Yahoo Lifestyle Ashley Tisdale on Mental Health, Living With Alopecia, and Her New Hair Line
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When High School Musical premiered 19 years ago, Sharpay Evans—played by Disney royalty Ashley Tisdale—became my tween beauty muse. The French-tip long nails, glossed lips, the highlighted hair...she had the sauce. This was before a world dominated by social media micro trends mind you, so Ashley’s glam was a constant in my life, so much so that it influenced my own beauty choices. I vividly remember asking my mom to take me to get a gel manicure (we landed on drugstore press-ons) and a set of highlights (we settled on Sun-In). My entire fourth-grade class in Ohio was doing the same.
Like the masses, my 10-year old self was captivated by Ashley’s aura. But now, as an adult beauty editor, I know that maintaining a certain appearance—especially one that involves constantly bleaching your hair and wearing hair extensions—isn’t always as fabulous as it seems. I recently caught up with Ashley to talk about all of this and why adding haircare to her wildly successful beauty line, Being Frenshe, felt like a natural next step for her brand. Ahead, details on Being Frenshe’s seven new hair products plus a look at Ashley’s very storied hair journey since The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
You originally launched Frenshe with bodycare products that focus on mental health...but tell me more about how you got into hair. Have you always wanted to launch hair products?
No. I’m always excited and shocked at how successful this company has been, so to go into a different category was not on my radar. I didn’t even know how the body care products would do, to be honest. Target was interested in where we wanted to go next, and I just felt like the most natural category to go into was hair. I really wanted to take the stress out of our hair and just kind of give love to it. There are so many hair products that work by giving expectations to our hair—like have more volume, thicken up, define a curl—but we’re never actually giving our hair a break. I’ve had such a hair journey myself. I was diagnosed with alopecia in my 20s. I know people find that so crazy, because I have pretty thick, coarse hair, but obviously alopecia is different for everyone.
Wait, tell us about that.
I remember being diagnosed in my mid-20s because I had a bald spot. And my dermatologist just gave me a paper on it and was like, “Here, this is what it is.” There’s not really much you can do about it, because it’s an autoimmune disease. But I still kind of stopped in my tracks. You can’t control when it happens. You don’t know when flare-ups will happen.
I have always been pretty brutal to my hair, and it started with bleaching it blonde for a role, and then it was just a continual spiral of bleaching and extensions. I even went pink one year. And I just wasn’t thinking about the integrity of my hair. When I got diagnosed, I was like, “Okay, I need to really start taking care of my hair and scalp.” I’ve never been bright blonde since. I just wanted to start embracing my natural texture when I’m not working. I let my hair air-dry, and I’ve learned that doing less is more. Less bleach, fewer products.
So many people are dealing with hair loss and thinning after having COVID—were you scared when you got diagnosed?
It’s wild, because as I was creating the line, I thought, This is a really important thing. We’re not creating something that’s going to heal your alopecia.* But we’re able to help a range of people, like my mom going through hair thinning because of her age or someone with postpartum hair loss. When something gets our attention is when we focus on it. But what if we just always give it attention, it won’t have to get to that point. Whenever I have a flare of alopecia, it’s usually when I’m emotionally stressed. I need to go back to my meditations and my rituals.
*Editor’s note: Nothing topical can “cure” alopecia, unfortunately, so if you’re dealing with this, see your dermatologist. But also remember: You’re not alone—nearly 7 million people in the U.S. have had or will have it.
Can you explain how the mood-boosting technology works?
We come up with the moods first, and then we think about what evokes that mood. And our lab uses a technology to figure out what notes they can combine to make you feel a certain way. Citrus Amber can make you feel joyful and blissful, while Lavender Cloud is for unwinding and resting. It’s so funny because my husband was using Citrus Amber in the shower the other day, and he was like, “Babe, are we ever going to get the Lavender Cloud? Because, you know, the Citrus Amber is waking me up too much at night.”
When I use the Lavender Cloud bath bombs, I fall right asleep. So it’s real.
