She’s an Oscar Winner. She’s About to Star in a Scorsese Film. I Can’t Figure Out Why She’s Doing … This.

Fame Jennifer Lawrence’s New Playbook The Oscar winner just dropped a hair-care line. One question comes to mind. By Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. Sign in or create an account to better manage your email preferences. Unsubscribe from email alerts Are you sure you want to unsubscribe from email alerts for Heather Schwedel? Oct 28, 20265:11 PM Mes Beauty Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Bless this Mes. That’s the name of Jennifer Lawrence’s new hair-care company, so given because the actress thought it would be fitting for her to have a hair line called “mess,” or so the actress explained on a recent episode of Call Her Daddy. She didn’t get into why she ditched the second s, but she seems to be following the same branding strategy that compelled Sydney Sweeney to christen her lingerie company Syrn: Sometimes, a weird name gets people talking. Ridiculous name aside, the bigger question surrounding Mes and the attendant media blitz Lawrence is doing to launch it is: Why? Why is an Oscar-winning actress, one of the biggest stars of her generation, seeking entry into the already very crowded celebrity-beauty market? Lawrence’s gloss on it is that she’s always been a “hair girl,” according to a new profile in the Cut. Has she, though? While she is indeed known for her blond locks, what she’s more known for is being a “regular girl” who eats burgers and watches Bravo. Her hair frequently looks great, and she has recently been earning praise for her quiet-luxury street style, but Lawrence peddling hair products doesn’t make the kind of light-bulb-going-off-above-your-head instant sense that Sweeney, with her va-va-voom figure, selling lingerie does. This isn’t the only aspect of Mes that feels somewhat ill-conceived: Why is a line called Mes so sleek-looking, and pricey? The brand launched online with three products this week, a reparative mask, a restyling serum, and a volume mist. Rather than shampoo and conditioner, it’s a confusing array of fancy extras, the packaging for one of which resembles a sex toy. Mes Beauty Lawrence herself seems slightly embarrassed about the whole thing. Though she has talked a big game, both on Call Her Daddy and in the Cut profile, about how much she believes in her products, a certain vulnerability and discomfort also comes through. “I’m sure people are going to have a lot to say and it’s scary,” Lawrence told Call Her Daddy’s Alex Cooper of entering the hair-care space. In the film industry, she’s a veteran who’s dealt with just about every scenario, whereas, “I really don’t have experience with this,” she went on. Being charming and self-deprecating is part of Lawrence’s shtick, and she’s built a lucrative career on it. But it’s an attitude that seems slightly incompatible with today’s model of unrepentant capitalism. Perhaps the difference is generational: Though 36-year-old Lawrence is only seven years older than Sweeney, the 29-year-old actress never seems embarrassed about the many, many brands she has appeared in ads for. Short term, it seems to be working fine for her, but it remains to be seen what effect this constant shilling will have on her career long term. Lawrence has spent the past 15 years building the kind of reputation that used to be profitable enough to absolve a starlet from also having to become a mogul. If she seems nervous to be tiptoeing into the beauty world, can you really blame her? She’s been through the celebrity fame ringer, going from Hollywood’s golden girl to the culture souring on her for the same reasons it originally loved her. She’s likely well-aware of how harshly fans judge celebrities for starting brands, even as seemingly every celebrity also does it. A-listers might get judged the hardest: After all, Hailey Bieber is a blank slate I had no real expectations of prior to her becoming a lip gloss entrepreneur; someone like Lawrence is held to a higher standard, maybe unfairly. To me, it’s actually more charming and authentic that Lawrence so far doesn’t seem all that adept at selling her new line. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much that counts when you’re trying to get Sephora to stock your hair mask. Beauty Celebrities