Function of Beauty anyone?

[Laurab]

They avoid sulfates but do use silicones, which just seems silly to me since that'll lead to build up.
Personally I've never been willing to pay that much for shampoo.

[Katia_k]

They just released a silicone-free line, with a hilarious Email that still seemed to make fun of the silicone-free people. "Who is silicone-free good for? People who like lighter shampoos/conditioners, or who want a little less slip and softness in their hair."

That being said, I'm still sort of intrigued. I might see if there're any deals for new customers, and try it at least once. I've been in a product-buying mood lately, I must admit. So I'm a bit willing to give it a shot.

[Laurab]

They just released a silicone-free line, with a hilarious Email that still seemed to make fun of the silicone-free people. "Who is silicone-free good for? People who like lighter shampoos/conditioners, or who want a little less slip and softness in their hair."

That being said, I'm still sort of intrigued. I might see if there're any deals for new customers, and try it at least once. I've been in a product-buying mood lately, I must admit. So I'm a bit willing to give it a shot.

Huh! I just checked their website and you're right.
If you take the quiz you can check a box to make it silicone free. It then pops up with this little message: "Are you sure you’d like a silicone-free formula? Silicones are conditioning multi-taskers that are commonly used to help aid with hair detangling, softness, and shine. If you haven’t used silicone-free products before, it may take time for you to adjust to the different feel of your hair."

How interesting. They REALLY want us using silicones, huh?
I personally am not opposed to silicones, but I'm also not opposed to sulfates.
I guess it makes sense for a haircare brand, because silicones can quickly make your hair look nice, but I don't think it's a good idea to use heavy products without clarifying every once in a while, which these brands never seem to mention.

[Joules]

They avoid sulfates but do use silicones, which just seems silly to me since that'll lead to build up.
Personally I've never been willing to pay that much for shampoo.

Sulfate-free shampoos can take out silicones. Science-y hair blog has an article about that. As long as a shampoo contains actual surfactants it will get rid of (at least) most of the cones on your hair.

Besides, silicones aren't the only thing that an cause buildup. Again, science-y hair blog. There are other film formers that build up even more on the hair (like guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride). When a product doesn/t have silicones manufacturers might add more of those film formers in order to improve the effect on the hair, otherwise no one woud buy it, so cone-free products can be even worse in terms of buildup.

Huh! I just checked their website and you're right.
If you take the quiz you can check a box to make it silicone free. It then pops up with this little message: "Are you sure you’d like a silicone-free formula? Silicones are conditioning multi-taskers that are commonly used to help aid with hair detangling, softness, and shine. If you haven’t used silicone-free products before, it may take time for you to adjust to the different feel of your hair."

How interesting. They REALLY want us using silicones, huh?
I personally am not opposed to silicones, but I'm also not opposed to sulfates.
I guess it makes sense for a haircare brand, because silicones can quickly make your hair look nice, but I don't think it's a good idea to use heavy products without clarifying every once in a while, which these brands never seem to mention.

They just don't want us blindly following trends (which is ironic considering they only do sulfate-free shampoos, but whatever). Hair is dead and it needs to be conditioned one way or the other. Like I already said, there are other ingredients beside silicones that cause insane buildup. Everything that's conditioning causes buildup, and cones happen to be the best conditioning agents, so why not choose them?

I do like the fact that they give their customers a choice. I personally prefer silicone-free shampoos and coney conditioners, so if I were to order from them I'd tick the cone-free box. I think they should also give us the sulfate option, because sulfates are wrongly vilified just as much as cones.

[Laurab]

Sulfate-free shampoos can take out silicones. Science-y hair blog has an article about that. As long as a shampoo contains actual surfactants it will get rid of (at least) most of the cones on your hair.

Besides, silicones aren't the only thing that an cause buildup. Again, science-y hair blog. There are other film formers that build up even more on the hair (like guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride). When a product doesn/t have silicones manufacturers might add more of those film formers in order to improve the effect on the hair, otherwise no one woud buy it, so cone-free products can be even worse in terms of buildup.

How interesting!
I feel like there's so much conflicting information about hair care out there, and it's definately a lot of trends and buzzwords.

I think it would benefit companies like function of beauty to have a hair science page to explain all of this stuff, especially if their marketing is to personalize it to your preferences.

[Silica]

I've got to say I really like Function of Beauty. I've tried several different combinations of the customizable options over the last couple of years and I'm honestly not sure there is a great difference between them (although my goals have always revolved around hydration, anti-frizz, replenishment...which is sort of the same thing in my opinion. I'm sure i would see a difference in the formulation if I switched to oil control or something like that).

Yes, it is expensive and yes, it is a bit of a marketing gimmick but I think the products are generally good quality and I love playing around with the colours and the scents each time I order. It feels like a nice treat to me and they look awesome in my bathroom! I'll keep buying as long as I can afford it.

