Jennifer Aniston has revived ‘The Rachel’, the world's most famous haircut
There are few hairstyles that have garnered more column inches than the look dubbed “The Rachel”, the choppy, layered cut worn by Jennifer Aniston’s character in Friends. And last night at the Golden Globes in Hollywood – 30 years since the sitcom first aired – 54-year-old Aniston revived the world’s most famous haircut with a stylish midlife update.
The new “Rachel” is an altogether more grown-up take on the Nineties version. While the original haircut required heavy layering for the bold look, the iteration debuted on the Globes red carpet still falls just below the shoulders but has a more even weight distribution throughout the hair.
“It’s less feathery with more bulk towards the ends,” explains the hairdresser Adam Reed, who counts Reese Witherspoon and Diane Kruger amongst his clients. “You can also see there’s a real focus on the condition of the hair, so it’s super shiny and looks really healthy and effortless,” he adds.
The original “Rachel” still has a devout following; for Reed, it’s the most requested haircut of his career. He is still asked for some version of the cut several times a month. In fact, his clients who fall in the Gen Z bracket are asking for “The Rachel” in their droves – presumably to be worn with their combat trousers and spaghetti strap tops – even though they would have been in nappies when the hairstyle first made the rounds.
But for Reed, Aniston’s newer midlife spin is the epitome of “quiet luxury”. This is as much down to the technique of colouring the hair as it is in the cut, he explains. Gone are the bright streaks of face-framing highlights from three decades ago, and instead the creamy, imperceptibly blended tones of honeyed brunette and warm blonde of the new “Rachel” make it bang up-to-date.
A colourist as well as a cutter, Reed explains that this style of highlighting, with its focus on blending and a subtle lift of colour around the face, give it a completely timeless quality. He describes Aniston’s colour as a soft beige “latte” shade, which flatters her olive complexion and looks radiant in the light.
While the original hairstyle was a Nineties icon that sparked countless imitations, it was in fact a look that Aniston didn’t like. When I interviewed the actress a few years ago she told me in no uncertain terms that the style was “a pain in the butt, to be honest. It was one of the hardest hairstyles to maintain.”
She would have to see her hairdresser Chris McMillan, who is still believed to be her hairdresser now, every six weeks “to keep this darn thing up though, because it was a ‘hairdo’.” Just as well, then, that the newer iteration of “The Rachel” is far less maintenance than the original.
Four ways to recreate “The Rachel” in midlife
The cut
The most important element is, of course, the iconic cut itself. Ask your hairdresser for blunter ends that have been cut into with hairdressing shears, which reduces weight for a slightly choppy appearance without looking too textured. It’s these subtleties that makes the style instantly more midlife-friendly. As for Aniston’s sweeping side fringe, it flatters her strong bone structure but any element of face-framing feathers work, says Reed. Just avoid one straight length around the face.
The colour
The great thing about “The Rachel” is that you don’t have to be a natural honeyed “bronde” to borrow from Aniston’s rulebook. Whether you’re naturally dark, a redhead or a light blonde, the rules of Aniston’s subtly blended highlights can be applied.
“That’s the beauty of this hairstyle,” says Reed. “Whatever your hair colour is, you can lift the shade one or two tones around the face for that natural brightness, and add in highlights to gently lift your colour.” Balayage – the French technique of painting hair colour strand-by-strand – can be particularly effective here.
The condition
Even the best cut and colour won’t look its best on damaged-looking hair. One of the reasons Aniston’s hair looks so youthful is because it’s so shiny and glossy, which Reed explains is down to a good shine-promoting shampoo and conditioner, and a really good heat protectant such as L’Oreal Professionnel Techni.Art Pli Shaper (£16.70, lookfantastic.com).
Aniston knows a thing or two about hair condition – the actress has her own successful haircare line LolaVie which focuses on plant-based formulas. The Glossing Detangler (£20, lolavie.com) is one of her best-sellers.
The style
While Aniston wore the original “Rachel” hairstyle tousled with lots of volume, the latest version is sleeker and more polished. Reed explains that would likely be a result of using a hair mousse in the roots for volume and a few pumps of a hair oil through the mid-lengths and ends for a boost of shine.
Try the Body Hybrid Mousse (£13, boots.com) and the Good Habit Hybrid Oil (£14, boots.com) both by Arkive. Although Aniston’s hair is straight and smooth, Reed puts this down to a blow drying brush (such as the 4-in-1 FlexStyle by Shark, £230, Boots, or the Airwrap by Dyson, £480) to style the hair, rather than a hair straightener. Blow drying brushes maintain volume in the roots while adding sleekness to the hair overall.
