Is Function of Beauty skincare worth it? Pros and cons

Function of Beauty launched their customizable skincare line last October, and we can all agree that the packaging and branding is just beautiful. Pastel gradients? Yes please.

But are the products themselves effective at treating specific skin concerns? And is it worth the premium price of having customized skincare?

In this review, I’ll be giving you my honest thoughts on my very own Function of Beauty custom cleanser, serum and moisturizer after using it for about two months. I’ll go over each product and my overall thoughts (pros and cons) of the skincare line as a whole.

For reference, my skin type is acne-prone and dehydrated (even more so in the winter months)!

Thank you so much for reading along, and if you have any questions about the products, feel free to leave a comment or DM me on Instagram @niceskindays and I’ll do my best to answer. 🙂

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My skin goals

To get your products customized to your skin, you take a short quiz on the Function of Beauty website. It asks you about your skin type, how sensitive your skin is, and three specific things you’d like to achieve with your skincare: your “skin goals.” My skin type is combination, acne-prone and rarely sensitive.

When you select a skin goal, the website tells you which two ingredients will be added to your formulas to address each goal. Then, you’re presented with a custom cleanser, serum and moisturizer that includes all six key ingredients in the formulas.

Here are the three skin goals I chose:

• EVEN TONE: help diminish the appearance of discoloration, refining the skin’s surface.
  • Key ingredients: kiwi extract (impede concentrated melanin accumulation) and azelaic acid (a gentle acid that can help face post-acne marks).

• HYDRATE: address visible signs of dehydration, leaving skin soft and supple.
  • Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid (three different molecular weights of HA, helping with elasticity and appearance of wrinkles) and blue green algae (one of the richest sources of antioxidants, to nourish and moisturize the skin deeply).

• REDUCE BREAKOUTS: exfoliate the inside of pore lining and skin surface to address environmental causes of breakouts
  • Key ingredients: niacimanide (also known as vitamin b3, vey effective skin-restoring ingredient that works well with acne-prone skin) and salicylic acid (beta hydroxy acid that penetrates the pore lining and exfoliates, making it great to reduce breakouts).

*I also opted for my products to be fragrance-free — my skin’s not sensitive to fragrance but really strong scents can make me a bit nauseous sometimes.

Now I’ll review my custom cleanser, serum and moisturizer.

If you’d like to see the textures of each product in action, I made a video version of this review which highlights the packaging and texture in more detail!

Jelly cleanser (5 fl. oz., $25 USD)

The jelly cleanser is a PH balanced, non-lathering cleanser that leaves skin soft, clean and supple. I like to apply it on dry skin (it doesn’t tug at my skin and feels really hydrating) and rinse off with warm water, or wipe off with a damp microfibre cloth for gentle exfoliation.

PACKAGING

The pump of this cleanser is not great. It doesn’t dispense enough product with each pump, so I have to pump it aggressively like 15 times to get the right amount. Like all of the skincare products, they’re made of plastic that feels quite heavy and luxurious.

INGREDIENTS

It has all of the six active ingredients in here — blue green algae extract, salicylic acid, hyaluronic acid, kiwi extract, azelaic acid and niacinamide. It also has glycerin which I find helps this cleanser to be really hydrating on the skin.

TEXTURE

I REALLY liked the texture of this. If you’ve ever used the CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser (one of my all-time favourites), the texture is pretty similar to that. It’s a tiny bit thicker and more jelly-like than the CeraVe and feels like it cocoons your face as you massage it over your skin. It doesn’t foam and rinses clean, and it works great with a microfibre cloth because the jelly-like texture forms a smooth layer for the wash cloth to glide over = no irritation.

RESULTS

The jelly cleanser is my favourite product out of the three. It did leave my skin super clean, soft and not dry at all. I used this both as a morning cleanser and a second cleanse at night after I removed my makeup/sunscreen with a micellar water. It worked well for both of those, but I definitely preferred it as a morning cleanser.

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Custom serum (1.5 fl. oz., $50 USD)

The serum has a gel-to-powder technology that glides on effortlessly and penetrates deeply into skin. It also contains the highest concentration of key ingredients in the set. You’re supposed to apply half to a full dropper onto the skin, pressing gently onto skin without rubbing, morning and night.

PACKAGING

The packaging is pretty unique — when you twist open the bottle, the top of the dropper pops up and that makes the product lift into the dropper. You want to make sure you hear a slight “click” when you close the bottle, which tells you it’s closed all the way. No complaints about the packaging here.

