Review: Formulate Custom Shampoo and Conditioner + Giveaway

         As many of you may know, I have been testing out Formulate custom shampoo and conditioner for the past few months.  I wanted to let you guys know what I think about the products.  I have been having a lot of issues finding a good shampoo and conditioner lately.  My hair is always brittle and dry.  It has terrible split ends and breaks off very often.  I only use paraben free products so it can be difficult to find good ones.  Formulate is paraben and sulfate free.  Something that I never knew is that sulfates are harsh on hair that has been dyed so it’s important to avoid them.  I dye mine a few times a year, so I was really happy to try out a sulfate free shampoo.  I had never used one in the past.
          The way Formulate works is that you go onto Formulate’s website and fill out a survey about your hair and what results you are looking for.  You select the scent you want and answer a few other questions.  I chose the scent “tidal” and it smells pretty good.  I really enjoyed this process because it felt very thorough.  When you get the products in the mail, I suggest you use it for a few washes.  It may take a little while for your hair to adjust if you don’t use sulfate free.  If that particular formula isn’t working for you, you can let the company know and they will adjust it for you.  It comes in a box and is packaged very nicely.  Communication with Formulate was always super easy and quick.  Whenever I had an issue with the formula it was fixed super quickly.  The shipping was very fast as well.
           Since using the products my hair has been very different.  Honestly, it took several weeks for my hair to adjust to the formulas.  Sulfate free products don’t wash the grease out of hair as well so your hair will stay greasy at the roots until it adjusts.  In the beginning my hair just felt sort of stiff.  Right away I noticed that it had more volume, which is something that I wanted, but didn’t remember to select.  It did also seem to be less frizzy.  Since my hair is curly it get really frizzy.  It took a while to get the results that I wanted but it paid off.  I had to have the formula adjusted twice.  Now it feels much softer and the greasy-ness is gone.  The shampoo doesn’t have a much as a soapy later as other shampoos but it is still doing the job to get your hair clean.  What I would do is use the recommended amount and lather it in my hands before I put it on my head.  I have found that this makes it spread better and feel more sudsy.  I’m excited to see how it affects my hair over time.  I will continue to use it because my hair has only gotten better.