THE STORY OF SMTHELSE
SMTHELSE was born from two decades backstage in global fashion, and a simple question: what if luxury could mean consuming less, but choosing better? Rooted in professional performance and shaped by salon craft, the brand turns haircare into a personal ritual. One that blends performance, emotion and individuality.
Each SMTHELSE formula begins with performance: concentrated actives, pressed into rich textures that do more with less, and use less water than a conventional shampoo, without compromising on results.
And each formula ends with emotion: Famara, the brand's signature fragrance, composed with French perfumer Patrice Revillard and inspired by Jon Kortajarena's memories of Lanzarote. An everyday routine, turned into a personal ritual.
SMTHELSE is designed for every hair type and free from gender conventions. A collection that celebrates individuality over perfection, and self-expression over expectation. Not louder. Not bigger. Simply better. Simply SMTHELSE.
The salon
Jon Kortajarena grew up in his mother's salon in Spain, in the middle of a business where hair, people and creativity met every day. It was never only about style. It was about care, about trust, and about the particular attention someone gives when they have your hair in their hands. That is the memory the brand keeps returning to.
The years in between
Two decades on the world's most prestigious runways followed. Campaigns and shows with leading fashion houses, a parallel career in acting, and work in advocacy that turned his attention towards identity, representation, and more conscious ways of living. A refined understanding of image, and a growing sense of what was missing from it.
The name
SMTHELSE means something else. A shift. An alternative. A deliberate break from the codes that luxury, beauty and identity are usually written in. Elegance instead of noise. Purpose instead of trend. Something slower, more sincere, and more connected than the category tends to allow.
What it became
A luxury haircare line that redefines the classics with modern romance. Soft formulas, addictive scents, and a deep respect for sustainability. Each product is born from duality: nostalgic and technical, sensual and refined. Formulated for all hair types, created without gender boundaries, and carried throughout by Famara, a fine fragrance named after the village in Lanzarote where the idea of returning first took hold. A love letter to where it all began, reimagined for now.