We Tried This: Living Proof Haircare

Does the Jennifer Aniston-fronted line of hair products live up to its moniker?

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Courtesy Living Proof

In the pantheon of celebrity tresses, Jennifer Aniston’s golden locks are up there with the best of them. They first shot to fame with the layered “Rachel” haircut during her Friends days in 1994. Now she is better-known for the signature style that she nearly always sports: long, sleek, sometimes with beachy waves, but almost always envy-inducing.

Someone with hair so celebrated would seem to be a natural spokesperson for a haircare brand, and Aniston did shill for a L’Oreal hairspray back in the ‘90s. But she has otherwise stayed out of the game until now—or specifically October 2012, when she signed on as the celebrity face and product creator of Boston-based Living Proof, a line of hair products founded by biotech scientists that promises to revolutionize your coif. Living Proof wants to be “proof in a bottle” rather than “hope in a bottle,” and it has an impressive pedigree: ten patents and a 2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation for co-founder Robert Langer.

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Full disclosure: my own hair has probably never looked as good as Jennifer Aniston’s, even on her worst days. My blonde curls often like to masquerade as frizz, and taming and hydrating them can sometimes feel like an exercise in futility. Thus I’m a perfect test case for Living Proof, specifically two of their most talked-about products: No Frizz Nourishing Styling Cream and Prime Style Extender.

The No Frizz Nourishing Styling Cream was something of a revelation, and has quickly become a shining star in my haircare routine. Living Proof touts it as “the biggest anti-frizz breakthrough in over 30 years,” setting up outsize expectations at the get-go. I applied it generously post-shower, and after air-drying my tresses were surprisingly smooth and buoyant. While I normally use heat tools to adjust any pieces that are misbehaving, the No Frizz Cream greatly reduced my need to tinker with my waves. They felt glossy, manageable and defined, no doubt because of the humidity-repelling patented molecule OFPMA that is the Cream’s prominent active ingredient.

Prime bottle

Courtesy Living Proof

I also found the Prime Style Extender to be an equally valuable weapon in one’s beauty arsenal. The styler is lightweight enough that I was initially skeptical it would even do anything at all, much less double the lifespan of my hairstyle as it claims. It’s applied to clean, damp hair, and can be layered with other products. I often leave my apartment in the morning with one style, but after a morning commute and various levels of humidity, stress and sweat, by afternoon I’m frowning in the bathroom mirror at how mussed my hair has gotten. Prime doesn’t let that happen; the Style Extender has been formulated with OFPMA as well as priming emollients to prevent styles from falling. No less significantly, I found that my hair stayed fresher longer—and I already believe in shampooing minimally as it is. My locks didn’t feel greasy or weighted down if I took an extra day or two between washings.

I can understand now why Aniston feels so strongly about the company; both products I tried are definite keepers. Living Proof has concocted a potent mix of products based on hard science and an understanding of women’s hair needs, and now seems poised for big growth.

Living Proof’s No Frizz Cream ($26 for 4 oz.) and Prime Style Extender ($20 for 5 oz.) are available here.

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