Table of Contents
About Proven Skincare
One of the most amazing things about human beings is how different we all are. It’s something to be celebrated, but also, it’s something that can make choosing the right skincare a little tricky.
There’s no one magical formula that fits all, and that’s why customized skincare isn’t just important, it’s detrimental in a realm of products we depend on for results. That’s the main reason why Proven Skincare was created by Ming Zhao and Dr. Amy Yuan in 2016.
The San-Francisco-based brand’s success rests on its award-winning AI Skin Genome Quiz that’s incredibly thorough and uses variables such as geographic data to determine your unique formula. Clean, cruelty-free, and highly natural, the brand’s skincare line is science-backed, simple, and effective—oh, and made in an FDA-accredited lab in the USA.
About Curology
American-made is something Curology is as well, its custom skincare made after a quiz and a detailed consultation with a dermatologist. Using just three ingredients, you’ll get one customized formula developed for fast results. The brand was founded in 2014 by Dr. Lortscher after he listened to the number one need of his clients: a custom product.
Can’t resist a good face-off? I’ve got a great one coming up in this Proven Skincare vs Curology review. You’ll see each brand at its base, including information on everything from products and subscriptions to feedback and policies.
I’m going to start peeling back the layers here, but first, take a quick peek at the below summary of what to consider before we get this thing glowing.
What to Consider
Product range
Both Proven Skincare’s and Curology’s collections are concise, each with just three products. Both offer customers the option to buy only one product instead of the three, in case you already have a cleanser and cream that you find works for your unique skin.
Target audience
The way these brands work totally depends on you. When taking the quiz (both have one you’ll need to complete), you’ll find a list of skin concerns, and then check off which ones apply to you. I found that in general, it looks like those with acne gravitate more towards Curology, whereas Proven Skincare caters more to aging, discoloration, and redness.
Customization
This is perhaps the most important aspect I’ll talk about in this Proven Skincare vs Curology review. The former brand offers a Skincare Genome Quiz that uses an expansive database to provide a totally personalized product that is customized further as your skin progresses.
On the other hand, Curology uses a combination of a thorough quiz and photos to make sure you’re getting the product you need. Its products are not further customized.
Subscription options
While you won’t be able to buy Curology without a monthly subscription, you can do so with Proven Skincare. With that said, Curology’s plan can be whittled down to just one monthly product instead of three whereas the other cannot. Both ship for free.
You’ll find that Proven offers plans that ship out every 4, 6, or 8 weeks whereas Curology offers shipments every 30 or 60 days.
Ingredients and sustainability
There’s a big difference between the ingredients these two brands use. Though both are cruelty-free companies, Proven’s ingredient list is a little more natural. With that said, natural isn’t king for all, and depending on your skin concern, sometimes it’s the lab-made ones that are more effective.
Both lines are made in the USA, so these brands are on-par in terms of sustainability since they’re doing the world a favor and cutting down on the CO2 footprint from shipping.
Accessibility
Both of these companies ship within the US and both offer free shipping options, but Proven offers shipping to Canada as well. Due to the nature of the product, you can only buy them directly from their websites.
As for their prices, Proven Skincare may seem substantially more expensive than Curology but it provides double the amount of product. Its three formulas are also completely customized whereas its competitor uses just one custom product plus other basics.
Now that you know what you look out for in the sections ahead in this Proven Skincare vs Curology review, there’s only one thing left to do: get to it. Below, I’ll walk you through all the need-to-knows about the brands, what they offer, and how their services work.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: Who Are They For?
The whole purpose of personalized skincare is to get you a product that’s specially made for your skin and is going to work. Proven Skincare and Curology both require their customers to take a quiz to make sure they’re getting exactly what their skin needs.
For Proven Skincare, that means the Skin Genome Quiz, and let us tell you, this isn’t your average questionnaire. The first question is about identifying your skin concerns. Here’s the list of concerns the brand’s formulas can help with:
- Sensitivity
- Redness
- Fine lines or wrinkles
- Loss of firmness or elasticity
- Hyperpigmentation
- Acne
- Dryness
The Skin Genome Quiz uses the Skin Genome Project to create your formula. This project is a crazy award-winning database with heaps of information about ingredients, skincare products, user results, geographic data, and more.
