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Reviewed / Prose
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For many of us, creating a hair care routine is not a simple game. While some lucky folks might be happy with the same shampoo and conditioner they’ve been using for years, most of us struggle to find hair care products that make us look and feel good.
This is where Prose comes in. The New York-based custom hair care company promises to craft a set of personalized hair care products for each client, based on individual hair conditions, needs, and goals—for a price of $25 or more per bottle.
As beauty geeks, professional reviewers, and complicated hair-havers, we were intrigued. So we tested Prose firsthand to see if its custom solutions could actually work on different hair types in ways that no drugstore products had before.
Prose offers customized shampoo, condition, styling gel, and more.
From $25.50 at ProseWhat does Prose claim to do?
Prose aims to cut through the industry noise and purchasing misfires by using a survey to design a hair regimen made especially for you.
This falls in line with a wave of customization that has recently taken over the beauty industry—we’ve seen everything from shampoo to foundation and skincare.
While hair care brands like Function of Beauty and Ouai offer similar hair care customization services, Prose claims to set itself apart from the competition by offering one of the most thorough consultation processes on the market.
The result? A shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask, each made from a combination of customized ingredients, with instructions on how and when to use each product. (Since this review was originally published, the brand has introduced a pre-shampoo mask, hair oil, curl cream, leave-in conditioner, and more hair care products.)
All Prose products are free from parabens, sulfates, phthalates, dyes, and other controversial or artificial ingredients. These custom formulas don’t come cheap—one 8.5-ounce bottle of shampoo and conditioner each cost $29 or $34, depending on if you subscribe or buy once, and the mask can cost $41 or $48.
On its website, Prose states that its ingredients "come together to create the most natural formula for you, with everything you need and nothing more." It’s an uplifting, albeit vague, promise.
Will the Prose custom shampoo, conditioner, and mask treat our specific scalp concerns? What about split ends, color preservation, and frizz control? It seemed that Prose could really tackle all our hair problems and, in fact, give us "everything [we] need and nothing more."
Who tested the products?
Our testing of the Prose hair care products was conducted by Jessica Teich, Reviewed’s former Health and Beauty Editor, Cassidy Olsen, former Kitchen Editor, Sara Miranda, Reviewed’s Beauty Writer, and Jada Kennzie, our Partner Content Staff Writer. The following thoughts on Prose are reflective of Miranda and Kennzie’s experiences after using the products for two months.
Miranda has lots of thick 2B hair, meaning that her strands have a slight wave to them. Because her mane has some texture, Miranda’s hair tends to get dry easily, so she likes to have some hydrating products on hand. She also deals with weekly product buildup on her scalp due to several weekly heat-styling sessions.
Miranda's top hair concerns include dry strands and product buildup on her scalp.
On the other hand, Kennzie has thick, 4C curly hair. Like Miranda, her top hair concerns are dry strands due to her curly texture and scalp buildup since it’s prone to dandruff.
Kennzie's most concerned about dry hair and scalp buildup, specifically the onset of dandruff.
The Prose products our testers tried out
Pre-Shampoo Scalp Mask
This intensive pre-wash treatment aims to help restore balance to your scalp.
Miranda’s mask had a thin, liquid texture that resembled a charcoal grey skincare mask. Its ooey-gooey consistency felt satisfying, and when it came to removing the gunk on her scalp, it felt squeaky clean and free of all the hair mousse and hair spray that piled up on her scalp due to her weekly hairstyling sessions.
Shampoo and conditioner
Prose shampoo is a sulfate-free cleanser that is customized to your needs.
Both Miranda and Kennzie got shampoo and conditioner, but their experiences varied with these products.
For her part, Miranda says she didn’t notice any difference in the quality of her hair with the shampoo and conditioner. In fact, they clarified her buildup-prone scalp just as well as the now-discontinued L’Oréal Paris Elvive Extraordinary Clay Rebalancing Shampoo and Conditioner and sufficiently hydrated her strands like her favorite Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Shampoo and Conditioner duo. That said, washing and conditioning her hair with this custom-made pairing wasn’t any better than the products she can get at the store.
