La La Anthony, she’s just like us: Trying, researching and testing a social media trend that she just took from the TikTok-testing phase of quarantine to a full-on hair-care launch called INALA. The brand is focused on helping with hair-loss and regrowth via rice water and, as Anthony recently told us, she’s “beyond happy” with how it all turned out.
What was the most difficult thing about getting the line to launch?
It was definitely a DIY project during the pandemic when everyone was home, playing around with different things. I had been following the rice water trend through social media and online, and I started using it on my own hair and seeing amazing results. The problem was, when rice water ferments, it is a really, really bad smell—so if you don’t use it within 24 hours or so, you can’t use it because it makes your whole house smells really, really bad.
I kept asking myself, “How can I bring this to the masses—without the smell—and still have all the powerful ingredients of rice water and everything?” I worked with some top chemists and beauty people; I enlisted an amazing team, and we figured out a 100-percent rice water complex formula with no scent. It has biotin and tons of other vitamins and minerals in it, and that’s how INALA came to be.
Is there a holy grail product in the line that you’re super proud of?
The Power Potion ($55) is our hero product. It’s our first product that we came out with. It comes in a dropper and people use it all throughout their hair, but you can target your problem areas. For a lot of us who put a lot of tension on our hair, a lot of times the edges are a problem area—an area that is either thinning or going bald in certain places from pulling back ponytails or weaves or braids or just various types of hairstyles.
The Power Potion really targets whatever your problem area is. I love hearing about and also seeing the amazing results. It’s like you’re giving people their confidence back. You’re giving people their self-esteem back and that’s a beautiful thing. It’s more than just hair care.
It’s bit of a ritual using this line and using these products. What is your wellness ritual like?
I always say I’m trying to get better at my own self-care routine. My life moves really, really fast, between having a 15-year-old and working all the time. Like a lot of people out there, I don’t really ever take time out for myself, so I’m trying to get better at taking some time out at the end of the day, washing my face, cleansing, toning, using INALA in my hair. Even if it’s 10 minutes out of every night to just say, “Okay, this is my 10 minutes,” and trying to be committed to that. You can just go, go, go and the next thing you know you never really pay attention to yourself.
Is there anything somebody might be surprised to hear about your beauty routine?
Probably that I’m really a tomboy. I’m not really a girly girl; I get my hair and makeup done because it’s part of my job and part of being on TV or taking pictures, but in my day-to-day, there’s nothing about me that’s super glamorous or girly. That’s just not my vibe at all!
Are there any other brands that you admire that you looked to when you were starting the line?
I love hair care in general. I love experimenting with wigs, with braids, with different hairstyles so I’m a fan of all of it. I just like to try different things. In high school I was a ponytail girl, I was the girl that everybody came to get their ponytails done by. I’m a hair person in general, so to be able to come out with a product that really helps with hair care is so important to me.
A lot of times, when you’re wearing extensions or weaves or different things, you tend not to pay as much attention to your real hair and you have to understand it’s just as important. I think this product is helping people pay attention and take care of their real hair.
Without giving too much away about what’s next, do you have a dream product that you’d like to create?
We also came out with the Reset Rinse ($30), which is a once-a-week rinse 100-percent rice water complex that you rinse your hair with. Now, we’re going to come out with a leave-in and work toward shampoo and conditioners. It’s so many exciting things. The sky is the limit when it comes to rice water and the benefits for hair and even skin as well, so we’re just rolling at a steady pace. We’re really happy with how everything is turning out.
