I Tried Personalized Shampoo and Conditioner for a Month

Formulate reached out a few months ago and asked if I’d want to try their new shampoo and conditioner customization service, which seemed really interesting to me! I was cautious, as I feel like many of these ‘personalization’ subscriptions can be a bit gimmicky, but the process of making my account and filling out their questionnaire was so thorough, I began to change my tune. I have checked out other hair care personalized products in the past, but never went through with it because the price was so steep for just a few individual non-specific options.

Getting a Formulation

For someone who enjoys taking online quizzes, the initial process of personalization was really fun. What makes Formulate different is that they work with licensed chemists to formulate each individual set of shampoo and conditioner. They ask you everything, including hair color, age, if you have greys, if you color treat your hair, how long your hair is, your curl pattern, thickness, if your hair is oily or dry, scalp sensitivity and dryness, scalp and skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, how many times a week you wash your hair, if you use heat styling tools, what products you use. They even use your location to calculate the average temperature, humidity, and UV index of where you’ll be living for the 2 months the shampoo and conditioner will last you. After that, they ask you your hair goals and specifics like if you need a vegan, gluten free, paraben free, silicone free, or nut free formulation. You can choose up to 5 goals, I personally chose curl definition, anti frizz, lengthen, hydration, and split end prevention, but there are 16 different choices. There are 9 different fragrances, and some are all natural versus synthetic, so you can decide based off that. Finally, they also offer an addition of de-brassing dye for people with bleached and colored hair to keep it cool toned. They didn’t leave anything out! After the survey I was so excited to see what this level of a personalized self care product would be like.

The formulation process takes a few days, and you get assigned to a specific chemist if you have any questions. Once it’s ready, you receive the ingredient list to look at while you wait for your products. The list of ingredients on my profile is so in depth, I was surprised. It breaks down every single individual ingredient and what it’s purpose is in the formula. Here’s an example of just a little piece of my shampoo formula. You know all those ingredients on shampoo bottles you couldn’t pronounce? Well they explain what they are in immense detail.

Aside from all the nitty gritty, you’re also able to personalize your scent from a number of options, and even personalize the intensity of the scent, or even unscented if you’re sensitive to fragrance. I chose tidal in the lowest scent intensity and I love it. It’s so pleasant but not overpowering at all. I’m trying the Green with Envy scent next, which is green tea and honey.

Subscription Options and Pricing

In terms of the subscription, they personalize that based off the amount of days you wash and condition your hair per week, along with the length of your hair. My refill is due to ship on April 18th, and I still have enough to last me until then. The first set comes with pumps and the refills are just the bottles, so they do save some plastic that way. You can sign into your profile at any time and change your formulation’s scent, goals, restrictions, and more. You can also ship refills earlier or later if you need.

The prices were also far less than I thought they would be for such an indepth service. The first set of 8 ounce shampoo and conditioner with the pumps and customization is $39. Each 8 ounce bottle is $17.55, making a refill set around $35. You can also save the size of the bottles to have less frequent shipments and save plastic if you like your formula and want to keep it the same for a while. The 14 ounce bottles are $22.05 each, and you can even buy 4 ounce mini sizes for $9.

The Results

After all that customization and waiting eagerly to try the set, I was nervous because I’ve always been picky with shampoo and conditioner. I have super thick, long, curly hair and I’ve had new products cause my hair to have huge knots and tangles, be dry and frizzy, or weighed down by oiliness. I was pleasantly surprised that upon first use it didn’t do anything terrible to my hair. They smelled great and a little bit went a long way for my hair, which is saying something, because sometimes I feel like I need half a bottle of conditioner to get through my mountains of hair. Actually, I especially was impressed with the conditioner. I just need about 2 pumps, and I can work through all my tangles with my fingers and my hair still feels hydrated. Upon first impression, everything was great.

I’ve been using only formulate for about a month now, and I’ve noticed a great difference with my hair. In general, my hair feels a lot lighter, which makes my curls bouncier and my hair more voluminous in general. I also noticed that I can go longer without washing before my scalp gets oils. My ends feel more hydrated, and I feel like my hair is growing faster, although there is no way to prove that. I took some photos about a week ago of my hair. I’m especially happy with the lack of frizz and natural definition of the waves of my hair. I love the way my hair has been framing my face too, it just seems softer and more manageable.

Win Your Own Formulate Set!

That’s the review! We’re working with Formulate to put together a giveaway, all you have to do is enter at this link and one person will win a full, personalized set of shampoo and conditioner. The deadline for the giveaway is May 12th, 2020!

This post is not sponsored. The Formulate products were complimentary for review. If you would like to support us, consider joining us on Patreon!