Lianna Albrizio, Assistant Editor 03.13.23
During Osmaan Shah’s decade-long struggle with acne, he’d browse the skin care aisle at the local convenience store, spending hundreds of dollars on acne products in his quest to fix the problematic skin condition.
“My own guess-and-test process eventually led me to figure out how to mitigate my acne,” he told Happi in a recent interview. “It frustrated me that it took 10 years. I’ve seen my wife also go through this process with her hair, buying and trying products her whole life. The solutions are out there, the right ingredients and routine, but there’s got to be a better way than mass market.”
As he got older, he reflected on that experience as time and money he couldn’t get back. But instead of lamenting a multitude of partially-used skin care products, he decided to bank on that experience in a big way: creating his own customizable personal care brand for hair and skin he’d aptly christen: “Formulate."
Applying his background in software engineering, website building and having co-founded Smile Brilliant, which makes custom-fitted whitening trays in the United States, Shah partnered with 30-year veteran in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic development, Tammy Lisi, to develop a brand that could formulate products specific to consumers based on their answers to an onsite quiz about their skin and hair conditions, concerns and short- and long- term goals.
“There’s a huge disconnect between what science solved and what you get on the shelves,” Shah contends. “What I found in my research is between 20 and 40% of products are wasted.”
For Shah, Formulate’s point of difference is that it eliminates waste by taking customer feedback over time and making micro adjustments to the products—and that knowledge compounds overtime.
“It restarts every time you buy a product…The only way you’re going to learn what kind of ingredients and routine [works for you] is communicating that knowledge overtime,” he said.
The Formulate Process
Consumers download the Formulate mobile app to begin a skin and hair care assessment and create their profile by uploading their photo. They then engage in a live chat with the chemists who make their formulas about their skin and hair needs and aesthetic goals. That team also serves to coach the customer through the process in addition to making modifications on the brand’s salon-grade formulations.
Formulate wants customers use the skin and hair care products for 40 days before these modifications are made by the chemistry team. Users submit before-and-after photos through the app during the process.
Formulate’s chemistry team typically nails the customized formula by the second try, according to Shah.
“Ninety-five percent of people need moderate adjustments after the first use,” he said, adding that if the customer is not satisfied with their products, the company will reformulate products free of charge.
In skin care, Formulate offers a cleanser, serum and moisturizer; for hair, the brand has shampoo, conditioner and scalp serum.
Twelve scent options are offered, including aromatic lavender or chamomile extract, or fragrance free.
According to Shah, because skin and hair needs evolve overtime with age, Formulate asks users to keep the brand apprised of any changes they may experience through their profile on the Formulate website.
“It’s a forensic analysis,” explained Shah of the process. “No one answer will give you a formula. You have to look at the big picture.”
Key Ingredients
What also sets Formulate apart are “very fresh” doses of proteins and enzymes that aren’t found in mass market products which sit on shelves and can degrade faster in the bottle, according to Shah. Formulate’s scalp serum contains KGF growth factor, MSR and AMB enzymes, which support hair growth and help to reverse pigment loss in people who are experiencing hair graying. Anti-aging products for skin include EGF epidermal growth factor, vitamin C and amino acids for humectants, as well as ceramides, sunflower oil, squalane and niacinamide.
Shah says the goal for Formulate is two-fold: formulating efficacious products and educating the consumer about the functionality and safety of ingredients, both natural and synthetic. Synthetic ingredients, for example, are more hypoallergenic while allergies can arise in certain natural oils, according to Shah.
“I hope Formulate can be a company that brings true scientists and chemists closer to the customer,” he said.
To be more sustainable, Formulate’s skin care products come in refillable cartridges while hair care bottles can be sent back to its St. Louis lab to be cleaned and reused.
Customer feedback since the brand launch has been positive. Sixty-four percent of the brand's revenue comes from existing customers, according to Shah. In one company survey, 84% of Formulate customers said the products have resolved or improved their hair and skin concerns.
“The best feedback is hearing a customer say, ‘I’ve been dealing with such and such condition for 20 years and you guys solved it,” said Shah.