We’ve all been there.
You’ve found the product line of your dreams and your hair seems to love it. But after a time, your hair stops responding. It’s limp. Maybe it’s dry. Or so fragile that simply styles causes breakage. Now you’re back to square one, scrolling through search results online, thinking, “I wish I could find something made just for me.”
Well, now you can. A number of companies are offering “customized” or “personalized” haircare products as a new service . Some have even used this concept as the foundation for their new brands. Function of Beauty, Prose, and FORM Beauty are just a few emerging options of personalized haircare devised from user-provided information and online quizzes.
One company is taking this a step further. Regenix, a company that already offers personalized hair loss treatments, has added a new product to their line-up: Regenix Kit for Damaged Hair.
“There’s been a huge influx of women coming to us with problems, particularly related to chemically damaged hair,” says Regenix CEO Bill Edwards. “That’s what led us to develop this new product.”
Like the other companies, Regenix asks you a few questions so they can personalize the products they send in the starter kit. This includes Moisture Balance shampoo, Replenish conditioner, Keratin Damage Control Gel, and four personalized hair treatments.
What’s unique about this offering is the addition of a microanalysis, a service conducted on-site at the Regenix Hair Research Clinic in Los Angeles. Following the instructions in the kit, you mail hair samples back to them so they can customize more specific treatments.
How It Works
Using an electron microscope, Regenix inspect your hair. Your strands are not completely smooth and solid surfaces; rather, they look much like fish, with very tight, overlapping scales. The healthiest strands have flatter cuticles, or in curly hair, slightly raised, but uniformly so. An obvious sign of damage are scales that are broken, spread out or raised haphazardly, which can catch onto other damaged cuticles, eventually getting torn off.
After examining the cuticle, they’ll look at the very top of the strand, which was once just beneath your scalp . Here, they can examine residue from hair products and sebum build-up.
What they see under the microscope determines the specific formulas they’ll send you.
Function of Beauty asks customers to take a detailed quiz in order to determine the best product. The quiz seeks information about hair type and texture, as well as hair care goals the customer has. In a fun twist, customers can name their product and select its color and fragrance, too.
Form Beauty also has a detailed quiz to help identify which products will work best for a particular customer. Along the way, the fun quiz offers tips related to zip code-determined weather issues, too. At the end, you’ll see a recommended bundle of products that includes a one-on-one consultation with a Form Beauty expert.
Who Should Try It
“This is for anyone, no matter their hair texture, who has processed or processes their hair,” Edwards says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a harsh chemical or a more natural one, they all will leave some kind of residue or damage to the hair shaft. It’s just a matter of degree.”
It may work for every texture, but not for every budget. The Regenix Kit for Damage Hair is $165 and includes three month’s worth of the shampoo, conditioner, and keratin gel, and one month’s worth of the four personalized treatments. After that, it’s $99 a month for the further customized treatments created from the results of your microanalysis.
“Our company and products are in constant evolution. We’re always in research and development mode,” Edwards says.
Form Beauty, too, is cooking up new experiences for its customers, with a beta Microscope Analysis Process underway.
Have you tried any personalized haircare products? What brands do you recommend?
Curlies have been customizing their products in their kitchens for years. If you’d like to to try making one of your own, try out this DIY styler.
