Nisha Arora was sick of her dry, frizzy hair. Waking up every day to an unmanageable mane was almost routine. That was before she discovered FreeWill—a customised haircare products platform. Soon the dream of beautiful Instagram-worthy hair did not seem farfetched for Nisha. Elaborating on the unique ‘customisation’ concept, Freewill founder Mohit Yadav says, “FreeWill was born with the philosophy that if each individual is unique, their product should also be created uniquely—‘to each according to his or her need’.”
Every one strives for good quality hair—tresses that are so shiny that people would want to shield their eyes, or so silky as to pass through your fingers like fine sand. But, truth be told, it is a long and frustrating journey, or maybe not. The latest wave of brands in the haircare world is bringing in a new trend—personalisation. Taking a cue from celebrities charting their own beauty treatments—Hollywood actor Charlize Theron insists on hair products that have no sulfates in them, while closer home Katrina Kaif’s secret to beautiful hair lies in replacing regular hair oils with fruit oil—companies are offering customisable haircare products that are changing the way we did personal care in the past.
Earlier global brands such as Form Beauty, Function of Beauty, and Prose created personalised regimens that made it known that haircare isn’t one-size-fits-all. These products allowed customers to select the haircare issues that they wanted addressed. After years of scientific research, Function of Beauty developed a haircare quiz that covers your hair type, hair structure, scalp moisture, hair goals, colour, and fragrance preferences to create products you won’t be able to stop using. Prose focused on one-on-one consultation with professional stylists for a more personal approach. Soon things moved beyond just shampoos and conditioners. Belle Bar Organic noted the lack of diversity in the hair mask market and came up with customisable hair masks. It was not long before the trend moved to India.
Rather than browsing the haircare aisle at your local drugstore or eyeing the must-have products attractively lined up at your salon and picking up some random shampoo or hair serum that may not be best suited for you, there was suddenly another option at hand that let you almost make your own haircare product with something as easy as a three-minute questionnaire. Brands such as Bare Anatomy, FreeWill and Vedix are making products based on the individual needs of each client.
Bare Anatomy co-founders, Rohit Chawla and Sifat Khurana, say, “We’re looking at revolutionising the personal care and beauty industry through customised products to suit every individual’s unique needs and requirements. We’re looking at following a consumer-first approach and at the same time redefine the shopping experience, and how personal care and beauty products are made and distributed.” The brand’s vision is to provide the most natural and healthy haircare products for women.
While both FreeWill and Bare Anatomy work with cosmetic products, Vedix is India’s only customised ayurvedic haircare regimen. Every product begins with a study of the doshas to pinpoint the root causes of hair issues. The team believes that it is all about customisation and pacifying the factors that are elevating the issue. At the end of the day, customisable haircare strikes the perfect balance: It teaches you more about what sort of ingredients can help solve your haircare woes, and at the same time, you do not having to do the heavy lifting. And it works best for those who have different sets of problems—to mix and match varied products in order to address each issue can be quite a task. Personalisation is the perfect answer to all that.
DIY HAIR MASKS
❖ Coloured hair: Coconut milk and avocado are beneficial for coloured hair. In a blender, combine a whole avocado, one cup of coconut milk, a tablespoon of honey, and lemon oil.
❖ Fine hair: Whip up one ripe banana, two tablespoons of olive oil and one teaspoon of honey to get hair back on track. You may add few drops of lavender oil or rosemary oil.
❖ Dry and damaged hair: For dry and damaged hair, honey is a great ingredient. Mix egg yolk, honey and coconut oil to restore moisture, protein and shine. Leave the mask on for at least 20 minutes for ideal penetration.
❖ Curly hair: Masks with avocado, coconut, or argan oil can help to tame and smooth wild curls. Make a mask of one egg, two tablespoons of mayonnaise, one tablespoon of olive oil, and one tablespoon of honey.
❖ Oily hair: Clay keeps greasy or oily hair voluminous and shiny. Take half a cup of French clay, two tablespoons of avocado oil and 10 drops of lavender essential oil. It will leave your hair smooth, shiny, and stronger than ever.
(Pooja Nagdev, Founder, Inatur)