Hair Care Product Trends 2014

In a recent GCI article Vivienne Rudd, director of global insight, beauty and personal care for Mintel, a beauty research company took a look at what to expect in new product development for hair care in 2014. Rudd noted that hybrid products will be popular in the coming years. This includes hair care products such as hair perfumes (such as the Chanel Chance Eau Tendre Hair Mist), skin care crossovers that target the scalp (like the exfoliating scalp mask product from Phillip Kingsley), and products with makeup-oriented claims (like Alterna’s Caviar CC Cream 10-in-1 Complete Correction Leave-in Hair Protector ).

 

In keeping with the growing consumer trend toward health and wellness the market for natural and organic hair care is likely to expand rapidly during the next five years,. Although the natural label can provide a point of differentiation the question still hang over what constitutes a natural brand. Not surprising styling aids like gels, creams, mousse and sprays have peeked and have been showing virtually no growth for the hair styling product market.

 

In contrast, the hair colorant market is on an uptick. According to Rudd, the U.S. is by far the biggest market at $2 billion. Meanwhile, the power house Chinese market is growing slowly in hair color, but there is movement in the rising popularity of all natural henna color products. Dry shampoos continue to trend around the world, with the U.K. as its biggest market by far. Its also helping to spur the innovation of new products such as dry hair conditioners. Hair oils are on the rise too—a classic East meets West transition, explained Rudd, as hair oil products that are well known in countries such as India and Asia are only now growing in Western markets. However, many of the new hair oil launches like 9x Camellia Oil are making more modern claims, such as pollution protection and healing for hair, face and body, aimed to attract a more cosmopolitan consumer.

Smart Tools,  other emerging hair care trends include hair styling appliances that take tips from skin care devices, such as hot irons working with conditioners to ensure better penetration of conditioners, diagnostic products that show types and levels of hair damage, and even laser therapy used to treat hair loss. And styling tools like the Hair Flex Styling Brush with multi-functional uses for blow dry styling effects.

 

She also saw a sort of “inspiration from the cocktail bar” in the form of customization. Rudd noted that, although customization hasn’t been too big in hair care yet, offerings that allow consumers to pick and choose and personalize everything from ingredients to fragrance in their hair care products is on the horizon. One of the most stable trends in the beauty and personal care market over the last several decades has been the development of milder surfactants product formulations. What began in baby care in the 1960s is now a mainstream feature for soap, bath an shower products for sensitive skin and hair, as consumers prefer cleansers that can be used on a daily basis. This has resulted in the development of alternative surfactants and PEG free systems