Men Skincare market is becoming an emerging disruptor in the beauty industry, as companies target to expand the half a trillion-dollar market.
Men are the new frontier in the beauty & skincare industry: anti-aging creams or even facial sheet masks are the best hit in Major Cosmetic stores in the mall. More than 37% of American dads (and the percentage goes up to those with two children) say they care about preventing the signs of aging, compared to 23% of men without kids, according to a study released this week that surveyed about 1,000 male personal-care product adult users in the U.S.
While some 95% of men in the survey say they use deodorants and 87% say they use body cleansing products, 70% of men say they use sunscreen/sun protection items while nearly two-thirds say they use facial skincare. Among those between 18 and 44, facial skincare users actually jump to as much as 84%.
Giant fashion brands like COACH or Lululemon have been expanding their product lineup to appeal to the desires of style-conscious men. The male focus for personal-care products has also evolved beyond traditional grooming products, such as razors and deodorants, to anti-aging skincare and even makeup.
In recent years, the notion that men can’t or shouldn’t be using skin-care products or caring more in general about all aspects of their appearance has been receding and with the category currently valued at $122 million. The success of digitally native brands catered directly to men such as Harry’s and popular subscription service Dollar Shave Club* brand created in reveals that “the average men’s grooming routine isn’t about just shaving, but can be aided by using skin-care products.
A few weeks ago, the Edgewell Conglomerate (owners of Schick and Wilkinson razor brand), acquired Harry’s for $1.37 billion as it tries to expand beyond razors to new products like body wash and deodorant. Dollar Shave Club was acquired by consumer products giant Unilever in 2016.
*Dollar Shave Club was created in 2011 in Venice, California, by two friends and is based on delivering razors and other personal grooming products to customers by mail. It delivers razor blades on a monthly basis and offers additional grooming products for home delivery.
Even high-end designers like Chanel have jumped on the trend, launching its first made-for-men skincare and cosmetics line known as “Boy De Chanel” last September.
Men are interested in preventing the signs of aging
If you search for “men anti-aging cream” on Amazon, more than 1,000 results will appear under the beauty and personal care category, spanning products from mass-market and drugstore labels (L’Óreal “Men Expert” and Neutrogena Men) to department store brands like Estée Lauder-owned Clinique for Men sells an anti-age moisturizer for $54. In fact, while the stubble/beard trend has hurt industrywide U.S. shaving product sales, the largest men’s grooming category, demand for men’s skincare items has seen healthy growth. Sales of men’s shaving products were $2.8 billion last year, declining an average of 1.1% a year between 2012 and 2017. In contrast, the annual average growth for men’s skincare products during the same time period was 7.2%, with sales reaching $345 million in 2017, according to Euromonitor data.
Last year alone, men’s skincare product sales jumped an even faster 11%, outpacing growth in all other men’s grooming categories including bath and shower, deodorant, and hair care. In total, men spent a total of $6.9 billion in the U.S. on grooming products last year, Euromonitor data shows.
Men ages 35-44, and especially dads, will drive the overall grooming market demand as they are more invested in the category and less price-sensitive than other groups. Nearly 45% in that age group say they “pay attention to” the personal care products they buy, compared to less than half for the entire male adult group surveyed, according to Mintel.
Larger. brands such as L’Óreal, and Johnson & Johnson’s Neutrogena, Unilever’s Dove, have responded to the market potential for men’s skincare. Retailers aren’t blind to the demand either. For instance, beauty retailers have a separate tab for men’s products, including “anti-wrinkle” serum and other skincare. In April, Target picked men’s skincare brand Oars & Alps among 10 beauty startup labels it would mentor and grow under its startup accelerator program. Target reportedly mentions growth in customer interest in smaller niche brands including those for men.
Products are not coming fast enough: Only 4% of men’s personal care products unveiled in the U.S. last year included anti-aging claims. The gap between the number of men interested in preventing the signs of aging and the number of products with these benefits indicates a significant opportunity.
Men, the new generation of beauty consumers
This includes tutorials from U.K. make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury and Rihanna’s Fenty brand, which have both put out instructions for guys who want to use make-up subtly for a more groomed appearance.
According to Coresight Research, the Asia Pacific market is now one of the fastest-growing regions for men’s grooming and cosmetic product use. Jason Chen, general manager for Chinese online retail site Tmall, told Coresight that across China “supply is not able to meet the demand for male make-up products.”
Nearly 40% of adults aged 18-22 have shown interest in gender-neutral beauty products. More than 56% of U.S. male respondents in the survey, admitted to using some sort of facial cosmetics like foundation, concealer or BB cream at least once in 2018. But beauty is no longer what you’re putting out as ‘ideal beauty.’ Beauty can be anything and anyone. In 2016, shortly after COTY acquired CoverGirl, the brand made history with the launch of its first-ever “CoverBoy” People misconstrues that a man using beauty and skincare products is not masculine, but the truth is that men are becoming conscious beyond looking younger and are interested in looking healthier. People are still intimidated by the aspect of it, but the market is growing faster than ever imagined.
Women still dominate the core skincare market but a greater proportion of Millennial men are using and buying skincare products than ever before. Makeup tutorials and product reviews for men have attracted nearly 5 million viewers to YouTube regularly.
Now over 2.1 million Millennial women (69% of Millennial women) and just over 1 million Millennial men (34% of Millennial men) both use skincare products and also buy some type of skincare product in an average of six months.
The importance of attracting younger consumers to your brand when they haven’t yet settled on a favorite. Millennial consumers are vital for skincare brands looking to grow their market share. Nearly a third of Millennial women are choosing non-major brands for their facial moisturizer and facial cleansing – rates that are significantly higher than the overall market and also their male counterparts of the same age.”
