Short answer: no, our product recommendations are not sponsored. Brands cannot pay to be in your routine. This article explains exactly how the business works and what we do (and don't) earn from.
How recommendations work
Every product in your routine is selected based on:
How well it matches your hair profile (type, porosity, density, condition)
How well its ingredient list aligns with what your hair needs at that step
Performance and value at your budget tier
Your stated preferences and exclusions
That's it. No brand has a slot. No brand can buy placement. There's no "sponsored" tag because there's no sponsorship.
How Rituala makes money
Plan revenue. The $19 Starter plan and $59/year Journey subscription are how we fund the business. That's the primary model — and the reason we can stay independent of brand pressure.
Add-ons. A small number of optional add-ons (Expert Review by a licensed trichologist, Ingredient Deep-Dive, Prestige Curation) generate additional revenue from people who want extra depth on top of their plan.
Affiliate links. Some of the product links in your routine are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission. This never affects which products we recommend — the recommendation is generated from your hair profile and ingredient fit before any link is attached, and the affiliate program doesn't determine which retailers or products are eligible to show up.
What we don't do: We don't take payment from brands to feature their products. We don't have a "preferred brand" tier. We don't sell our own products.
Why this matters
Most "personalized hair care quizzes" are funnels for whichever brand built them. The recommendations are constrained by what that brand sells. Our recommendations are constrained only by what's good for your hair.
That's a meaningful difference. It's also why we sometimes recommend a $6 drugstore product when a $40 boutique brand would also work — the cheaper one is the right answer.
How to verify
Take the quiz with two very different hair profiles and compare the recommendations. They'll be different products from different brands.
Look at the variety in your own routine — if every product was the same brand, that would be a red flag. It usually isn't.
Push back. Tell Ask Rituala "I don't trust this recommendation, why this product?" — it'll explain the ingredient logic. There's no marketing reason to defend, only fit.
Transparency is the entire point. If anything in your routine ever feels off, ask — we'll explain the reasoning.