Function of Beauty Enters Sephora With New Bond-building Line
The Function of Beauty multiverse is growing.
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The customizable beauty brand has joined forces with Sephora to launch its Function of Beauty Pro line, which includes four shampoo and conditioner mask duos, each infused with the brand’s new bond-building technology and catering to one of four hair types: straight, wavy, curly or coily.
Nine boosters, called Hair Goal Concentrates, can be added to the formulas to target specific concerns such as frizz, color maintenance, shine, hydration, curl definition and more. The shampoos and conditioner masks retail for $24 and $28, respectively; each hair concentrate costs $4.
“We know the Sephora shopper is more Millennial than Gen-Z, and we know they are also people who over-index with salon trips and, on average, have more colored hair, more damaged hair and use more heat styling,” said Marianna Trofimova, chief marketing officer at Function of Beauty, of why the brand integrated its new Adaptive f3 Bonding Complex into the line’s base formulas.
Rather than coating strands evenly, the biotech-fueled complex claims to self-adjust to hair’s unique patterns and damage levels, detecting and binding only to damaged fibers.
“A lot of brands go multichannel, but fundamentally, they sell the same product across every channel,” said Function of Beauty chief executive officer Alexandra Papazian, noting that the Pro line was developed alongside stylists to ensure professional-grade outcomes. The new collection launches online at Sephora on Tuesday, and in 280 stores on Aug. 18.
While neither Papazian nor Trofimova specified sales expectations for the launch, industry sources estimate Function of Beauty Pro could do $10 million in first-year retail sales.
After rising as a quiz-based, direct-to-consumer darling, Function of Beauty made its retail debut at Target in December 2020 with a $10-or-less hair care range. Like the new Pro line, the Target collection included base shampoo and conditioners (and now, styling products) specific to certain hair types, with extra boosters that could be poured into the formulas to tackle specific hair needs.
“We thought, ‘OK, let’s build [Function of Beauty] more as a fashion house — you can have Armani Privé on top, then you have Armani Exchange — let’s see how this pyramid can work,” Trofimova said.
“The difference between this range and the Target range is the [Sephora] products have bases that are, from the get-go, developed for damaged hair,” Trofimova said. “The experience we have in Target is playful, it’s young, it’s simple — with Pro, the science behind the product is more front and center.”
The brand has tapped a network of stylists to promote the Pro line on social media; Sephora beauty advisers, too, will aim to guide consumers through the brand’s customized concept and selecting the right products.
“We didn’t want to go to market with a plethora of products — in order to succeed you have to be approachable, you have to be understood at first glance,” said Papazian, noting Function of Beauty will eventually introduce additional reparative products to Pro, but the focus now is on the core collection.
In January, Sephora added customizable skin care brand and 2018 Sephora Accelerate graduate Proven Skincare to its online and in-store assortment. Function of Beauty Pro marks the retailer’s first foray into customizable hair care.
“We’re focused on delivering a differentiated product assortment that caters to the unique needs and preferences of all clients, and customization is one critical and exciting aspect of this,” said Jennifer Lucchese, vice president of merchandising hair care. “We’ll continue to approach the category in a way that is thoughtful and intentional — including selecting partners that not only deliver on product, but that also have the science and technology to back it up.”
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