Premium Beauty News - Prose has managed to combine industrial-scale production with made-to-order beauty. That’s quite an achievement — but what makes it a real breakthrough?
Marie Mignon - Most of today’s economy still relies on the mass production of standardized goods. But since not everyone has the same needs or desires, marketing steps in to segment the market into broad enough categories that can be efficiently served by industrial production.
In cosmetics, this translates into product lines designed for general “types” of skin or hair — dry, oily, color-treated, and so on. This model forces consumers to choose among standardized ranges, inevitably sacrificing part of their individual needs. True customization has traditionally been reserved for the very high-end, even ultra-luxury segment.
At Prose, we set out to address every possible combination of needs. Each product is unique — truly made to order — based on an online consultation that analyzes hair or skin profile, lifestyle, environment, and sensory preferences. Our algorithms translate this data into personalized formulas. We don’t draw from a catalog of pre-set recipes: every single product is formulated on demand, with millions of possible combinations.
That’s why our products consistently outperform among consumers with complex combinations of needs for haircare— and that’s the case for 80% of Americans, who report having six or more hair concerns!
Premium Beauty News - How can such a high level of customization be industrialized?
Marie Mignon - That was the main challenge. When an order is confirmed, it is sent to one of our two factories—in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Each site assembles the “formulation building blocks” according to the calculated formula, prints an individual label, and then performs a double centrifugation process.
We’ve industrialized personalized beauty! In practical terms, that means you can see entirely different products rolling off the same production line. And since everything we make has already been ordered, there’s no waste or overstock. The opening of our Los Angeles facility in early 2025 has allowed us to shorten delivery times and expand our production capacity.
Premium Beauty News - You mention “formulation building blocks.” What are they?
Marie Mignon - Each block corresponds to a specific functional need. We had to map out all the interactions between these blocks: their synergies as well as any potential stability or compatibility issues. This work, at the crossroads of chemistry and data, is at the heart of our innovation. It is what enabled us to file a patent application covering our entire technology platform.
Premium Beauty News - Your model is also based on data and consumer feedback. How do you use them?
Marie Mignon - The relationship with our consumers is a key pillar of our approach. Fifteen days after receiving their order, each customer receives a formula satisfaction survey. Through Review & Refine, we’ve collected over two million reviews, which feed our algorithms and help us refine our formulation building blocks. This enables us to continuously improve our products, test two versions of an algorithm in real time, and measure the impact of every change on satisfaction and repeat purchases. It’s a genuine virtuous cycle between science, data, and user experience.
Premium Beauty News - How do you validate the safety and performance of the formulas?
Marie Mignon - At Prose, we developed a methodology—co-created with regulatory experts — to ensure that our highly personalized products fully comply with EU and U.S. regulations. Through a controlled formulation architecture, in-depth expert-driven ingredient profiling and comprehensive risk assessment, we design testing plans that identify precise “critical” and “representative” formulas tailored to each type of test — safety, microbiology, stability, compatibility, and efficacy. This framework enables us to validate the safety, quality and performance of every possible formula configuration with a Product Information File and a Cosmetic Product Safety Report. We successfully managed to shift the traditional standard rule—where one product equals one formula and one regulatory file—into a new paradigm: one product, millions of formulas, and still just one compliant regulatory file.
Premium Beauty News - What are Prose’s main areas of development?
Marie Mignon - Our priority is to consolidate our model and strengthen our brand promise. Looking ahead, several options could be possible such as international expansion or new product categories. Our ambition is to push personalization and consumer experience even further—creating a truly unique product-level customer journey and exploring new personalization avenues, such as leveraging individual microbiome data.
Premium Beauty News - You come from a background in research at L’Oréal. What motivates you at Prose?
Marie Mignon - The ability to reconcile science and individuality, to work with demanding quality standards while maintaining unparalleled agility. Prose is at once a cosmetics, chemistry, and data company. This multidisciplinary approach is our strength and, in my view, the future of the industry.
