Ashley Tisdale Launches Bath and Body Care Line Being Frenshe at Target: 'Wellness Is for Everyone'

If you read Ashley Tisdale's blog Frenshe, you know she wears her heart on her sleeve.

Whether the actress, singer and new mom is opening up about her journey to find herself following the birth of her daughter, Jupiter, or the process of accepting her changing body, she always speaks to her fans with a refreshing candor.

The platform has played a major role in her new passion project: the launch of her bath and body brand, Being Frenshe.

"The blog is for others — not me. I want people to know that everyone goes through hard times and that they have a community of support," Tisdale explains.

The need for support was palpable at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when after receiving a series of messages from her fans, Tisdale realized she was not the only person who might benefit from practicing healthy wellness rituals to quiet her anxiety. Enter: Being Frenshe. It's rooted, she says, in "wanting to help you in your everyday life."

Courtesy Being Frenshe

"I believe that self-care starts with self-love and that self-love is getting to know yourself and really allowing yourself to literally take a moment out of your day for yourself, not for someone else," Tisdale explains.

After two years in the making, Being Frenshe debuts with an assortment of 45 products ranging from bath powder to perfume oil. It's exclusively at Target and everything is $17 and under.

The collection is split up into five scent categories: Awaken & Uplift, Joy & Bliss, Balance & Harmony, Soothe & Comfort and Unwind & Rest. The scents, Tisdale reveals, are inspired by her favorite candles, and even a food item. The cashmere vanilla in the Soothe & Comfort line is "jasmine rice that I cooked for years in my kitchen."

Ahead, Tisdale opens up about the creating of the line and what made the process extra-special.

Courtesy Being Frenshe

PEOPLE: Do you remember the first time you heard either the words "wellness" or "self-care", and how has your approach to either evolved from then to now?

Ashley Tisdale: "I don't remember exactly, but, when I was going through a stressful [time] about six years ago, I would see those words a lot in the books I was reading."

And it's evolved in that now I have the tools to help me get through things and to not reach the place I reached a few years ago, where I was overwhelmed, scared and having a ton of anxiety.

I think that's so important that we make moments of self-care a part of our every day because it really does help you; it helps me in everything that I do. Being a mom and trying to do the work-life balance, at the end of the day I might feel depleted. It's important to know when you've hit that mark and [be] like, 'I need to take a moment. I need to take a bath. I need to do my nightly ritual.'"

PEOPLE: Your line is called Being Frenshe. Tell us about the origin of "Frenshe"?

Ashley Tisdale: "When I was creating a blog and I knew it was going to be a very personal platform of mine, where I talked very openly and authentically about everything that I'd gone through. I was trying to think the time in my life when I started this journey of learning about myself. And I really was inspired by my husband when we got married and him being sober. He did a lot of work on himself; I think that inspired me to really get to know who I was.

And, my married name is French. I always like to say, 'I'm Ashley Tisdale in the business but at home I'm Ashley French.' And so I think for me, it was the first time I was really letting everybody in to see who I am as a person. I remember being like, 'French, French, Frenshe.' And then I just went to GoDaddy to see if it was available and it was. And I was like, 'This is the name.'"

Courtesy Being Frenshe

PEOPLE: What was the moment a product line felt right?

Ashley Tisdale: "During the pandemic, I was starting to see that I needed to create rituals to ground me and get me through. I'm a candle obsessed person, so lighting a candle, I started to realize, 'It's interesting how this candle can really change my energy.' If I have a bad night, just opening the window and lighting this candle is making me happy.'

I started to research how fragrance and essential oils can lift our moods. And I was like, 'What if we put them in your everyday products?' So that was where it was born.

Now, we have these five different mood boosting scents and, whatever mood you want to feel, they really do make you feel that. Doing a product line, I was like, 'It has to be different, it has to be meaningful.' I wanted to create something that not only made people feel good [externally] but actually feel good [internally]."

PEOPLE: Being Frenshe is available at Target. Congratulations! Why was that a natural fit?

Ashley Tisdale: "It's one of my favorite places; I always shop there. And I dreamed of having a line there. I felt like everything in the wellness world was expensive. And if it was expensive for me, I couldn't imagine what it might be like for someone following me. So, I was just like, 'Frenshe is for everyone, wellness is for everyone.'"

Courtesy Being Frenshe

PEOPLE: What was the most fun part of this journey, and the most challenging?

Ashley Tisdale: "The fun part was the development of the actual products, because my job was to literally just be in the bath and to play with different formulas and textures and scents making sure everything was right.

The hardest part is the business side of things. You have this vision and you have to have everybody on the team understand how to bring that to life. It's stressful and it's hard and it's something that at times I feel like I'm not great at. Acting has been something I've always known my whole life, but this side of things is something that's very new for me.

The last two years, except for my child, this line has been the main focus. And it's just like a roller coaster when you're a founder, and you are in every single aspect of that business. There are moments where you're hysterically crying. But, I follow my intuition in it and I just know that it's too important for me, and it's been really awesome to see my growth through that."

PEOPLE: Every brand has a hero product. Why do you think yours will be the Hair, Body & Linen Mist?

Ashley Tisdale: "I'm someone who, having anxiety, I have a hard time sleeping. And so I really rely on nightly rituals to calm down my nervous system. And the hair, body and linen mist is something that I put on my pillows, and it's just refreshing. I have it put it in my purse too. To me it is an easy way to just really mood boost."

Courtesy Being Frenshe

PEOPLE: Walk us through a day in your beauty routine?

Ashley Tisdale: "Well, there's always a candle. But I love taking care of my skin, I've been like that since I was young. I love taking care of my hair. One of my favorite times is when I take a shower at night and use the deep conditioner on my hair. There's something very freeing about going to bed with your hair wet and being like, "I don't care what it looks like!"

I also I love facial tools; they help because I get TMJ sometimes. And I love oils and the body and hair radiance oil, it's great for your hair but also good for your body. And honestly the soothing body serum stick is just, I wanted to call it a magic stick, but they wouldn't let me. It is the most relaxing thing ever. I would use magnesium spray because of how tense my neck is during the day from stress. But the problem is you put it on your hands when you rub it in and then it's burning on your hands. So we put it in a stick so it just goes on specifically to where you want it to and you don't have to touch it."

PEOPLE: Not only did you launch a brand during the pandemic but you had your daughter Jupiter. What was it like to both be working on this brand and be raising your first child?

Ashley Tisdale: "The fact that I was working on this brand when she was still in my stomach wild. I probably owe all of my creative ideas to her because she was there creating it with me. I had maybe a month off after I had Jupiter and then I was right back into work. But, it's been easier for me because of Zoom. I was able to be home during the day and see my child. But I'm still learning the work-life balance."

Courtesy Being Frenshe

PEOPLE: How will you commemorate the launch?

Ashley Tisdale: "I never thought in a million years I'd be doing a product line. I really had no intention of it; I was really just set out to connect with people and share my stories. And so to be in this moment where I'm like, 'Oh my God Being Frenshe is going to be at Target! That's wild.' It's still surreal for me, but I am definitely going to go to Target with my husband and daughter and I probably will cry but it's going to be a celebration."

This interview has been condensed and edited.