The hair-care space is rapidly evolving as new technology and shifting consumer preference drive launches and sales.
“Hair care is in the state where skin care was about six or seven years ago,” said Nicole Fourgoux, former longtime L’Oréal Group exec and current operating partner at Stride Consumer Partners, which backs hair-care brands like Drybar and Odele. “The same ingredients that popped up about six years ago in skin care are now starting to make their way into hair care [such as] niacinamide, peptides or even ceramides.”
This shift, dubbed “the skinification of hair care,” also includes a focus on reducing shedding and hair loss. Dozens of brands have responded by expanding into scrubs and serums, but Fourgoux told Glossy that the scalp-care boom is just the start of where the industry is rapidly headed.
According to Carson Kitzmiller, principal analyst for U.S. beauty and personal care at Mintel market research company, consumers are primed for more advanced hair care. For example, 47% of U.S. hair-care consumers believe the health of their scalp impacts the overall health and appearance of their hair, while 34% agree that hair loss is a top concern for them.
“We still see that scalp-care and hair-growth claims and benefits are desired. However, brands are looking to incorporate these benefits across all touch points in hair routines, not just through specialty formats like treatments,” said Kitzmiller. “Consumers are increasingly prioritizing long-term hair health, [so] the concept of ‘longevity’ has also made its way into the hair-care category, mirroring the focus on skin health in the skin-care industry.”
That means essential formats like shampoos and conditioners are evolving beyond the goals of simply cleaning and softening hair, she said. Kitzmiller has also noticed an uptick in demand for peptides, hyaluronic acid, collagen, probiotics and stem cells in hair care, much of which is seen in online searches.
“We’re seeing similar levels of ingredient research for skin-care products and hair-care products, with nearly 80% of users researching these subcategories,” Mintel’s Kitzmiller told Glossy. “This suggests that this ingredient- and solution-focused approach seen in skin care has, and continues to, translated into hair care.”
Similar to skin care’s trajectory, Fourgoux expects “hair longevity” to be the next big trend guiding NPD and launches this year. “[Right now, this looks like] exosome-based treatments and peptide serums, and so you can imagine those as [the] clinical hair care of the future,” she told Glossy. “In a way, this can go hand-in-hand with things like scalp red light therapy [or anything that] stimulates the inside [of the scalp] from the outside.” Within this “longevity hair-care bucket,” the biological aging of the scalp and hair is the primary concern, she said.
Brands currently leaning into hair longevity lingo in product education marketing include Act + Acre, for which Fourgoux calls out as a leader in this trend, as well as Hårklinikken, Monpure and Vegamour.
However, current white space includes clinical hair care, Fourgoux said. “There must be more functional hair care with clinical proof,” she said. “Given the success of and general movement to more holistic approaches, I’m stunned that there’s not more [yet].”
Finally, bond-repair and scalp-care products entering the mass category is another large shift, said Fourgoux. For example, once owned by Olaplex, then disrupted by K-18, the bond-repair category has seen mass expansion in the past year from Unilever brands like Shea Moisture and Dove, as well as Suave, Pantene and L’Oréal.
However, don’t expect the category to fully migrate to mass just yet; Fourgoux told Glossy that consumers are ready and willing to invest in longevity-focused hair care with the right proven benefits.
“When you’re thinking about something that is improving the health of your hair or scalp, [brands can charge] a higher price,” Fourgoux said. “But only if the science is really breakthrough and if the clinical proof is really there.”
