Jennifer Lawrence Launches Mes, a Haircare Brand Built With Arcaea's Jasmina Aganovic

Jennifer Lawrence launched Mes, a haircare brand developed with the biotechnology beauty company Arcaea, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, according to a company announcement. The brand, stylized as mes° and pronounced "mess," debuts with three products priced from $34 to $52 and is sold exclusively through its own website, mesbeauty.com.

The launch is the first consumer brand from the Oscar-winning actress, who is 36. Fortune reported that Lawrence said she began working on the company three years ago, and described the venture as a shift for an actress who had until now largely promoted her films and luxury brands such as Dior.

A partnership that began with a TED Talk

Lawrence developed Mes with Jasmina Aganovic, the founder and chief executive of Arcaea, whom the announcement describes as an MIT-trained chemical and biological engineer. According to the company and to Cosmetics Business, the partnership began after Lawrence watched a TED Talk by Aganovic about biotechnology and the beauty industry.

In a cover story published by The Cut, the magazine reported that Lawrence saw the talk in 2023, emailed Aganovic to set up a meeting and later visited Arcaea's lab in Boston. Aganovic told the magazine she was initially wary of the partnership. "One of my biggest fears is having my work be misinterpreted," she said. The Cut reported that Arcaea, which has raised $78 million according to Aganovic, is funding Mes. Fortune reported the same fundraising figure and noted that Arcaea previously created the fragrance brand Future Society.

According to The Cut, Aganovic's scientists began working on formulas in fall 2024, and Lawrence tested the products on her own hair, including on the set of the Martin Scorsese film she shot earlier this year. The magazine reported that she sent the serum back to the lab almost 150 times.

The three products

The debut collection consists of the Multitask Repair Mask ($52), the Good Roots Volume Mist ($34) and the Off-Duty Restyling Serum ($44), according to the announcement. The company says the mask can be worn for five minutes, overnight or as a slicked-back wet look, and The Cut reported that it is designed to be applied to dry hair. "Hair masks are not usually applied to dry hair," Aganovic told the magazine, "which is why it's very expensive to produce them this way, without water."

The brand has published performance figures for each product. It says the mask produces six times less breakage, up to 158% more lipids and a 32% reduction in protein loss during washing; that the volume mist delivers 2.5 times more volume and reduces scalp oiliness by 75%; and that the serum delivers 86% less frizz and heat protection up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Cosmetics Business reported the figures as the brand's own claims, including results it attributed to company clinical studies, and listed an additional company figure of 92% less tangling for the serum.

The company describes its approach as "biodesign," which it says uses biology to understand why a hair problem occurs rather than adding ingredients to a formula. Its stated aim is to extend styles beyond a single wash so that, in the announcement's words, people "can spend less time managing their hair and more time simply living in it."

What Lawrence and Aganovic said

"The world needs a different perspective on beauty. For too long, the conversation around beauty has been about doing more. More products, more steps, more time and more maintenance," Lawrence said in the announcement. Aganovic said in the same release, "Jennifer came to us with a very clear vision: what if beauty could give people something back instead of asking more from them?"

Fortune reported that Lawrence presented the brand to press at the Metrograph cinema in lower Manhattan, where she spoke about her experience with hair styling during her film career. "I had no agency over my hair at all," she said, according to Fortune, describing repeated coloring and heat styling during the "Hunger Games" films. "I get photographed pretty much every time I leave my house, but I don't have time to give myself a blowout," she said.

The brand is spelled Mes but pronounced "mess," and The Cut reported that the spelling "Mess" was already trademarked.

A new Instagram presence

The launch follows Lawrence's arrival on Instagram this fall. The Cut reported that she had long avoided creating a public account, joined the platform in September and had more than 8 million followers at the time of its reporting. Fortune reported that her posts so far include images from hair tests for films such as "American Hustle" and "X-Men" and a video of her using one of the new products.

The Cut reported that Lawrence plans to do minimal promotion for the brand. Discussing the business side of the company, she said, "If you put a gun to my head and were like, 'What are the numbers we would need to reach in order for Mes to be a success?' I would have no clue," she told the magazine. Asked whether the company has investors, she referred the question to Aganovic, according to The Cut.

Fortune described the debut as a test of how celebrity-driven beauty brands can succeed in 2026, particularly one founded by a traditional film star rather than a personality who built a following on social media.