Danielle Fishel has given off serious hair envy since she hit TVs as Boy Meets World’s beloved Topanga in the early ’90s. And now, the 38-year-old mother-of-one has literally bottled up her secrets to deliver the vegan line, Be Free by Danielle Fishel—a passion project that began while Fishel was pregnant and couldn’t find safe, effective products that actually worked.
“When I first found out I was pregnant, I honestly didn’t think too much about it—I like to use the products I like,” she says. “But when I went to the first ultrasound and heard his heartbeat, everything changed. Every decision I make is going to affect someone else’s life.”
Here’s what Fishel told us about getting fabulous hair, being in the middle of the “crunchy scale,” and why she hopes everyone will love her new line as much as she does. (Spoiler alert: she didn’t fool around when it came to sending back the product a few times for a full year to fine-tune the formulas until they were exactly what she wanted.)
1. A hair tonic *might* be as good as dry shampoo. Hear her out: “I don’t like dry shampoo; I don’t like the dusty, sticky, tacky, powder-y feeling it gives. I like to put my hands in my hair. I made the Scalp Refresh ($30) after my friend who just had a baby started sending me pictures of clumps of hair. The product has five botanicals that are proven to increase hair growth in a clinical trial, but I also use it as a dry shampoo replacement—it’s incredible for that. I use it twice a day on dry hair.”
2. Washing your hair too much doesn’t work. “I get a blowout every five days, but I can go seven. I mean, by Day 4, I might start to pull it back and wear a hat, but I try to go as long as possible.”
3. The best hair tie can be your shining star. “I always pull my hair back in a loose ponytail while I sleep to prolong the blowout. But, if I just had it blown out, I skip pulling it back that night or else it leaves a dent.”
4. Fragrance isn’t always your friend. “I like things that smell nice, but I didn’t want the line to have fragrance. So I would find things I liked, send it to the lab and ask, ‘Can we find a healthy alternative?’”
5. Your shampoo shouldn’t last for three months and your conditioner for two weeks. “It was really important to me to make a conditioner that you don’t need a ton of and that it makes it easy to brush your hair after you use it. I also like a shampoo with a little bit of lather—I don’t like feeling like I just ‘wet’ my hair in the shower or like I’m scrubbing it forever,” she says. “The Shampoo and Conditioner ($36 for the combo) both accomplish that.”
