Browsing for hair care products at a pharmacy or salon can be extremely overwhelming. Long ingredient lists with dozens of unpronounceable words, claims you don’t know you can trust, and formulas designed for particular hair types make the process next to impossible.
A better system would start by looking at your specific hair type, as well as your environment, diet, needs, and desires. It would then formulate hair care products in response to all those data points and provide you with the most effective product possible.
That’s the idea behind Prose, a hair care company that offers customized products from styling gel and scalp masks to shampoo, conditioner, and supplements. Our team tried the system out, and our review breaks down the experience, pricing, and more.
Pros
- Certified B corporation
- Products are finely tuned to your needs
- Questionnaire is thorough but expedient
- Takes environmental factors into account
- All-natural ingredients
- Dedicated pages to explain ingredient benefits
- Made in the USA
- Free shipping on all US orders
- 15% off with subscriptions
Cons
- Hard to make direct changes to formulas
- On the pricey side
- No phone or chat support
Bottom line
Prose offers targeted hair care products they design in response to each customer’s specific needs. They’re a great option for anyone who’s ever had difficulty finding a product that works for them or anyone who wants effective hair care solutions delivered straight to their home. The cost is higher than some high-end hair care products, but Prose’s ingredients are clean, well-sourced, and thoughtfully combined. And with a money-back guarantee and the savings their subscription system offers, it is well worth a try.
Prose Hair Care
Prose creates made-to-order hair care formulas using quality ingredients. Get a new custom routine delivered straight to your door.
Prose products range from supplements to shampoo and use clean, all-natural ingredients. Get free shipping on all US orders, and take 15% off your purchase when you subscribe.
Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.
We extensively test each health service or product we review. Our content provides you, our readers, with an unbiased exploration of at-home health options, free of marketing jargon or gimmicks. We evaluate products and services based on their adherence to quality and the latest medical evidence and health standards. We ask ourselves two simple questions: Would we buy the product or service ourselves if it weren’t part of our job? Would we recommend it to family and friends?
Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.
Prose is a hair care company dedicated to using clean, natural ingredients and combining them in formulas that cater to their customers’ specific needs. They evaluate these needs with a questionnaire that identifies your hair’s potential daily hazards, from your environment to your diet.
Originally founded in Paris, Prose maintains their French labs but calls Brooklyn home for their headquarters and production facilities. The company prioritizes sustainability and environmentally sound practices, which led to their certified B corporation status.
Who needs Prose?
Prose products are suitable for just about anybody, but the people who would benefit the most from them are those who have been perpetually dissatisfied with preformulated products from pharmacies and salons. These often contain more harmful ingredients than anything else, especially if they were designed primarily for a different hair type than yours.
You might very well be satisfied with your current hair care products, but there are benefits to using Prose that extend beyond performance. Some shampoos and conditioners might work well for the moment but may also do some long-term damage to your hair or scalp you won’t realize until later. Prose ingredients’ quality and tailored formulas guard against this, giving you performance now and long-term hair health.
The environment is also a concern in the hair care industry. Some companies have large carbon footprints with tons of unrecycled plastic containers and ingredients whose sourcing damages the planet. As a certified B corporation, Prose has their practices continually scrutinized for sustainability and responsibility, ensuring everything from environmentally sound ingredient sourcing to fair wages for their employees.
Prose should be safe for most people. The company uses high-quality ingredients and combines them in response to data you provide about your hair and your needs. They can also adjust your formula if you experience side effects like an itchy or sensitive scalp.
Another safety question comes up when hair has been permed or color-treated. Prose can make adjustments for just about any such treatments, and the questionnaire asks specifically about them.
One feature we think Prose should add is a system through which customers could make specific requests for their formulas before an initial shipment. Currently, Prose’s boilerplate contact form is the only way to do this. We think it would be a boon to safety — especially around allergens — if users could access their formula ingredients and specify which ones might be problematic.