No, truthfully, when you create a ritual around a scent, the scent will automatically trigger you. I’ve struggled with insomnia in the past, so I have to set myself up for a good night’s rest by creating a ritual. I also remember using Citrus Amber when we launched. It was my body wash that was I constantly using when we were renting a place in Malibu when [my daughter] Jupiter was 1. Now, whenever I use it, I always think of those memories.
I’m curious: Ariana Grande once said in an interview that being on a Nickelodeon show ruined her hair because she was always coloring it red. What was bleaching your hair at such a young age like for you?
It took up so much time. I went through a “who am I?” moment when they decided to cut off seven inches and dye my hair blonde for The Suite Life. I was like, “Who is that?” My hair was straight, not curly anymore. It made me feel like, “Was my hair not good enough before?” I was really proud of my hair growing up. I never cut my hair. It was a bit shocking, so I started to spiral.
For the first High School Musical, I had been rehearsing for, like, two weeks, and you become the character during those rehearsals. I was light blonde, and they put in these lowlights. And I thought, Woah, this is not Sharpay. I ran to [director of High School Musical] Kenny Ortega and was like, “This isn’t right.” He agreed, but we were supposed to film the next day. So we just bleached my hair, and it absolutely fried it. I have thick hair, so we had to put extensions up to the root to match the thickness, and people thought I was wearing wigs in the film.
Was it frustrating being so young and having people tell you what you’re going to look like?
I just didn’t know myself. I was playing characters for so long. You do become the character at a certain point. I’m someone who really jumps into a character and I feel attached to them. But at the same time, I was never truly getting to know who I was. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago, when I was faced with anxiety and depression, that I was like, Oh, I need to get to know myself, and I need to really give myself some space and time to learn who I am, because I can only mask my own self through characters for so long, and then I’m gonna meet myself.
A lot of people don’t take the time to work on themselves, and I’m really proud of the moments that I did. I learned all of these little things that are not perfect, and I think those flaws are what make us beautiful. It was nice to finally do that because I just remember being such a perfectionist for so long.
I can relate to that. That’s such an anxiety thing.
It was nice to finally realize I don’t need to be perfect. No one’s expecting me to be perfect.
But...in a dream world where hair damage wasn’t a thing, would you be blonde again?
I’ll do blonder in the summertime. But I don’t think I’d ever do bright blonde again. It’s not my personality. I look at my wedding pictures, and my daughter’s like, “Who is this? Look at that princess!” It is just so wild. But I look at that, and it’s all extensions. I love not having to wear extensions anymore. I want to do whatever is going to keep my hair healthy.
The whole Cosmo team was stoked about this interview because everyone is such a fan of yours and felt like they legit grew up with you. We all were like, “She raised me.” How does that feel?
To have raised a generation?
Yes! Is that burdensome at all or something you’re excited about?
I love it. I mean, I’ve always been so grateful for everything I’ve done, and I was so excited to be doing what I was doing back then. I’m even continuing Phineas and Ferb for the 18th year. To be a part of really iconic shows is not normal, and it’s exciting. And I am so grateful. What I’m really proud about is that I know people know me as those characters, but now through Being Frenshe, they get to know who I am personally for the first time. I’m so glad people have grown up with me, but I do feel like I’m doing something more meaningful in my life, which is really important to me.
In the era of reboots and revivals, if you had the chance to go back and reunite on set with a previous castmate, which one would be the most exciting for you?
Probably my best friend Austin Butler. I made him do Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure. I’d love to come back and do another thing. We had so much fun working on Aliens in the Attic together. And it’s so funny because we still talk about those times. We’re just like, “Oh my god, remember that time in New Zealand.” I’m so proud of him. He’s so talented. And he’s never surface, that’s for sure. He’ll call me, and we’ll be on the phone for an hour and a half—it’s never a short conversation. He’s a pretty amazing person.
Parts of this interview have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Moisture Shampoo
Moisture Conditioner
Detox Scalp Scrub
Reset & Renew Hair Mask
Moisture Leave-In Conditioner Spray
Ritual Refresh Dry Shampoo
Body and Hair Radiance Oil
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