I Tried Jennifer Aniston's Super Easy Hair Routine

Anytime I head to the salon, I always Google Jennifer Aniston's hair to prep me for a cut. And when my most recent haircut did not turn out anything like her hairstyle, I decided to try Jennifer Aniston's super easy hair routine for five days, because she is my ultimate hair idol. She graces the red carpet with natural waves and braids that look like she paid someone a million bucks to look that perfectly imperfect. In reality, she's best friends with her hairdresser, Chris McMillan, and he does just about everything right in terms of hair.

As I was researching Aniston's hair routine, I discovered she loves sea salt, natural hair, and co-owns a hair care line called Living Proof, which counts McMillan as a celebrity stylist ambassador. All the products are natural, using different molecules than those found in typical shelf items, according to Living Proof. I also discovered that Jen loves braids for her curls and uses as few heat products as she can to avoid damage.

Aniston and I have very similar hair types: fine, thin, and temperamental. I figured if she can make this type of hair look amazing on the red carpet in front of millions of cameras without using heat products and a little bit of sea salt, I can make my hair look awesome for my single camera in the comfort of my own home.

Day 1: Living Proof Prime Style Extender

As I mentioned before, my hair is super thin and super fine. It is also stick straight with no hope of volume. So after I showered, used the Living Proof Style Extender, then let my hair air-dry, I was more than excited to find a few curls. My hair actually had some personality! Although I didn't have perfectly formed beach waves, my hair actually was doing something rather than just sticking to my head. I decided to go out in public with my hair down all day. And I got a few compliments from my friends at dinner!

Living Proof Prime Style Extender, $20, Sephora

Day 2: The Blow-Dryer

Thankfully, Aniston is pretty honest when it comes to her hair routine. Although we all wish we had time to let our hair air-dry everyday, even Aniston recognizes that is not possible. To give her hair volume, McMillan has stated that he uses a rolling brush and the blow-dryer on medium intensity when styling Aniston's hair. So I did the same.

Unfortunately, I am not a professional hair stylist (like, at all), so I am not even sure if I used the curling brush in the correct direction. Regardless, it helped create massive amounts of volume and helped me blow-dry my hair straight! I eliminated another heat product by forgoing my straightener today.

Day 3: Braids

This was after an all-day struggle with keeping braids in my hair. Aniston frequently wears braids on her day-to-day runs, which probably helps create those perfect waves. My hair, being fine and short, struggled to stay in braids all day. But I was finally able to take out the two Wendy's-inspired braids before bed to find curls similar to how my hair looked when I let it air-dry.

Day 4: Restore Mask

Aniston told InStyle that she uses Living Proof Restore Mask every Sunday to give her hair "a little rehabilitation after the week." So I did the same. This was quite the process. First, you have to wash your hair, then get out of the shower and generously apply the mask all over your hair, from root to end. The cold was worth it though, because the product smelled wonderful. I want to know why that mask is not a shampoo or perfume yet. It was hard not to use it the next day just because it smelled so amazing.

Living Proof Restore Mask Treatment, $42, Sephora

Since this was a restoration mask, I used my blow-dryer and flat-iron again. Later in the day, my mom asked if I did anything different to style my hair. When I told her I hadn't, she said it looked like it had more volume. For me and my thinner-than-thin hair, that compliment went straight to my heart. I was on a high for about a week.

Day 5: Ponytail

In the same interview with InStyle, Aniston said she celebrates her days off by doing nothing, which results in a ponytail. To truly celebrate like Aniston, I did not wash my hair, did not brush it, and did not use any products in my ponytail. Besides the makeup, I literally woke up like that. But my hair felt stronger and did not appear greasy.

Conclusions:

Although I'm not her twin yet, I'm totally on board with Aniston's hair routine. My hair felt softer and tougher by the end of the four days. Besides the slight greasiness the style extender left me, this is something I can definitely get down with — especially since it cut so much time off my usual routine.

Images: Hayli Goode (5); Getty