INGREDIENTS

The serum has the highest concentration of the six key ingredients compared to the cleanser and moisturizer, which makes sense since serums are designed to sink deeper into the skin and give you the most bang for your buck. The key ingredients do appear higher on the ingredient list, but the list really isn’t too long. It reads like a very simple base formula with the active ingredients sprinkled in there.

TEXTURE

Super light and soaks in quickly, similar to other hyaluronic acid serums I’ve tried. I don’t really know about the powder finish they’re talking about, though. Personally, I don’t want my serums to dry down to a powder finish because one of my skin goals is hydration… but if what they mean is that it doesn’t feel sticky or tacky once it dries, yes that’s true. It just feels like your skin.

RESULTS

This serum was okay. It didn’t do anything bad for my skin like break it out, but I definitely have tried better serums than this where I do notice a difference within a few days or weeks. It just felt like another layer of skincare and I wasn’t really sure if it was doing all that much. For that reason and the price point, it was my least favourite product out of the three.

After you’re done reading this post, you may also like:

• Why I love the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5
• AXIS-Y skincare review for acne-prone, dehydrated skin
• Is Function of Beauty skincare worth it? Pros and cons
• Do you need a dedicated morning skincare routine? Tips for dehydrated, acne-prone skin
• How to boost your skincare routine for winter: 6 essentials

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Custom moisturizing lotion (1.5 fl. oz., $45 USD)

It’s described as a quick-absorbing moisturizer, versatile enough for skin to feel nourished in all seasons. (Spoiler: I live in Canada and the winter sucks all the moisture out of my skin. It wasn’t heavy enough for that, but it would be perfect for summer)!

I got their lotion formula likely because I said my skin was combination. If you tell them your skin is dry, you’ll get their cream formula which is thicker and comes in a tub.

PACKAGING

It has a pretty basic pump and I used about 2 pumps to cover my face.

INGREDIENTS

The lotion also has all six key ingredients, plus glycerin and some special nourishing ingredients, like camellia japonica seed oil, sunflower seed wax, and Vitamin E.

TEXTURE

The texture is pretty lightweight and sinks into the skin easily. It doesn’t feel sticky or tacky after it dries, which is fabulous. I know I keep comparing things to CeraVe products, but honestly this reminded me of the CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion because it’s lightweight, fragrance-free and gets the job done.

RESULTS

This was pretty nice! It’s my second favourite product out of this line behind the cleanser. It left my skin comfortable for the most part, unless my skin was particularly dry that day. I wouldn’t use this lotion on days where I’m using other products with active ingredients, like Differin Gel or another chemical exfoliant. It would also be better for the summer when my skin’s more oily and sweaty.

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Pros and cons of the Function of Beauty skincare line

PROS

• The packaging is beautiful and it looks great in your bathroom and in ~aesthetic~ photos… if you care about that!
• Being customizable means that if you really want a certain ingredient, you can hand-pick them. For example, if you’ve been really looking for a serum that has hyaluronic acid AND salicylic acid, AND is fragrance-free, you can have that with your custom serum.
• It’s a fun experience of doing the quiz and feeling like these products are made just for you.
• The formulas I chose were non-irritating and simple, and I like that they have fragrance-free options for sensitive skin.
• It’s an easy one-step process — you have a full routine mailed to you instead of going and buying a cleanser from one place, a serum from another brand, and a moisturizer from somewhere else.

CONS

• It’s pretty expensive for what they actually do. When it comes down to it, the formula is what really matters to me and I’m not 100% convinced that this is worth it for me. Of course, everyone values different qualities in products. Some people really appreciate a product’s branding and experience and would pay more for that, which is great!
  • I would 100% give this as a gift to a friend who’s getting into skincare or loves trying new products. If you have a general sense of their skin type and what they would like, this would make a great gift.
• Some of the packaging is not functional (I’m look at you, jelly cleanser). The pump doesn’t dispense a lot of product at a time so it’s a bit annoying to use.
• The concentration of active ingredients in each product is unclear. Each product has all six active ingredients that I picked, but these ingredients work best at certain concentrations in a product (e.g. salicylic acid is typically 0.5-2%, and in my experience with azelaic acid, it can come in 10% formulas to reap the full benefits of the ingredient). But in the formulas, azelaic acid is pretty far down the ingredient list, so it’s unclear how effective these ingredients are in the actual product.

In a nutshell, this line is beautiful and I love the experience of picking your own ingredients, but you definitely pay a premium for the brand. For me, I think I can get similar results for much better value.

If you’ve tried this line, let me know what you think. I’m also curious about their hair products, especially their shampoo, so let me know also if you’ve tried that!