I first learned about Function of Beauty via social media ads (mainly Facebook) in summer 2018. Just all of sudden it felt like I was seeing their colorful bottles popping up every time I was on social. At first I just scrolled right past the ads, but after a few months I got curious.
What is Function of Beauty?
Function of Beauty is an online retailer based out of New York City that creates personalized shampoos and conditioners by utilizing their “unique AI-driven algorithm” to identify the perfect formula for each customer. Function claims that they have hundreds of possible ingredients for each custom formula, so that means there’s billions of potential shampoo and conditioner combinations.
Personalized products suited just for my needs?! Sounds pretty good to me. I mean, who hasn’t spend hours of their lives pacing up and down the shampoo aisle trying to figure out which product is best??
There are a few more key attributes that made Function of Beauty so appealing to me. These features are straight from their website:
MORE NATURAL, LESS ARTIFICIAL
Our formulations are about as natural as we can make them with over 50 natural ingredients sourced from around the world, and our formulations avoid potentially harmful or toxic chemicals such as sulfates (including SLS & SLES), parabens, phthalates, oxybenzone, mineral oils, GMOs, & many more.
ANIMAL-FRIENDLY
Our products are cruelty-free (no animal testing ever), 100% vegan, and never contain any ingredients made or derived from animals. We also ensure all of our suppliers meet these same high standards too.
SUPPORT AMERICAN-MADE
We are American-born and raised, with headquarters in NYC, but we’ve also invested millions in a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in rural Pennsylvania which is providing many jobs to small-town America. We proudly produce every bottle individually in the USA.
As of now, Function of Beauty has nearly 12K reviews on their website giving them a pretty impressive 4.8/5 star average rating. Now, let’s get into some more details!
The Quiz + Ordering
So how do you know which of the billions of unique ingredient combinations is right for you? The quiz of course! There are two main parts – one about your current hair profile and one about your goals.
The profile section asks about your hair type (straight, wavy, curly, or coily) and structure (fine, medium, or coarse), as well as your scalp situation (dry, normal, or oily). Like other reviews I’ve read, I wish this section of the quiz provided a bit more clarification. For example, my hair is definitely wavy so that was easy enough, but I was left guessing what exactly “medium” or “coarse” meant on structure. Each individual strand of my hair is pretty thick, so I went with coarse because I figured that would help make the final product more nourishing and hydrating for my hair. Additional definitions would’ve also helped for the scalp question. I selected oily because I often go four or five days between hair washes and that can lead to product build-up. My guess was that selecting “oily” might give me a more clarifying type of wash.
The next section of the quiz on hair goals was tough because you can only select five goals and there are so many great options to choose from. I went with the following:
- Deep condition: the deep conditioning was a no-brainer because my ends can get pretty dry from all the color treatment.
- Color protection: the appointments with my hair dresser to keep my favorite shade of blonde are expensive, so color protection was also a pretty obvious choice.
- Anti-frizz: with weird DC weather and humidity, frizz is always a constant battle so this was definitely going into the mix.
- Shine: who doesn’t want shiny hair?!
- Oil control: again, hoping that I would get a good clarifying shampoo that would take care of product build-up.
Other goals I considered were: hydrate, strengthen, nourish roots, and soothe scalp.
Now we’re at the the fun part that is picking your product details. For some reason, I gravitate toward pink bath products these days (razors, loofahs, etc) so I’m sure you can guess which color scheme I went with … yes, the pink. (Honestly, I don’t even remember when or how my penchant for pink started manifesting…weird). All the color options are actually quite pretty so I would’ve been happy with any of them.
As for fragrances, the options are mainly fruit based and you can even select the intensity of the scent. I went with the Feeling (Fine)apple option in the medium fragrance strength. It’s a pleasant pineapple scent that’s not overpowering or overly sweet. Anyway, if dyes or fragrances aren’t your thing, you can opt out and go totally dye and fragrance-free.
Finally, we get to choose size and subscription. The products come in 8oz or 16oz options allowing you to mix and match sizes. I went with the 8oz shampoo + the 16oz conditioner because I have really long hair. This is a genius idea because I go through conditioner like crazy compared to shampoo.
The Function subscription programs have options for every month, every 3 months, every 6 months, and just a one-time order. Shipping is free with any of the subscription options so I initially selected the 6-month offer even though Function recommended a monthly subscription based on my hair length. I wasn’t quite ready to commit and knew this would give me enough time to test everything out and still cancel if I was unhappy with the products before being charged again. Plus, everyone loves free shipping. After placing my order, I received my products about a week later.
My Review
When I opened the first box, my initial reaction was “wow these are so pretty and smell delicious!” But because I do have heavily color-treated hair, I was admittedly super nervous about trying a somewhat random product I found on the internet. At the time, I didn’t know anyone else who had used Function and while there were positive online reviews, I was still hesitant. After a few weeks of letting the bottles just sit in the box, I finally tried them out and I’m so freaking glad that I did.
My hair honestly just feels so soft and healthy! There’s no residue or build-up anymore, I’m fighting less frizz, and the products pair well with my other deep conditioning treatments. In fact, my hair dresser, who I’ve been seeing for more than 10 years, was legit shocked at how soft and smooth my hair is now. He was like “Omg I need to know what you’re using” – and he has access to the best products on the market. I do want to point out that Function recommends double washing with the shampoo, but I didn’t catch that instruction on the first couple uses. After switching to the double wash, my hair and scalp felt super clean and refreshed.
As far as packaging goes, I never received the pumps that help dispense the product, so it is a little annoying to have to deal with the tiny caps while in the shower. That said, I just now realized that those were available so I reached out to customer service to request a pair. Function emailed me back the same day and said I should expect a shipment of pumps within a week and they thanked me for the constructive feedback.
Final Conclusion
All the fancy science, natural ingredients, and millennial-targeted marketing efforts definitely made this an attractive product, but at the end of the day, do the products work well? In short, absolutely.
Will I re-order from Function of Beauty? I already have.
Will I re-order the shampoo and conditioner with this formula? I switched to a 3-month subscription because I needed a refill.
Would I recommend this to friends? Yes, I am 100% recommending this to friends right now.
If you’d like to try Function of Beauty, use my code for $5 off your first order!
*This post was not sponsored and these products were not gifted. I bought these products with my own money, though I did use a $5 discount code from social.*
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