Prose offers nearly a dozen products on their website, most of which they can tailor to your precise needs. All but the hair brushes are available on a subscription basis, saving you a fair amount of money. Below, we’ve put together a handy chart that shows the prices for each of Prose’s products and the savings potential when you subscribe.
| Cost | Cost with subscription | |
|---|---|---|
| Shampoo | $28 | $24 |
| Conditioner | $28 | $24 |
| Styling Gel | $30 | $26 |
| Scalp Mask | $42 | $38 |
| Hair Mask | $42 | $38 |
| Curl Cream | $26 | $22 |
| Hair Oil | $48 | $41 |
| Dry Shampoo | $26 | $22 |
| Leave-in Conditioner | $26 | $22 |
| Supplement | $52 | $44 |
Most Prose products are available unscented or in a signature scent, including:
- Corsica: Fresh aquatic scent with notes of anjou pear, peony, and cedar
- Meleni: Fruity and tropical with notes of mango, melon, and greens
- Prelude: Floral and fresh scent with rose, geranium, and blue iris
- Oasis: Floral and summery, made with jasmine, amber, and white peach
- Botanica: Herbal and aromatic with eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavender
- Perle: Powdery, musky scent with notes of gardenia and sandalwood
- Signature: Floral, powdery aroma with violet leaf, peony, and white amber
Products that are not available in these scents are:
- Dry Shampoo: Unscented only
- Hair Oil: Scented with a light almond essential oil
- Pre-shampoo Scalp Mask: Very light essential oil
Let’s take a closer look at each product to give you an idea of what each can do for you.
Custom Shampoo 8.5 fl.oz.
Prose Custom Shampoo offers a gentle but effective base formula, adding nourishing and cleansing ingredients that won’t leave your hair feeling dry or unmanageable. It’s sulfate- and paraben-free, and it contains no alcohol. Available additives include honey, vitamin B5, and CBD powder.
Custom Conditioner 8.5 fl.oz.
The base for Prose’s conditioner acts more like an effective carrier than anything else, transporting the ingredients’ vital nutrients and soothing properties that the company selects based on your profile. Like the shampoo, it’s sulfate- and paraben-free. Available additives include hyaluronic acid, fermented rice water, and silk proteins.
Styling Gel 8.5 fl.oz.
Your questionnaire answers have a lot of sway over the ingredients and behavior of the Styling Gel. Everything from its level of hold to its effects on your hair’s straightness and volume can change depending on your preferences. Nourishing ingredients like aloe and arginine are in every jar. Available additives include oat and pea protein, red algae, and quinoa.
Pre-shampoo Scalp Mask 8.5 fl.oz.
Depending on your responses and preferences, the scalp mask can be anything from a deep repair to a gentle detox. It’s meant for use just twice weekly. Available additives include eucalyptus oil, bamboo charcoal, and CBD.
Pre-shampoo Hair Mask 8.5 fl.oz.
This pre-wash treatment can prepare your hair to withstand a deep shampoo cleanse and remain soft and well-moisturized. Before washing your hair, you’ll leave it in for 10-15 minutes. Available additives include hyaluronic acid, mango butter, and jojoba oil.
Curl Cream 5.1 fl.oz.
This curl cream offers an excellent way to add definition to your hair’s natural texture while preventing frizz. The more you work it into your hair, the more volume and bounce it creates. Available additives include red algae, linseed extract, and pequi oil.
Hair Oil 1.7 fl.oz.
You can apply Prose’s Hair Oil as a pre-shampoo or a styling product that will tame frizz while protecting your hair from the elements. It has a light, refreshing almond scent, and you don’t need much to do the job. Available additives include rose hip, cucumber, and poppy oils.
Dry Shampoo 1.4 fl.oz.
