Jennifer Lawrence tested an unscented hair mask for four days while developing her new haircare brand, only for the product to develop an unpleasant odour that prompted a blunt reaction from her husband, Cooke Maroney. Lawrence recounted the exchange in an interview with The Cut, describing how the unfinished treatment left her hair smelling like fish.
'If you don't wash your hair, you have to get a hotel room,' Lawrence recalled Maroney telling her. The remark concerned an unscented trial version of the Multitask Repair Mask, not the finished product sold to customers.
The 36-year-old actor launched mes° on 27 October 2026 with three products developed alongside Jasmina Aganovic, founder and CEO of biotechnology beauty company Arcaea. Lawrence took an active role in developing the products, working with Aganovic and the Arcaea team.
Four Days of Product Testing
Lawrence said the mask left her hair smelling like fish after she wore it for four days. The experiment was one of many rounds of testing conducted as the team worked on formulas designed to fit into her daily hair routine.
The brand launched with three products: the Multitask Repair Mask, Good Roots Volume Mist and Off-Duty Restyling Serum. The mask was developed for application to dry hair, an approach Aganovic described as technically-challenging because it required a formula made without water.
Lawrence began exploring a possible hair care business after watching Aganovic discuss biotechnology in a TED Talk in 2023. She contacted the scientist and subsequently visited Arcaea's Boston laboratory to learn more about the company's work.
By autumn 2024, Aganovic's team was developing products around Lawrence's requests, including a mask for dry hair, a serum to control flyaways without leaving residue and a mist intended to add volume without a stiff finish. Claims about improving hair health or reducing styling damage are the brand's stated aims, rather than independently established results.
Lawrence tested the serum during promotion for Die My Love and used the volume mist while working on What Happens at Night. She sent the restyling serum back for revisions nearly 150 times, The Cut reported. She also attended scent-training sessions, sought feedback on packaging and reviewed prototype bottles.
A New Venture Beyond Film
Lawrence has appeared in films including The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. Her move into hair care followed years of demanding styling and colour changes for acting roles.
Lawrence has discussed how years of hair colouring and styling for film roles damaged her hair, contributing to her interest in developing products focused on hair health. During an X-Men screen test, she said, her hair was dyed four different colours in a single day. After filming the second Hunger Games installment, she cut her damaged hair into a pixie style.
She subsequently searched for ways to style her naturally curly hair without relying on heated tools. The products she developed with Arcaea were intended to address concerns she had encountered in her own routine, including frizz, product residue, and the time required for styling.
Lawrence also described the creative satisfaction of product development. 'There is an undeniable energetic thing that happens when you're creating things, whether it's a movie or a product,' she told The Cut. She compared that feeling with the excitement of developing a film character.
Introducing a product under her own name brought a different kind of pressure. 'I have to pretend I've made the greatest thing on earth,' she said, describing the approach as 'a form of forced manifestation.' She also acknowledged worrying about how customers would respond to unfamiliar formulas.
Family Life and the Hotel Remark
Lawrence married art gallery director Cooke Maroney in Rhode Island in October 2019. They have two sons, including their eldest son, Cy. She shared the hair-mask anecdote while discussing the development of mes° and the practical challenges of testing prototypes at home.
The trial mask was not the only product that required repeated adjustments. Lawrence also took part in discussions about the brand's bottle design, fragrance and instructions, while Arcaea's scientists handled formulation and technical development.
The unscented formula was a trial version, not an indication of how the finished product smells.