Kennzie, however, says that the shampoo and conditioner were her favorite Prose products. "A lot of shampoos can strip the hair of important natural oils and leave your hair looking and feeling extremely dry," Kennzie recalls when reflecting on her past encounters with other shampoos. "However, Prose’s shampoo did the opposite. My curls looked and felt shiny, defined, and moisturized even before adding any additional products." She expresses similar sentiments towards the conditioner. "The conditioner only added more needed moisture and curl definition, and it left my hair looking and feeling healthy each time," she says.
Prose conditioner is a nourishing moisturizer customized to your needs.
Hair oil
The Prose custom hair is oil is a styling product that promises to protect the hair and reduce frizz.
The hair oil is a styling product that purports to safeguard strands and eliminate frizz. But for Miranda, this was another product that she felt wasn’t groundbreaking. Post-heat styling, the oil left her ends feeling soft and smooth, just like her beloved K18 Molecular Repair Hair Oil.
Kennzie also says the hair oil was nothing to hit home about either. "Before I even applied it to my hair and scalp, I was already disappointed by the consistency of the oil," she explains. "It appeared much thinner and more watery than others I’ve used, and it seems that this contributed to the lack of moisture it provided. I found myself having to apply more than usual and needing to use it more often than I’m used to."
Curl cream
The Prose custom curl cream is a styling product that promises to sculpt strands, introduce moisture, and minimize frizz.
Kennzie’s Prose hair regimen included the curl cream, a styling product that claims to sculpt strands, introduce moisture, and minimize frizz. Unfortunately, this ultimately was another product that disappointed her. "The cream made my curls look even frizzier than normal, and it didn’t add any of the curl definition that I was hoping for," she says of her experience.
How does Prose work?
The survey
While nothing about this heavily customized process sounds simple, Prose’s survey is just that, a quiz filled with direct, jargon-free questions, such as, "How much of your scalp can you see on the top of your head?" and "What are your hair goals?" They also take into account how often you exercise, if and when you heat style your hair, and the climate you live in, down to the ZIP code.
After answering the questions and choosing among scents, Prose generates a breakdown of hair and scalp characteristics, followed by the ingredients in each of the products. Though our testers have very different hair types and hair goals, at first glance, there appeared to be a lot of ingredient overlap in our formulations—only upon receiving our products and reading the full ingredient breakdown did we see the true customization.
Jess's hair goals.
The unique formulations
In one tester’s survey, she indicated that she wanted smoothness and shine, and no volume or curl (“got plenty, thanks”). Her resulting concoction was said to be designed to focus largely on dryness, sensitivity, dandruff, and damage. Another tester’s hair is much more fine and Prose’s hair analyses were very different, but the resulting shampoo, conditioner, and mask concoctions looked similar on the website. That raised a flag, considering there are so many possible combinations.
However, once the products were received, it was apparent from the full, detailed ingredient list that the formulations were actually quite distinct. The concentration of ingredients used varies person to person and product to product, Prose told us.
While Prose's website tends to highlight the same eye-catching ingredients for different customers, it's clear that there is more going into each product than what you see after your survey.
Delivery and usability
The products arrived within a week in neat, apothecary-style bottles with our testers’ names on them. Prose even generated cute labels based on our surveys. Fun!
The accompanying instructions said to use the shampoo and conditioner every other day, and the mask just once a week. Three pumps of shampoo, two pumps of conditioner, and one scoop of mask. It was simple enough for anyone to remember.
Prose offers customized shampoo, condition, styling gel, and more.
From $25.50 at ProseIs Prose worth it?
For both Miranda and Kennzie, some products are worth it more than others. Miranda says she would purchase the Pre-Shampoo Scalp Mask since it did a thorough job of removing product buildup from her scalp. On the other hand, Kennzie would only be open to using the shampoo and conditioner again. Otherwise, they’re both fine with continuing to use their go-to products. For Miranda, that would be the Neutrogena Exfoliating Health Scalp Shampoo and Conditioner, the Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Shampoo and Conditioner, and the K18 Molecular Repair Hair Oil.
And for Kennzie, she’s fine with the Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Hair Oil and Hair Styling Creme, along with the Carol’s Daugther Marguerite Magic Restorative Cream.
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