Taking into account the water hardness of your location, humidity level, and even UV index, your formula will be custom—like truly custom to all of the factors that affect your skin daily. As your skin begins to progress, your formula will too. The brand recommends taking the quiz every 5-7 weeks to keep your products updated and as effective as possible.
You’ll get a personalized cleanser, protective moisturizer, and renewal cream with your plan. In other words, it’s a complete system that can be used on its own with no need to add extra outside products.
- Cruelty-free
- Offers a subscription, saves you money
- Completely customized
- Highly natural & clean (no SLS, parabens, phthalates, etc.)
- Non-comedogenic
- Travel-friendly bottles
- Made in the USA
As for Curology, its custom formulas are whipped up after a quick quiz. Here’s a rundown of what kinds of skin issues its products can help with:
- Fight breakouts
- Treat clogged pores
- Fade dark spots
- Boost firmness
- Improve skin texture
- Fight wrinkles
The majority of photos on the brand’s website show results with acne, but this test proves they tackle a range of issues. After your test is complete (it involves slightly fewer questions than Proven’s does), you’ll receive your recommended products.
Ours included a custom formula, cleanser and moisturizer set, lip balm, and acne spot patches. The price of your subscription will include your custom formulas plus the cleanser and moisturizer, you can add the lip balm, patches, and other extras to your subscription after your 30-day free trial.
The brand has stated in its FAQ that you’ll also need to take photos for its dermatology team to review, but I didn’t see this option for my skin concerns. After that, a dermatology provider makes your formula and ships it out to you.
- Totally customized
- Simple, effective formula
- Option to purchase add-ons
- Free trial
- Offers subscription
- Affordable
- Made in the USA
The major difference I’d say between this service and Proven Skincare is that its system uses just one custom formula—the other products are generic. I like the completely customized aspect that Proven has, but it does make its products more expensive.
Both catering to a range of skincare concerns, I found that those with acne or pimples tend to gravitate towards Curology more so than others. This may have to do with the fact that it’s just one formula that is personalized.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: Subscriptions
Proven Skincare and Curology both work on a subscription basis, meaning that you’ll need to sign up for auto-deliveries to get their products. For products like these, a subscription actually helps you out, shipping your products to your door and making sure you’re topped up on the formula that’s making a big difference for your skin.
In this section of our Proven Skincare vs Curology review, I’ll take you through how each company’s subscription plan works, including every last detail so that you know exactly what you’re getting.
Your Proven Skincare subscription will start after you take the Skin Genome Quiz, get your results, and click on ‘Get My System’. Along with your three custom products, you’ll get priority support, access to exclusive events, easy access to new products, and the brand’s reformulation guarantee.
Your kit includes enough product for 6-8 weeks and will be shipped out every 4, 6, or 8 weeks but you can change your schedule, pause, skip a shipment, or cancel any time. It’s totally flexible and shipping is always free.
If subscribing isn’t your thing, you can purchase the products outright. Just know that subscribers get a 35% discount taking your total of $190 down to $130.
- Flexible plans
- Option to purchase products one time
- 35% discount for subscribers
- Subscribers get exclusive perks
- Ships for free
- Reformulation guarantee
Now looking at Curology, I found that the brand offers two different subscription plans, one for just your custom formula for $20/month, and the other for your custom formula plus a cleanser and moisturizer for $30/month. The first option requires you to pay $5 in shipping while with the latter, it’s included.
Like Proven, Curology’s subscription plans are flexible, but the brand doesn’t offer one-off purchases for its products. With that said, it does offer a free trial for your custom formula to try before you sign up.
Curology’s subscription plans are sent out every 30 or 60 days and also come with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
- Offers two plans
- Subscription is flexible
- Set plan ships for free
- Free trial
- Money-back guarantee
Either subscription is convenient, but there are a few points with each brand that are major draws. With Proven, it’s the free shipping across the board, one-time purchase, and special perks. With Curology, it’s a free trial.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: Ingredients
Personalized skincare sounds effective, but it’s what the products are made from that really matters. Here, I’ll scope out what kind of ingredients each brand uses in its formulas and tell you all about them. Let’s start with Proven.