[auburntressed]

I ordered these, and I should be getting my package on June 5.

TL;DR I’m testing out this shampoo and conditioner because I like experimenting, and I have no reason not to. Though I wish the quizzes and explanations on the website had more guidance.

Initially, I wasn’t going to bother with them. But I am a bit of a junkie for experimenting. When I looked at the goals listed, just out of curiosity, I saw that “soothe scalp” was one of the options. Soothing my scalp is, honestly, the number one thing that I look for in shampoo. That’s all I ever want.

At the moment, I’ve been using the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special. I’ve gone back to that one again and again over the years, mainly because it makes my scalp feel better. Some of the other things I’ve tried in the past include Aveda products, Pureology, various dandruff shampoos and coal tar concoctions, Redken, Moroccan Oil, and many others.

I have no major complaints with any of the shampoos I’ve used. Some of them were worse than others in the sense that they didn’t clean my hair well or they made my hair feel too dry. But none of them had anything severely wrong with them. They just really can’t soothe my itching scalp. The tea tree shampoo I use right now is the best for keeping the itchies at bay between henna scalp treatments.

The best thing for my hair itself has been using my boar bristle brush. I’ve found that using my boar bristle brush keeps my hair in a relatively stable good condition, regardless of what shampoo I currently have.

I figured why not give this stuff a try? Also, I’ve recently begun looking at this forum again, which is part of why I decided to experiment. What fun is experimenting unless you have someone to share it with?

For my hair type, I picked: medium, straight, and oily. This was harder for me than I thought it would be. How coarse does your hair need to be to be considered coarse for them? I’m coarser than a lot of people I know, but still feel that medium is a safe bet for texture.

Is my hair straight or wavy? If my hair is shorter than waist length, it’s downright curly. But as soon as it grows enough to get some of that extra weight on it, it straightens right out. So how is that going to affect the formula they pick for me? It visually looks straight right now, with a few S waves. So I picked straight.

And oily or normal, that is also hard. I am at the point right now where I really only need to wash my hair about twice a week. I usually stretch a wash out 1-2 days beyond what is comfortable for me, because I wear it up anyways. So I can get away with it. But for the majority of my life, my hair has become an oil slick within the first days of washing. I am glad that has stopped now, and I don’t know what changed about my hormones or whatever to tone it down. But I still feel like my hair is really more oily than what would be considered normal, and my habits are helping to mitigate it a bit.

So I picked the best hair profile I could based on my options, but I don’t feel confident about it.

For my goals:
1-soothe scalp. This is why I’m doing the experiment at all. If I can stretch out my henna scalp treatments just one or two weeks longer than usual, then I will switch to this shampoo.

2-fix split ends. I feel this is misleading, because we all know that nothing can fix a split end. But I assume they mean this will help prevent more split ends, so bravo if it’s true. I have no idea how I would measure this.

3-color protection. We are going into summer months with stronger UV rays beating down on us, so why not?

4-strengthen. I’m hoping this is similar to fix split ends. Hopefully these two together means I will be able to thicken up my considerable taper. I don’t feel like I snap my hairs much, but I want my hemline to be fuller if possible. Stronger hair strands should help with that. Again, I have no idea how I can objectively measure this.

5-nourish roots. This comes full circle for me back to soothe scalp. I don’t know what this even means, but I’m hoping it means my poor head will love me a little more.

I will let everyone know what happens with this and if I tweak my formula around later. They come in 16 oz bottles. The stuff I get right now comes in 32 oz bottles, and it usually lasts me about 9-10 months. So I don’t think I will run out quickly, which means a formula change may be a long time coming if needed.

[Ylva]

Looking forward to your review, auburntressed!

I wonder if "strengthen" means protein to them...? I don't feel comfortable answering obscure quizzes like that. What if I accidentally end up having protein in my shampoo, which is definitely not something I want? However, that doesn't mean I don't want my hair strengthened, whatever that means. This is just hypothetical, I am not planning to order anything for now BTW.

[auburntressed]

Looking forward to your review, auburntressed!

I wonder if "strengthen" means protein to them...? I don't feel comfortable answering obscure quizzes like that. What if I accidentally end up having protein in my shampoo, which is definitely not something I want? However, that doesn't mean I don't want my hair strengthened, whatever that means. This is just hypothetical, I am not planning to order anything for now BTW.

I went back into the quiz to check what they add for “strengthen.” It says horsetail extract and evening primrose oil. I don’t think evening primrose extract would add any protein. I am unsure what horsetail extract is.

[auburntressed]

Got my function of beauty in the mail today!
https://i.imgur.com/zetnaJu.jpg

Only downside is I just washed my hair last night. So now I have to wait a bit to use them, and they will be sitting there in my shower, mocking me. LOL