HAIR COLOR TRENDS
May 2016 happi.com happi •
“We have seen this trend grow into 50 shades of blonde,” she
explained.“From pewter and white blonde to creamy and golden
blonde, and even soft rose golds, blondes continue to take center
stage in 2016.”
Reds are also a go-to shade as today there are so many differ-
ences in the tones, according to Shami.
“From red-reds, red-violets to delicious mocha shades. The
color industry has become so sophisticated that the boundaries
have been lifted,” he said. “As professional stylists we are given
more freedom to create and also have products that will help
them achieve some spectacular results.”
Reid noted that application techniques are endless, but three
variations are trending: babylights for a subtle, natural look, foily-
age for well-placed, seamless color that grows out naturally and
bold global application for making a real statement.
But whether we’re talking ombré and sombré, balayage and
baby lights, or something else entirely, the top performers in the
salon category include Redken, Wella International, Keune and
Pravana, all of which posted good gains due to their unique new
products and offerings, said Bulsara.
Taking a closer look at the brand leaders, Bulsara explained
that exclusive hair color is the major driver of growth with multiple brands from Wella, Matrix, Redken and Schwarzkopf. For
example, Ulta is exclusively a Redken salon. But at the same time,
Sally Ion hair color expanded in open-line, taking share from
Wella, Clairol and L’Oréal.
“The top exclusive lines grew via new brands like Chromatics,
Color Fusion, Illumina, Elumen, Colorance Cover Plus and
their rollouts. Goldwell Top Chic Reds and Silk Lightener show
promise,” said Bulsara. “Smaller lines like Keune, Pravana, BMS
Signature, Joico Intensity, and new entries from Kenra, Kevin
Murphy and Tigi will expand.”
Standouts, according to Bulsara, include Keune, which he
described as a high-quality, safe EU color and Pravana with its
Vivids line of specialty colors. Both of them grew at multiples of
the market rate.
Mass Extinction?
IRI puts overall hair color sales in food, drug and mass markets at
nearly $1.7 billion for the year ended March 20, 2016. With cat-
egory sales of nearly $1.5 billion, sales of women’s hair coloring
continues to dominate the business, but sales dipped about 1.4%
for all three category leaders, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble and
Revlon. Only Developlus managed a sales gain and that came off
a much smaller base (see chart, p 60).
When it comes to choosing a favorite brand, women like to
have choices on mass-market shelves—as long as it’s a L’Oréal
product! The world’s biggest pure-play beauty company holds
the top three spots and five of the top 10 slots among individual brands; however, among the best-selling mass brands, only
Clairol Nice N Easy Root Touch Up and Revlon Colorsilk registered gains during the past year (see chart). In fact, among the
top 20 women’s hair color brands, only five posted an increase
in sales, led by a 422% increase for Schwarzkopf Color Ultime,
up 422% to $19.4 million and Vidal Sassoon Salonist, which increased 393% to $15.7 million.
Combe Is No. 1 and Second to None
While L’Oréal holds a nine-point lead over P&G for the No.
1 spot in women’s mass hair color, Combe Inc. dominates the
men’s sector by a ridiculously wide margin. According to IRI,
Combe and its Just for Men franchise controls more than 90% of
category sales, and with good reason, says Ralph Marburger, regional category director for Combe’s gray care business in North
America.
“Unlike other makers of hair color products, we are solely fo-
cused on the men’s hair color category,” he explained. “No other
company can match our knowledge of and our insights into the
male consumer, and our expertise in creating products that meet
men’s needs.”
Marburger noted that more men are coloring their hair than
ever before. But at the same time, the number of men who are
not satisfied with their gray has increased steadily over the years.
To meet their demands, Combe has launched new products and
shades, which has made the category accessible to more men.
In 2012, Combe launched Just For Men AutoStop, which
made it easier than ever for men to get rid of their gray with
comb-in applicator, no-mix, peroxide-free formula and a for-
mula that stops automatically for perfect results every time. New
shades were launched in 2013 and 2014.
“The growing incidence of facial hair has also grown the
category through the Just For Men Mustache&Beard brand,” he
added. “We have consistently grown the category through truly
innovative products that have increased category penetration.”
Whether competing in the professional or mass-market hair
color segments, innovative formulas, like healthy-looking hair,
will always find their audience.
“Salon-beautiful, shiny and healthy color is always on trend,”
explained Güereque of Joico.“A survey we commissioned in 2015
proved what we already knew—that women will always want to
look and feel gorgeous, and good hair is a big factor in that!”•
Farouk Systems’ Shade hair trend.
