Prose Hair vs. Function of Beauty — which one is better?

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• Function of Beauty and Prose both make shampoo and conditioner personalized to your hair needs. 
• Function of Beauty is more affordable and customizable, while Prose has a more thorough quiz and product options.
• Ultimately, we prefer Prose but enjoyed both brands. It’s up to your budget and your hair needs.

Forget monograms and engravings — the future of personalization lies in data and algorithms, which are being used to make everything from personalized vitamin packs to personalized pillows.

In women’s haircare, Function of Beauty, founded in 2015, and Prose, founded in 2017, are popular startups hoping that you never settle for catch-all shampoo and conditioner (or, god forbid, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner) again.

By using your answers to a “hair quiz” to create a unique formulation filled with natural, effective ingredients, they both make haircare personal, which, considering the multitudes of hair types and needs out there, is the way it should’ve been all along. 

Function of Beauty and Prose share many similarities, including their basic business models (personalized haircare, delivered), a ton of funding ($12.2 million and $25 million, respectively), and even founders utilizing their MIT smarts.

We’ve tried both Function of Beauty and Prose‘s shampoo and conditioner, so we can attest to their quality, customer experience, and ingredients.

While we enjoyed the formulations from both brands, we lead in favor of Prose because its hair quiz is more in-depth and thoughtful and it offers a larger selection of products for different hair types. However, it’s more expensive and is only available in the US. If you don’t want to spend quite as much, Function of Beauty is still a great choice. 

Ultimately, we’ll let you make the final decision after comparing the factors that matter most to you. To help you distinguish between these two leading personalized haircare companies, we compared them head-to-head on important factors like the level of customization, customer experience, price, and ingredients.  

We’ve laid out the similarities and differences between Function of Beauty and Prose: