Tailor-made haircare products, now in India

Image: joinfreewill.com

Freewill introduces customized shampoos, conditioners, hair serums to be delivered at the consumer doorstep. Claims to be the first company in India that specializes in offering fresh, made-to-order haircare products prepared with natural ingredients


Customized haircare products made to fit each individual’s unique requirements and being shipped at her doorstep! This new concept has arrived in India with establishment of Freewill a company that specializes in offering fresh, made-to-order shampoos, conditioners and hair serums–and that too, prepared with natural ingredients only.

Freewill claims that its products are formed after judiciously analysing the consumers’ individuality, concerns, lifestyle, and general body care habits. After this consultation process, each product is freshly made in labs, processed uniquely to fit each individual’s requirements, and then shipped at their doorsteps. The shampoos, conditioners and hair serums are currently priced ₹ 1,650 onward.

Not just a product?

According to Freewill, its emphasis is not on offering a product, but a holistic, individualistic solution. The vision is to provide the most natural, healthy, and purest customized hair care products for women. The process of availing of the solution is simple. An individual has to visit joinfreewill.com, and participate in a consultation online, answer a series of questions related to her hair goals, lifestyle, body care habits, hair type, scalp requirements, exposure to environmental aspects such as UV, humidity, pollutions, among others. The data collected gives Freewill the ammunition to prepare the most effective product mix for her, which is then bottled and dispatched to her address – all with a focus on her long-term hair care needs. 

Freewill uses 68 ingredients and has established an exclusive algorithm that gauges 73 data points to produce special, custom-made formulae with more than 1.7 billion blends. In other words, the algorithm analyses over 1.7 billion formulations and creates one that’s most appropriate for the user, according to a media report.

The products are available online and also with select salon partners. In association with Freewill, these select hair stylists offer a more effective solution to their customers, by co-creating the product with them. They are changing the way hair stylists have been operating so far, by providing a retail solution for the new generation of independent stylists. Stylists also earn by way of a commission on the first and repeat purchases by a consumer.

Every product formula of Freewill is sulfate-free, paraben-free, non-toxic and free of phthalates and GMO (genetically modified organisms), and also cruelty-free. These are managed by scientists based in the USA, who analyse ingredients sourced from multiple global companies.

The team in India, make each product in-house at the company’s sophisticated manufacturing unit. 

The role of technology

Freewill was founded by tech entrepreneurs and a former L’Oréal executive with over four decades of experience in the global beauty industry. The founding team comprises Mohit Yadav, CEO; his brother Rahul Yadav, COO; and Karl Krummel, R&D Head.  The brand is supported by far-reaching scientific research and a proactive product development team. 

Elaborating on the unique ‘customisation’ concept expounded by Freewill, Mohit Yadav says that customization or personalization is gaining momentum in every sector, whether it is media software, eCommerce, or even health care. Technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning are enhancing this experience and making it possible to offer something that’s actually unique to the end user’s needs. “We thought of bringing this concept to the beauty sector, wherein products are pitched and sold purely on marketing initiatives; products that consumers believe will magically work on their particular hair or skin type. With Freewill we have brought in the ‘to each according to her need’ formula to the beauty consumers – backed vastly by our knowledge and interest in technology, machine learning and AI,” elaborates Yadav in a media interview.

Empowering the buyer

He points out that distinction in hair or skin types along with geographical, genetic and environmental factors differentiate our body care needs. Freewill appreciates this distinction, and treats its customers with unique solutions. Today’s consumers are knowledgeable and self-reliant, and we want to play our part in ensuring they have absolute control over their hair care needs, by offering them highly effective natural products to meet their individual needs. “Freewill was born with the philosophy that if each individual is unique, their product should also be created uniquely,” believes Yadav.

Though customization of beauty products is what differentiates Freewill from other companies in the industry, another novel concept it believes is using only natural or naturally derived ingredients in its products. Some of the ingredients Freewill use are wheat protein, lemongrass, avocado extract, and argan oil, oil, among others. Also, all these ingredients are cruelty-free, and no testing is done on animals. “We make products for knowledgeable consumers, and who determinedly prefer products that does not harm the environment,” stresses Yadav.

Beauty product companies specialize in pushing universal products because they mass produce with the supposition that consumers fall under only three or four extensive categories. In contrast, Freewill has created and supplied over a few hundred products and no two products are the same.