As soon as I started taking the Proven Skincare quiz, I saw the names of our personalized ingredients piling up on the side of our screens. It was exciting to see that they were all natural names, some that I knew of, others that intrigued us.
Proven uses a mix of science-backed non-toxic and natural ingredients like vitamin C, Granactive® retinol, green tea extract, and Ubiquinone (CoQ10). These are some ingredients you’d normally find in skincare for a range of concerns and others that are special to the brand.
Proven Skincare has also stated that its products are cruelty-free, non-comedogenic, SLS, and phthalate-free. Your custom Day Cream and Night Cream will be made up of a range of these ingredients, the number of which isn’t specified, but you will be shown all of the major ones included in your unique formula.
This differs quite a lot from Curology which uses just three ingredients in its one custom formula. The brand’s active ingredients are a little more scientific-sounding than its competitor’s and include things like Clindamycin, Azelaic acid, Tretinoin, and Niacinamide.
Now, though these ingredients sound a little harsh, Curology has assured us that all of its formulas are non-comedogenic, paraben-free, and hypoallergenic. On top of that, its skincare products are free from fragrances, cruelty-free, and vegan.
These two brands’ formulas are very different. This helps us understand that they may have two separate target audiences. If you’re someone who prioritizes natural ingredients, then Proven may be looking mighty appealing right now. Want something created out of science? Then Curology is a safe pick.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: Price & Value
Price and value are very different, and while you may be shocked at the higher prices of some brands, often, what you’re getting has a higher value. This section of our Proven Skincare vs Curology review will compare the two brands side by side to see what you’ll get when you buy from either.
Proven Skincare offers its custom formulas for $130. For that price, you’ll get three products, two of which are completely customized. That’s $43/product and pretty standard in the beauty realm. These products last for 8 weeks, meaning you’ll pay just over $21/month per product. Right out of the box, there are a few things that make the price of these products highly valuable.
The main one is that it’s personalized using a high-tech Skin Genome Quiz for accuracy using The Skin Genome Project. This database is perhaps what makes the brand so valuable, as it accesses millions of reviews and evaluations of 100k skincare products, 20k ingredients, and scientific journals to help determine your perfect formulas.
Its products are also made in the USA with highly natural and clean ingredients, are cruelty-free, and shipped for free. All of these factors come into play to determine the brand’s value which I find to be quite high.
As for the Curology Set, you’ll get one custom formula, a cleanser, and a moisturizer for $30/month. That takes the price of each product down to $10 each a month on average. When we look at it this way, Proven Skincare products don’t look to be that much more expensive, but they are still double the price.
So where does Curology’s value come in? Well, of course, the custom formula is a big one, but more so, it’s that the brand is dermatologist-approved. Considering you’d have to pay upwards of $180 for a visit, you’re getting recommendations from dermatologists with this brand on the house.
The dermatologist factor plays into assurance which also has high value. Knowing you’re getting custom, dermatologist-approved and recommended ingredients definitely increases the brand’s value. And since it makes all of its skincare in the USA too, Curology is looking pretty appealing, to say the least.
Overall, these two brands bring something very important to the table. Since both offer custom formulas and make their products in America, your decision may come down to whether you put your faith in natural science or dermatology.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: What do Customers Think?
Customer feedback is something on which we cling to when it comes to skincare. I can read about ingredients and formulations until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, the results are what we’re really interested in.
This section of our Proven Skincare vs Curology review exists for that very reason, and here, you’ll read about what customer experience is like for both brands. Let’s kick things off with some ratings for Proven.
