Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all approach to beauty, especially hair. Whether you’re dealing with frizz, damage, thinning, or other hair concerns, customizable products can help you rewrite the narrative of your hair story.
featured experts
Eric Delapeña is the founder of The Hair Lab by Strands Marie Mignon is the chief scientific officer at Prose Inc. Anna Chacon, M.D. is a board-certified dermatologist in Miami
Customized or personalized?
The option to personalize beauty products is nothing new, but customization is a whole different game. For Eric Delapeña, founder of The Hair Lab by Strands, the path to truly customizable hair care goes deeper than choosing a color or adding your favorite scent. “At The Hair Lab, we wanted to create a product that actually understands the biology of hair and takes the guesswork out of solutions to hair problems.”
At customized hair and skincare brand Prose, AI plays a big role in ensuring that their formulas are not only personal, but distinctly customized. “Our unique approach to leveraging AI makes customized hair care more accessible and available at scale,” explains Marie Mignon, Chief Scientific Officer at Prose. “Our unique technology and data-driven approach allows us to narrow down millions of combinations to one to meet the unique needs of each customer.”
The science of shampoo: Less guessing, more genetics
The science behind why shampoos and conditioners may or may not work for you is deeper than you might think. Master hairstylist Paul Labrecque explains: “Lipids, water, and protein are the main ingredients in shampoos and conditioners. As hair becomes frizzier, products contain higher lipid content to add weight to the hair and reduce frizz.” Miami Skin Physician Dr. Anna Chacón adds that our hair responds differently to different products due to individual differences in scalp health, hair type, and each product’s unique composition. When it comes to customized formulas, Dr. Chacon says: “Scalp science is very important because a healthy scalp provides the optimal environment for hair growth and overall hair health. Factors such as scalp pH, sebum production, and the presence of microorganisms influence the effectiveness of hair products. It can have a significant impact on effectiveness.”
As De La Peña explains, understanding hair biology is essential to pinpointing our needs and creating effective customized regimens. “For example, when we (The Hair Lab) launched our UV Shield Dosage Set, we based it on extensive research that revealed that UV exposure damages hair’s internal cuticle structure. We’re serious about changing the paradigm of how people approach hair care customization. It’s no longer just a pretty bottle.”
How to customize your hair care
These days, brands like Prose, The Hair Lab by Strands, and Function of Beauty are redefining the parameters for creating customized hair care. Instead of publishing generic research, they dig deeper into the science to get to the root of our hair woes.
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prose
“At the core of our model is an online consultation, where customers share more than 85 key factors about their hair, lifestyle, diet and climate,” says Mignon. “Our scientific team has built proprietary algorithms that transform this data into personalized product recommendations and formulas. We then determine the right blend of active ingredients to best address each person’s concerns. Beyond the initial consultation, there is a direct feedback loop with the Review & Refine feature, which allows users to input directly into the formula, constantly improving results.”
Prose Custom Hair Oil has long been a favorite among curly and coily hair users, but a recent reformulation has made it even more versatile. Now, thanks to the newly introduced lead oil, hair types can range from rich to ultra-light to meet different hair needs.
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Hair lab by strand
These customized formulas begin with a quick 2-minute virtual diagnostic. “Hair Lab builds on the biological datasets accumulated with our Strand Hair Test Kit, where customers send hair samples to our lab for detailed analysis,” said Delapeña. I say. “Leveraging this data, we developed the rules and weightings for the Hair Lab algorithm to ensure customers gain true insight into their hair biology.” Once completed, the brand will offer , recommends a customized lineup of leave-in conditioners and one of their 12 servings (small vials with super-special concentrated formulas to mix into your products).
Hair Lab by Strand has long been known for its hyper-customized shampoo and conditioner dose sets, but with the brand’s latest innovation, the Scalp Serum and Scalp Dose combine to create the market’s first fully customizable scalp. Created care products. It’s meant to address all scalp needs, from dryness to excess oil, and even support hair growth.
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beauty function
“We like to call ourselves the rule breakers of beauty,” said Marianna Trofimova, the brand’s chief marketing officer. “Starting at MIT, our three founders combined expertise in sustainability, engineering, data science, and formulation to become the first custom beauty company on the market. To realize this vision, we chose Pennsylvania A state-of-the-art, first-of-its-kind facility was built from the ground up, with all equipment built and coded in-house for maximum customization. Masu.”
Combating hair damage is one of the most difficult challenges in the hair care world. Function of Beauty’s SOS (Save Our Strands) collection of customizable damage repair products features patent-pending biotech bond repair technology. Plus, the brand’s exclusive hair quiz helps you tailor the formula to your exact level of damage and hair needs.
