Marie s’est fait laver les cheveux avec un shampooing qui sent bon la vanille.

Marie

Breakdown of Marie s’est fait laver les cheveux avec un shampooing qui sent bon la vanille.

• avec: with
• qui: that
• la vanille: the vanilla

Questions & Answers about Marie s’est fait laver les cheveux avec un shampooing qui sent bon la vanille.

Why does French use s’est fait laver here?

This is the faire + infinitive construction, often called the causative.

se faire + infinitive means to have something done to oneself.

So:

• Marie s’est fait laver les cheveux = Marie had her hair washed
• literally: Marie made herself wash the hair, but that literal wording is not how we translate it naturally

This structure is very common in French:

• Elle s’est fait couper les cheveux = She had her hair cut.
• Je me suis fait examiner par un médecin = I got examined by a doctor.

It often suggests that someone else performed the action for the person concerned.

Why is there a reflexive pronoun s’ if Marie is not washing her own hair?

Because se faire + infinitive does not mean that the subject does the action personally. It means the subject has the action done to them.

So:

• Marie s’est lavé les cheveux = Marie washed her own hair.
• Marie s’est fait laver les cheveux = Marie had her hair washed.

That little s’ marks that the action is happening to Marie herself, even though someone else is probably doing the washing.

Why is it fait and not faite, since Marie is female?