Jen Atkin is taking Mane to new categories.
The founder of both Mane and Ouai, which she sold to Procter & Gamble in 2022, is debuting a few new products, including two hair and body mists, called Sea Sweet and Pinky Promise; the Cotton Candy Dry Texturizer; Shiny Dancer Nourishing Hair Oil, and Temp Check Heat Protectant. They mark new territory for Mane, which has previously stuck to hot tools.
Prices range from $26 to $32, and they will launch in the brand’s existing Sephora distribution July 30.
Like much of the rest of the brand, the new launches take aim at Gen Z and Gen Alpha, Atkin said.
“Listen, I’m like, the queen of Millennial beige,” Atkin said, in a nod to Ouai’s minimalist packaging and creative. With Mane, though, “there’s something to be said about bringing nostalgia into innovation and newness. We’re making this cute little brand.”
Atkin added that while the two brands she’s masterminded have different core demographics, there’s still significant crossover.
“With these, we’re able to tap further into the innocence and nostalgia and rawness of youth through the colors, the fragrance and the new logo,” said Rachel Jonas Gilman, Mane’s chief executive officer. Gilman said the brand’s robust social listening practices also informed the new products.
“We have this sector of our community on Instagram called ‘Mane Squeeze,’ and we invite them in and talk with the different customer segments to learn about what motivates them,” Gilman said.
For the body mists, for example, “We formulated everything for nostalgia and for layering. We thought about the Millennial audience, those that are loyal to Jen and nostalgic. We thought about Gen Z who is social-first, and Gen Alpha, which is more aspirational. With them, we’ll be focused on driving to Sephora.”
The products also boast the brand’s new logo, which Atkin said was drawn by her own goddaughter.
“My goddaughter just turned 13, and we were talking about the confidence that a brand has to be able to play around with a logo and be a bit human. She drew this cute little cloud, which has become our mascot,” said Atkin.
Neither Atkin nor Gilman commented on sales, but industry sources expect retail sales to reach between $20 million and $30 million for the product range’s first year on the market.
The styling products are meant to be used in tandem with Mane’s existing hot tools. The heat protectant applies dry for heat protection of up to 450 degrees, for example, and the dry texturizer, called Cotton Candy Dry Texturizer, can be used alone or after heat styling.
The Pinky Promise mist has notes of grapefruit, lychee, raspberry, rose, peony, lily of the valley, vanilla, cedarwood and musk. Sea Sweet, on the other hand, has notes of green apple, kiwi, rose, melon, musk, peach and apricot.
“One of the fun things about hair brands is you can also play in body, in lip — it allows you to play in different places,” she said. “For us, heat protection was a natural next step and something our community has asked for for a really long time.”
“We want everything to be easy, accessible and really cute,” Gilman added. “We’re focused on things that spark joy and tap into nostalgia.”