Instead of just acting as a styling tool, this dry powder shampoo provides a few extra ingredients to nourish your scalp. It’s only available unscented, though some of your custom ingredients might give it a pleasant, gentle aroma. Available additives include menthol, tapioca starch, and aloe vera juice.
Dry Shampoo 1.4 fl.oz.
Instead of just acting as a styling tool, this dry powder shampoo provides a few extra ingredients to nourish your scalp. It’s only available unscented, though some of your custom ingredients might give it a pleasant, gentle aroma. Available additives include menthol, tapioca starch, and aloe vera juice.
Leave-in Conditioner 5.1 fl.oz.
Prose’s leave-in conditioner is ideal if you struggle with unmanageable hair or want to ensure your locks get as much protection and nourishment as possible. You’ll notice increased softness and polish with just two to three pumps. Available additives include fermented rice water, grape seed oil, and hyaluronic acid.
Root Source supplements
Prose formulates their Root Source supplements based on numerous factors, including pollution, UV intensity, water quality in your area, and self-reported hair and scalp characteristics. Active ingredients may include saffron extract, grape seed, horsetail extract, and zinc.
Prose hair brushes
Prose also sells four hair brushes designed to work with specific hair types. They’re a little on the expensive side at $72 each, but if you’ve ever worked with a brush that only seemed to make your hair situation more difficult, you might find tremendous value here.
Prose makes every brush from sustainable European beechwood with a base of havea rubber to hold the bristles in place. The company will also monogram the handle with up to three initials free of charge.
Here’s a quick look at each brush:
- Boar bristle: Fine or medium hair
- Agave bristle: Vegan option for fine or medium hair
- Boar and nylon bristle: Medium or thick hair
- Tipped metal bristle: Thick or curly hair
Prose accepts payments from all major credit cards, but they don’t accept payments from companies like Apple, Google, or Paypal.
All Prose orders ship for free via DHL ground service. There is no expedited shipping option, but most orders take just three to five days to arrive once shipped.
Prose has a pretty generous return policy, allowing you to try your products for up to 30 days and still receive a full refund if you aren’t satisfied. Of course, you also have the option to make small or large adjustments to your formula in the hope that that will make a difference in your experience. Still, once that 30 days is up, the window is closed, even if you make major formula adjustments.
Prose makes it exceptionally easy to get started, thanks largely to an intuitive website. The intake questionnaire covers many topics, and Prose extrapolates a significant amount of data from your answers, even something as seemingly simple as your zip code.
You might want to consider a few things before you begin, so you’ll be ready for any questions they throw at you. There will be questions covering:
- How often you wash your hair
- Whether your scalp is dry, itchy, or flaky
- Your hair’s specific texture
- Hair oiliness and strand characteristics
- Styling tendencies
- Hair treatments
- Diet preferences
- Daily hydration
- Stress levels
- Workout routine
Once you’ve completed the questionnaire, Prose will automatically outfit your cart with a handful of products. You can pick and choose which you want to try. If you have any concerns about a particular ingredient or potential allergy, you can use their contact form to submit your questions. Prose will also send you a thorough breakdown of all your formulas’ ingredients if you ask.
Unfortunately, Prose does not offer phone or chat support, so getting this kind of help can take a few days.
At Innerbody Research, we customize our evaluation criteria depending on the type and nature of the health-related service or product. In general, we have five broad evaluation areas, including:
Quality: How well does the company deliver its core service(s) or product(s)? How is advanced technology used for accuracy and safety? What evidence of effectiveness exists to justify the company’s approach? Are manufacturing standards of high quality?
User-friendliness: How intuitive and convenient is the service or product? To what degree is the company interface helpful and understandable?
Value: Are you getting your money’s worth? Are there any hidden costs or charges? Does the company offer discounts?
Privacy: If health data is stored, is it stored securely? Are payments secure? Does the company market your information?
Customer support: With personalized products and services, how well does the company address your individual needs? If a product or service does not work for you, are there satisfaction guarantees or return policies that protect you?