- Provenskincare.com: 4.5/5 stars from 3,654 reviews
- Product Hunt: 3.8/5 stars from 50 reviews
- Trustpilot: 4.7/5 stars from 3,834 reviews
While browsing through Proven Skincare reviews, I found a few common threads. Here are the basics of what I came across:
- Doesn’t cause irritation
- Safe for sensitive skin
- Makes skin soft and prevents breakouts
- Pimples that do pop up heal quickly
- Has great customer service
Now that we’ve gotten to know Proven Skincare’s feedback, I’ll check out Curology to see how it stacks up. Below, you’ll find a short list of ratings I scoped out around the web:
- Reviews.io: 4.4/5 stars from 1,142 reviews
- Facebook: 4.2/5 stars from 3,441 reviews
- Influenster: 4.2/5 stars from 9,103 reviews
Out of the many reviews I read for this section of our Proven Skincare vs Curology review, users said that they loved Curology for a heap of similar reasons. These include:
- They’re life-changing
- They hydrate skin
- Great for acne/blackheads/whiteheads
- Good for sensitive skin
- Appreciate the free trial
One of the most important things to keep in mind about skincare is that it’s a personal experience. What works for your friend may not work for you and vice versa. That’s the reason that personalized skincare is so important but is also why some people have different experiences with beauty brands.
The most common complaint made about both of these companies is that some experience a lack of results. This issue isn’t common—let us tell you, the heaps of raving comments definitely speak to that.
At the end of the day, feedback for these two brands is pretty matched (totally understandable for custom skincare). The main difference was that I found a lot of positive feedback about customer service for Proven Skincare, while a lot of what I saw for Curology was about appreciation for its free trial.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: Promotions & Discounts
I know how easy it is to spend a week’s paycheck on skincare. It’s expensive, but if it works, then I’ll gladly hold my wallet open to whoever is helping plump out fine lines and make pimples disappear.
I was surprised when I saw the prices of Proven Skincare and Curology—but in a good way. With prices that rival and beat non-personalized skincare brands, I was pleased, to say the least.
Of course, it gets better because both of our featured companies offer more ways to help you save. In this part of our Proven Skincare vs Curology review, you’ll see what I found after scoping out their website:
- Subscribe to save 35%
- Free shipping
- Free trial, just pay shipping + tax to get your custom formula
- Free shipping with Set subscription
Since both offer a form of free shipping, the major difference is a huge discount with Proven Skincare or the option to try your custom formula with Curology for free. Since you’ve gotten to know the value that each brand holds, you can now decide whether one attracts you a little more than the other.
Proven Skincare vs Curology: Shipping & Returns
This section of our Proven Skincare vs Curology review is all about policy. I’ll be checking out exactly what it’s like for either company to get your products to you, as well as how easy it is to make a return if needed.
Shipping
- Ships within the USA and to Canada for free
- Shipping is included in your order cost
- Processing takes about 2-4 business days
- You can expect your item delivered in another 7-10 business days for US addresses or 10-20 business days for Alaska, Hawaii, and international locations
Returns
- The Night Cream and Day Moisturizer can be reformulated in 28 days from the time you make your purchase. This means that if you find the product isn’t quite the right match, Proven will remake it for free
Shipping
- Only ships within the US via UPS First Class or DHL
- Orders take at most 3 days to process, at most
- Since Curology is subscription-based only, your following shipments will head out to your every 30 or 60 days
- Shipping is free for Set subscriptions or $5 for single formulas
Returns
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Free trial
- You can cancel your subscription any time (be sure to do it 2 days before your next shipment date)
Proven Skincare’s offer of reformulation is appealing as well as its somewhat more inclusive shipping destinations. Curology’s money-back guarantee is great too. In the end, both brands’ policies are equally as attractive for US customers, the biggest difference is for those who live in Canada.
Who Will You Shop With?
Considering there are many different types of skin texture, dryness levels, climates, and environments, personalized skincare is incredibly important if you want real results.
How personalized each of these brands is may be the factor that sways your decision towards one rather than the other, but if you have less serious skin concerns (the odd pimple or fine line) it may be each company’s perks and policies that draw you in. This Proven Skincare vs Curology review has looked at all of that and found that both have their own sets of advantages.
With Proven Skincare, I love the completely customized aspect. Its three products are totally tailored to your unique needs using an incredibly thorough quiz and database. In addition to great products, the brand offers an equally as great reformulation guarantee, free shipping, and holds high value.
Curology is one to be valued as well, its affordable products and add-ons are served up in a free trial before you ever have to pay for a subscription. Shipped for free and accompanied by a 90-day money-back guarantee, the brand uses dermatologist-recommended ingredients to deliver fast results.
Overall, both have attractive policies and are cruelty-free, your final decision may have to do with the nature of the ingredients each offers, or simply where you’re located in the world.
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