

Epres has officially launched at epres.com. The Professional Bond Repair retails for $79, and the Bond Repair Treatment Kit retails for $48. Additional concentrate refills can be bought separately in packs of two for $34.

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This Scalp Oil From Jonathan Van Ness’ Haircare Line Heals Dead Ends and Dry Strands

Ever since Jonathan Van Ness, Queer Eye’s grooming guru with a heart of gold, shared that he created a collection of haircare products, he’s been helping shoppers address their hair concerns and achieve their best manes possible. JVN Hair products range from shampoos and conditioners to hair treatments and stylers. And one of the brand’s most-loved products is the Complete Pre-Wash Scalp Oil.

Van Ness, a true hair enthusiast, is all about quality hair treatments, which is why JVN Hair products are all sulfate-free, vegan, cruelty-free, silicone-free. All of the brand’s products, like said scalp oil, include its “hero ingredient,” clean hemisqualane — which, per the brand, promotes stronger hair strands, starting at the scalp. JVN Hair treatments are that extra boost to help keep your hair hydrated and support your scalp’s health.

Shop now: $29; jvnhair.com

With hundreds of positive reviews on JVN Hair’s website, it’s clear that this Pre-Wash Scalp Oil is suitable for shoppers with all hair types and concerns, including dry and itchy scalps with buildup. Many customers shared that they saw improvements after a few uses and love the fresh and cozy scent of this oil that has notes of lemon, mandarin, amber, and cashmere. 

One shopper with coarse and curly hair said that the restoring scalp treatment made their hair feel “so incredibly hydrated and smooth.” Another happy customer, who has used this product for over a year, said that this oil “worked wonders” on their fine and thin hair. Other shoppers remarked at how well this pre-wash treatment relieves itchiness and flakes, and that their hair feels stronger and looks shinier. One even said it “made a noticeable difference for [their] dead ends.”

This scalp treatment is super easy to use. Add a few drops of this oil directly on a dry scalp, then massage and work through the hair to the ends. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before washing it out with shampoo. 

For softer, shinier, and stronger strands, shop the JVN Complete Pre-Wash Scalp Oil for $29.

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With LolaVie, Jennifer Aniston Adds Beauty Founder to Her Impressive Résumé

There is a little-known right of passage for Angelenos that caught Jennifer Aniston off guard when she first started driving in Hollywood. “I got my first car, and someone said to me, ‘So, like, what’s the name of your car?’ And I was like, ‘What? You have to name your car in California?’” Nevertheless, Aniston obliged, dubbing her black Saab 900 Lola. “I always liked the song,” she says, referring to Sarah Vaughan’s version of “Whatever Lola Wants,” which has become something of a theme song for the Friends star. “Whenever I’d show up, my friends would say, ‘Lola’s here!’”

Welcome to Artist Spotlight #65 series on my blog.

Aniston has since leveraged the name in myriad ways, including in 2010 when she launched her debut fragrance, before quickly changing course and going with the more straightforward Jennifer Aniston for Women, which was eventually acquired by Elizabeth Arden. There were murmurs that copyright issues inspired the switch, but it’s also entirely possible that Aniston had bigger plans for LolaVie, which she loosely translates as “Lola’s life, my life”—an illustrious existence that has included superstardom, as well as some very smart business decisions, including this one: Today, LolaVie lives again, as the name of Aniston’s debut beauty brand.

Aniston has dabbled in beauty before, of course. She has transcended the more standard “brand ambassador” title to take on C-suite positions across a range of beauty and wellness categories (her newest role, as the chief creative officer of Vital Proteins, is the latest example of Aniston putting her considerable endorsement power behind a product she simply uses every day). But her own brand, which will be broad-ranging if trademark filings are any indication, will begin where her household fame left off: with her hair.

“This just felt pretty organic to me as my hair is something that has always been one of my struggles,” reveals the onetime owner of The Rachel, who refers to her own honey blond strands as “the Greek frappé on top of my head.” Years of washing and drying and curling and straightening and coloring, both in her personal and professional life, has left Aniston uniquely positioned to talk about damage—and reparative ingredients, of which she has tried many on a long road to hair health. While working with a different hair-care brand, Aniston got “the bug” for formulating, so when the opportunity to become a founder presented itself five years ago via Elizabeth Arden veterans and current LolaVie co-founders Joel Ronkin and Amy Sachs—to create hair products with natural, plant-based ingredients that still perform—Aniston needed little convincing.

LolaVie arrives this morning with a Glossing Detangler that swaps water, a filler ingredient that typically makes up 80 percent of hair-care products, with nourishing, sustainable bamboo essence. Lemon extract imparts “extraordinary shine,” per Aniston, and vegetable ceramides replace conditioning chemicals such as silicones, which can offer immediate gratification but often cause damage over time.

A detangler isn’t necessarily the first product you’d expect from a new hair-care brand, but one of LolaVie’s core principles is to launch products based on need—a hole in the market, or something that can be improved upon—rather than conform to predetermined retail schedules. And Aniston happens to need a good detangler. “I use detanglers all the time when I get out of the shower because of the condition of my hair; it’s hard to get through,” she reveals, adding that she wanted her detangler to be like “the Swiss Army knife of products: It’s a heat protector, it brings nutrients and health back to the hair follicle, it creates shine”—and it happens to be a great sign of what’s to come.

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