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Leave it to Jennifer Lawrence to make a dramatic entrance: her new biodesigned haircare brand mes° has taken over the online discourse in one of the buzziest launches of the year. Created in partnership with Jasmina Aganovic, Founder & CEO of biotech-driven beauty company Arcaea, the brand launched with three products meant to multitask for an easier haircare routine: the Multitask Repair Mask, Good Roots Volume Mist, and Off-Duty Restyling Serum.
Aganovic has some serious scientific bona fides, having launched Future Society’s category-disrupting, science-backed Base Scent treatment earlier this year. But the cultural conversation seems to immediately shifted to Lawrence’s promotion of the brand, rather than the products themselves. During a week full of launch events and pre-holiday brand parties, all anyone in NY seemed to be talking about was the polarized response to Jennifer Lawrence launching an Instagram account to promote the mes° launch.
Was it a craven move of self-promotion? Or a savvy way to generate conversation? Given the sheer amount of media coverage and online chatter, I lean towards the latter. The products themselves seem to be beautifully designed and carefully formulated over a substantial testing period. But the polarized response is an interesting indicator that consumers may be tiring of celebrity-founded brands dominating their feeds.
This month saw a slew of amazing product launches that point toward some interesting emerging trends, from microplastic-free lip products to fragrance’s new star ingredient for fall. And be sure to check out our guide to the best advent calendars this holiday season. Read on for our guide to October’s best product launches:
After launching in late October, this scent is already a best seller (and a staple in my rotation). Top notes include pink pepper, honeyed floral, and oakwood.
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Trending: Cinematic Haircare Campaigns
The mes° launch embodies two of this month’s biggest product launch trends: a focus on haircare and an emphasis on carefully-curated, cinematic campaigns featuring top Hollywood filmmakers (in front of and behind the camera). For their launch campaign films, they tapped British filmmaker Isaac Lock and The Testament of Ann Lee movement director Celia Rowlson Hall. With over 500k likes and counting, it’s safe to say the campaign’s distinctive, cinematic look was worth it.
But that wasn’t the only cinematic haircare campaign this month: OUAI made its scripted entertainment debut with CHOPPED, a three-part original horror comedy series starring Victoria Pedretti. The series brings classic horror movie tropes into the everyday world of the OUAI office. Timed for Halloween, CHOPPED integrates messaging around the benefits of OUAI products into a horror narrative, blurring the line between narrative entertainment and product promotion.
Trending: Grounded Ylang-Ylang Scents
Le Labo launched their latest home scent: the PAPYRUS 20 Candle. With notes of earthy woods, rich resins and soft florals, it was designed to evoke the feeling of being wrapped in a well-worn leather jacket. The fragrance combines delicate notes of ylang-ylang, woody cypriol, and resinous labdanum.
MERIT introduced its second fragrance, New Wave L’Extrait de Parfum. The warm, spicy floral scent features a heart of orange flower, ylang-ylang and honeyed florals, and is grounded by rich woods, resins and musk.
Trending: Returning Holiday Flavor Favorites
MALK’s beloved Holiday Nog is back on shelves! The limited-edition holiday favorite combines a nostalgic taste of the season with the same simple, clean-label recipe of all MALK products. Holiday Nog is made with just five ingredients, including seasonally-appropriate nutmeg and maple, without dairy, gums, oils, or fillers.
Jacobsen Salt Co. introduced several holiday favorites this month, including the returning Vanilla Bean Salt. The seasonal fan favorite is made for salty or sweet uses in the kitchen. It joins Jacobsen Salt Co.’s other holiday products including Savory Citrus Brine (a genius shortcut for prepping Thanksgiving turkey), Salty Caramel Sauce, and the Holiday Flake Salt Jar.
Trending: Microplastic-Free Lip Treatments
Pam Anderson’s brand Sonsie launched Basic Balm in Wild Groundcherry, a limited-edition golden shimmer peptide lip balm inspired by the ground cherries growing in Pamela Anderson’s garden at Arcady. The balm is mica-free + microplastic-free, and made with 25% bio-based squalane + 1% hydrating peptide complex.
October saw the US launch of YOM, a lip brand devoted to calling attention to the harmful ingredients and microplastics that we ingest via traditional lip products. Research has shown that reapplication leads the average consumer to swallow roughly 21 tubes of lip product a year, but lip products are still regulated as cosmetics, rather than ingestibles. YOM launched with the 528 LOVING™ Lip Mask, the world's first LipSafe™ lip mask formulated with 100% certified food-grade ingredients and independently certified microplastic-free.
Before You Go: The Ultimate Advent Calendar Guide
Tis the season: seemingly every brand launched an advent calendar this month. Here are some of our faves:
- After their 24 Day Advent Calendar sold out by mid-October, Fly By Jing launched their 2026 12-Day Advent Calendar. The calendar features a bevy of Fly By Jing favorites alongside exclusive, never-before-launched products and festive surprises. The calendar sold out by November 5th for two years in a row, so grab yours now.
- On-trend fragrance brand DedCool launched a 2026 Advent Calendar, a curated collection of 12 of the brand’s beloved fragrances, body care, and home essentials.
- Scentbird launched the Holiday Advent Calendar and Cologne Holiday Advent Calendar, featuring 12 designer and niche perfumes or cologne discoveries.
- Biossance introduced the 10 Days of Wonder Advent Calendar, packed with their bestselling skincare favorites and everyday essentials in celestial-inspired packaging.
- Augustinus Bader released the brand’s legendary, holiday-exclusive Advent Calendar: The 12 Days of Bader.
- Fishwife released the adorable 12 Days of Fishwife Advent Calendar. Their calendar is Fishwife’s biggest product ever and comes packed with 12 surprise gifts, from Fishwife staples to one-of-a-kind finds you can't get anywhere else.
Happy shopping. Email me directly – hannah@thequalityedit.com – with any launches you’d like to see in the spotlight, or DM us over @thequalityedit.
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