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Ashley Tisdale is many things: notably, an actor who many of us grew up alongside throughout her colorful Disney Channel career, singer, new(ish) mom to Jupiter Iris French, and founder, author, and curator of a lifestyle website named Frenshe born in August of 2020 — as we were all coming to terms with and learning how to adjust our lives to a pandemic. Even though I'm sitting inches away from a celebrity with 15 million followers on Instagram in the outdoor courtyard of a Manhattan hotel, Tisdale couldn't seem more down-to-earth. Cheesy as it is to say in a scenario like this, but she has such a warm energy to her — as if I'm talking to a friend.
Nowadays, she's embracing her inner businesswoman and entrepreneur and gearing up for the launch of her new skin-care/wellness/self-care line, Being Frenshe. What's really impressive? It's launching exclusively at Target (you know, our favorite store to spend hours in when we only had the intention of buying that one thing) with a whopping 45 products for its initial lineup, and — wait for it — everything's $17 and under. As you can see below, this debut collection includes body washes, hair masks, bath bombs, hair/body oils, and hand serums, among others.
"It's the hardest thing I've truly ever worked on," Tisdale says. "Anyone who says it's easy probably is putting just their name on it — [starting a beauty brand] is a full-time job." Of course, she has a groove when it comes to work involving acting, but learning about the business side of things was unexplored territory for the star. "Trusting every part of it and knowing that my intuition was helping me, and having those moments where I cried at night, but then getting back up and being like, 'I believe in this product'" was all part of the difficult undertaking, she tells me.
The heart of Being Frenshe, as one would expect, lies within Frenshe and the engaged community she's built alongside the lifestyle blog. "When I created [Frenshe], I had no motive to create a product line," Tisdale tells me when I ask about, essentially, her role within the growing movement of celebrity beauty brands. But, as she reflects, there was no pressure in the early days to monetize her editorial venture. "I wanted to share my experience and help others through whatever they were going through — and it was just about connecting with people," she notes.
But inevitably, Tisdale started connecting with followers through DM conversations, through which she started learning about what they actually wanted in a self-care line. At the same time, Tisdale — as someone who found herself at home more than ever before — was also well on her journey into the world of fragrances and discovering what scents could do from a wellness perspective.
All five scents or "moods" (more on that later) embedded within the Being Frenshe line were inspired and born out of her burgeoning obsession with candles. "I was really creating these rituals to keep myself grounded [during the pandemic], and a lot of it had to do with my candles," she says. "I was realizing that, 'Oh wow, when I open a window and light a candle, it changes my mood.'" That was the lightbulb moment: incorporating fragrance into her daily routine (like body wash and body oil), rather than having to add essential oils to everything.
The five scents are based on what mood you want to experience or crave at any given moment of the day. For those seeking calm, there's Unwind & Rest — Tisdale's favorite for nighttime — paired with the Lavender Cloud scent (cardamom, clary sage, cocooning must) and Soothe & Comfort paired with Cashmere Vanilla (mandarin, amber, jasmine absolute, cedarwood). "I'm obsessed with cooking Trader Joe's jasmine rice, which was the inspiration behind Cashmere Vanilla," she reveals. "The lab actually made the rice themselves and [somehow] captured it."
For a dose of invigoration in the morning, Awaken & Uplift coupled with Citrus Amber (sparkling lemon, orange blossom, golden musk) is your gal. Joy & Bliss, which is invoked through Solar Fleur (bergamot orpur, coconut orchid, solar peony, sandalwood oil), feels like a sunny day spent at the beach.
The "in-between" scent, as you could call it, is Balance & Harmony, which takes its physical form as Bergamot Cedar (bergamot, ginger, gardenia, vetiver, cedarwood). "I really wanted a woodsier scent because I'm a huge Big Sur fan," she explains. "If I really need time to heal and find balance, that's the first place I go to."
It's important to note that not all of the product offerings come in all five scents, which speaks to another level of curation Tisdale wanted to perfect. For example, the Body Serum Stick is only available in Bergamot Cedar and Cashmere Vanilla, where are both healing scents. But, scent aside, both sticks are infused with sodium PCA. magnesium PCA, and marine seaweed extract for moisturizing and energizing benefits, cosmetic chemist Ginger King confirms.
If Tisdale makes one thing clear throughout our chat, she really believes in the power of self-care moments, no matter how short or fleeting. "The best part about this line is that it's not about taking a moment to do a full-fledged routine, but [something like] getting into the shower and using the body wash in the morning and feeling like, 'Oh, mood boost' — and it was only a shower, you know?" As someone who struggles with carving out time for self-care, even with my abundance of beauty products, that hits home.
Although, when she mentions one of "those moments" as applying hand serum while you're in traffic, I think to myself, "Oh, LA things." Can't relate (thankfully), though I guess moisturizing my hands wouldn't be too weird on public transit, given what sometimes goes down on the subway.
Self-care, naturally, extends to the people around us. "You squeeze it in," Tisdale says when I ask her about self-care as a mom, something I can't fathom at this point in my life. "Something really important that my doula said to my husband was, 'you should know her favorite things, so when she gets nervous or is getting to that point,' he would know what would help rejuvenate me."
In essence, in order for others to know how to best accommodate you and in order to better care for your loved ones, you need to figure out what self-care looks like for you first. "I can't just keep going at full speed," Tisdale notes. "I have to take care of myself because, if I don't, I'm not going to be in a good headspace for my daughter."
This self-care mindset also goes hand-in-hand with the production that goes into her products. Target, as you might know, has a "Target Clean" program that makes it easier for shoppers to make educated decisions on what ingredients they want to put on their faces and bodies — and Being Frenshe will have this distinction and logo. (For reference, Allure has its own clean beauty standard.)
"The first ['clean'] product for me was deodorant years ago, then toothpaste, and then I built it into my [entire] lifestyle," she attests. "The one that is the best one that sticks is Corpus Naturals," she divulges when I ask her about natural deodorants, a category I am often a bit doubtful of, and goes on to recommend Cedar Flora, which she adamantly says stays on all day, even through workouts.
Above all else, Being Frenshe maintains the original Frenshe philosophy, which is all about balance. "It's not like I'm someone who's like, 'Oh yeah, you have to live a completely nontoxic and clean lifestyle," she says. "It's like, 'No, just make one clean choice a day.'" And from what you can see in the brand's offerings, it's fairly easy to pick and choose which product and scent you feel most connected to. (In case you can't decide based on notes alone, there's a Mood Boosting Perfume Discovery Set, $17, with mini vials of all five scents for you to get into.)
Throughout the interview, I can't hide my surprise that Being Frenshe is kicking off with five scents and 45 products. But when I inquire about this huge undertaking, Tisdale appears to be more than satisfied with the numbers. "We had more than five [moods initially], but we ended up choosing our strongest moods, which was a great amount — because we could grow from there," Tisdale says. "There are more moods to be done."
While she tells me she's focused on staying present and in the moment, I can tell there's a lot to come for the brand. Until then, I'll be enveloping myself in these gorgeous scents and trying to prioritize my own self-care moments.
You can now shop the entire Being Frenshe line at target.com for $8 to $17 now.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
More on celebrity beauty brands:
- Hailey Bieber's Beauty Brand, Rhode, Is Finally Here
- Halsey Created a Makeup Brand to Help You Break Beauty Rules
- Alicia Keys Wants to Be Your New Self-Care Mentor
Now, watch Joey King demonstrate a quick, 10-minute beauty routine:
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