Subscription services, grooming kits and self-barbering products are just a few of the hot trends for men’s personal care in the last few years. Even the old-school Barbasol shaving can has a new look, with different colors on the cans and caps for each scent as well as a distinct design technique.
The global men’s grooming products market is expected to grow at a 5.44% CAGR during 2019-2027 and gain $223,876 million by the end of the forecasting period, ReportLinker shares. Men’s personal care products consist of hair care, shaving, oral care, fragrances, soaps and body powders, skin care, bathing essentials and nail care. The gradual change in consumer lifestyle — especially with the millennial and Gen Z generations — has increased the demand in the sector.
A Mordor Intelligence report cites that more awareness of self-care is the major factor driving market growth. Rising awareness toward overall body care and growing influence of social trends is supporting growth as well. Consumer preference toward organic products and natural ingredients is likely to affect growth in coming years. The skincare segment is likely to see significant growth, and toiletries is expected to see the fastest growth during the forecast period, as demand of soap, shampoo, hair-conditioner and after shower for men increases. There also is an increasing use of the internet for grooming tips, which has resulted in an increase in grooming blogs and websites.
A Twist on a Classic
Barbasol has been a staple in bathroom cabinets for 100 years. Men (and women) have used the product religiously. The brand moved to a modern look, which includes a debossing technique by Crown Holdings Inc. (crown.cork) that imprints the brand’s iconic stripes and logo at varying depths on the can, creating an exterior that helps catch the light and draw consumer attention at point-of-sale. The package is even easier to grip with wet hands due to the 3D texture created by the debossing pattern. Five varieties include: Soothing Aloe (Green), Sensitive Skin (Orange), Extra Moisturizing (Purple), Pacific Rush (Aqua) and Original (Red).
The debossing technology allows for wide latitude in terms of application and facilitates design creativity. The process runs at full production speeds and is performed after the flat metal sheet has been printed and then formed into its cylindrical shape. Crown conducted accelerated elevated temperature package testing to ensure internal coating performance and product compatibility. Barrier performance testing confirmed compatibility with high-speed filling line requirements and compliance with all U.S. Department of Transportation legislation.
Where Beards Are Made
Known as a leader in facial hair trimmers, Wahl is finally offering men everything they need for facial hair supreme with its new beard care product range, in the same year as its 100th anniversary. Designed for men by men, the brand believes that the right products and tools are the recipe for a beard that stands out from the pack. The beard line includes beard oil in an eye dropper, 6-oz. beard wash tube, 8-oz. shave gel plastic bottle, 3-oz. beard softener and 2-oz. beard balm both in rigid plastic containers, as well as a comb, wallet comb and brush.
The launch of Wahl’s beard care products coincide with a lineup of personal care needs, including shaving cream, shampoo and body wash; in total the line includes 12 new products. Scent is still a selling point but Wahl’s proprietary combination of four essential oils — called the W-Blend and formulated with Manuka Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Moringa Oil and Clove Oil — works to keep hair and skin healthy and looking great.
Vegan-Friendly Skincare
Bulldog Skincare For Men, a brand by Edgewell Personal Care, produces Bulldog Original Moisturizer, a specially formulated lotion to boost skin hydration for men. The 3.3-oz. tube product’s ingredients include aloe vera, camelina and green tea. Bulldog products are “purpose built for men,” designed for everyday use and deal with the specific skin issues men face.
Bulldog is also now using new tubes derived from Brazilian sugarcane, a renewable resource, for its packaging. Working with Brazilian company Braskem (braskem.com.br/usa) and U.K. tube manufacturer M&H Plastics (mhplastics.com), Bulldog developed the packaging to help reduce its consumption of fossil fuel materials by using sugarcane as the main component (more than 50%), which doesn’t need much more than natural rainfall to grow. Bulldog is vegan-friendly and certified Cruelty Free International.
Another Edgewell brand, Jack Black, touts a charcoal massaging soap for men. The 4.75-oz. exfoliating body bar has massage nubs to stimulate circulation and relieve tension while bathing. Charcoal is known to absorb odor and remove build up, while glycerin moisturizes and jojoba beads exfoliate. It also contains seaweed extract.
A Que from Car Detailing
Body Detailer has a name that you would think was made for car detailing. But this isn’t in your dad’s garage. The shower products company recently launched a complete line of full-body shower gel packaging. The brand used a 32-oz. HDPE bottle and a shrink sleeve label with a 360-degree design showing life by the Pacific Ocean in sunny California.
The front has the imagery while the back tells the story of each fragrance, giving detail of how each was made. The product uses a greener moisturizing pearled formula made for the entire body — and hair. The wash is dermatologist-tested for those with sensitive skin.
Subscriptions & Grooming Kits
Men can receive their personal grooming products via subscription (Think: Birchbox for men) or in a goody box right from the store. Harry’s has been known for its razor subscription service; but the company now offers a portfolio of shampoo and conditioner, gel and other products that just launched last month. The Hair by Harry’s line initial items — a taming cream, 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner and a texturizing putty — are intended to address “trade-offs” men have had to make with products.
Walmart has climbed onto the men’s grooming kit bandwagon with its own $10 manscaping boxes that contain up to $60 worth of men’s grooming products. The “Tame Your Mug” box includes razor, face wash, beard and scruff cream, beard soft spray, beard balm and more. A second kit, “Mr. Dashing,” includes shave gel, hair styling paste, body wash and shampoo and hair clay and more.
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Branding for Gen Z and Millennial males In a few years’ time, Generation Z and millennial males will make up one of the largest consumer groups on the planet, so brands need to know who they’re talking to and what their key concerns are. Uniqueness and authenticity are top of the list as outdated social and cultural constraints resonate less and less. This group of young men sways toward brands that celebrate self-expression and being true to yourself.
We’ve seen lots of beauty and grooming brands respond to this new sense of freedom. Milk Makeup, for example, is firmly gender-neutral, with male and female YouTubers trading beauty hacks. Fluide, which produces makeup for “him, her, them, everyone,” is another. And male-grooming brand AXE has moved into the multi-gender space with its Unity fragrance. It’s the brands with genuine purpose and personality that are reaching this demographic most effectively. AXE, for example, outwardly uses wit and humor to engage its target consumer (16-24-year-old guys), but in the background it actively supports important male causes, like anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label and suicide-prevention movement CALM. Honesty and integrity are central to the brand – that’s why it rings true and connects. Ultimately, though, brands need to remember that these are regular young guys who want to enjoy life and be approached in a genuine and meaningful way, one that acknowledges them as complex, multi-faceted individuals. Pete Hayes and Ben Lambert founded brand and packaging design agency PB Creative in 2010. The agency delivers brand clarity through packaging design, decoding a brand’s personality into simple solutions that are beautifully executed, while reinforcing a strong emotional connection with the consumer. Its approach seamlessly combines brand strategy, structural and graphic design for some of the world’s biggest consumer brands including LYNX (AXE), Comfort, Toni&Guy, Rexona, VO5 and Carex. Visit pb-creative.com for information. |
