Hollywood’s Favorite Hairstylist on Her Product Range & On-Set Tips

Mara Roszak is responsible for some of the most famous hair in Hollywood - she counts Emma Stone, Olivia Wilde, and Zoë Saldaña among her clients. In 2021, after years of listening to the hair struggles of her salon clients, she launched her first product: the light, buildable Santa Lucia Styling Oil. Thanks to its floral, herbaceous scent and non-greasy formula, it has quickly racked up awards and dedicated fans that delight in being able to bring a little bit of Mara’s magic to their own home. We had a chance to catch up with Mara on what we can look forward to from Rōz, her best on-set product recommendations, and the overnight treatment she swears by.  

Name: Mara Roszak

Profession: Hairdresser and Founder of Rōz haircare 

Current location: Los Angeles, California

Personal mantra: Be kind, you never know what people are going through.

 

It started when I was around twelve years old. I was blessed with a very frizzy mop of hair that I didn’t particularly like - I never wanted to go swimming or dunk my head under water and that was hard living in Los Angeles. I embarked on this journey to get the straight hair that was the style in the 1990s - it was my first real mission in life. When you have curly hair you take up space and have a real sense of that, and sometimes you just don’t want to feel that way. Especially when you are a teenager!  So I’ve been doing hair ever since. There are photos of me at High School parties cutting hair in someone's backyard.

I felt like there was a lot to be desired in the hair space, and especially in clean beauty, which people are asking for more and more. There are a lot of reasons not to start a business, but I'm so passionate about it and wake up every morning excited. It's great to learn something new after being in a career for such a long time - It feels like a second chapter in my life. 

I own a salon in West Hollywood and get such insight there into what people want. The struggles clients have usually come down to styling product issues, so I’ll recommend things and the next time I see them their hair is totally different. I started with our Santa Lucia Styling Oil because it is a universal product - I use it on every head of hair I work on, even the finest. I wanted it to be lightweight and to smell amazing but it needed to really defrizz and work even on my hair. 

Santa Lucia Styling Oil 

I was sent Augustinus Bader’s The Rich Cream and really love that formulation. I also really love Cryo Tools - if I wake up tired these make such a difference. I will bring them in the car with me if I’m doing school drop off to wake me up. 

Cryo Toning Tools - Silver (Set of 2)

The Rich Cream

I was 18 when I started and was working with makeup artists that were a lot farther along in their success than I was. People like Rachel Goodwin and Molly Stern taught me so much about how to balance having a family with loving what they did for work. I also really look up to and admire Paul Hanlon, who does more editorial work.

I definitely see that in the salon and with everything happening around the world in how hair is used culturally. Depending on what is going on in our lives it is easy to use our hair as a distraction - it holds a lot of emotion and it is the first thing people see. It's such a privilege to cut women’s hair and help them own new life moments. Sometimes you need to see yourself in a different way to move through certain feelings and not get stuck. 

Often my toddler wakes me up and it's go-time. I’ll throw water on my face and use Tammy Fender Cleansing Milk and then The Rich Cream or Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum. My skin is quite dry so I love oils. 

Almond Cleansing Milk

For makeup I use Kosas Tinted Face Oil or their Revealer Concealer, a little mascara and Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks Blush. 

Baby Cheeks Blush Stick

Revealer Concealer

Tinted Face Oil

On my hair overnight I sometimes use our Willow Glen Treatment Oil because my scalp and hair get so dry. I wash every other day with our soon-to-come shampoo and conditioner and if I don’t do a full blowout, I will blow dry around my face with a round brush because my hair is extra curly in that area. I’ll use Santa Lucia Styling Oil. 

Willow Glen Treatment Oil

I probably do less post-child and post-pandemic than I ever did before. I used to be more acne prone and that has gone away as my hormones have changed. Now, I wear less makeup and want to keep things really easy. Before my wedding, I went to a dermatologist and did radiofrequency microneedling and it completely changed my skin. My pores shrunk and my skin felt really smooth, so I’m looking forward to doing that again. 

An amazing old Hollywood actress like Joan Crawford - I’m so curious about the tools and products from that era, when they did their own hair and makeup.