Young Nepali males are reportedly becoming more concerned about their looks which has created a new segment for a range of grooming products that have been traditionally associated with women.
Male consumers have for some time been opting for beauty products developed for women and on seeing this gap in the market, brands recognized the need to manufacture products with similar features for men too.
According to L’Oreal India, the manufacturer of Garnier which entered Nepal's market back in 2000; male cosmetics accounted for 20% of the total sales in 2013.
“Many male customers frequently used to ask us what we had for them after Emami launched the beauty cream Emami Fair and Handsome for men in Nepal,” Abhisek Mohanty, business development executive of L’Oreal India, explains.
To date Garnier has developed more than half a dozen products for men in Nepal including Men Intense, Men Oil Clear, Men Power Light face wash and Sweat and Oil control cream.
"The male segment is growing at the rate of 30% annually," says Mohanty.
Domestic brands also innovating to cater to this demand
Elsewhere; well known Asian brands like 'VLCC Personal Care' have now also launched a wide range of face washes, fairness moisturizers, body scrub creams, hair care and skin care products for men after initially expanding into Nepal with cosmetics for women just over three years ago.
According to Manoj Kumar, sales and marketing manager at VLCC; “we introduced men’s beauty products to Nepal within a short period of time and sales have grown rapidly accounting for 5-7% of total sales since."
Similarly, Dayal Trading House, the authorized dealer of Enchanteur beauty products in Nepal, has also reported increased sales on launching products for men.
“Basically, our products are especially targeted at female buyers, but we are seeing an increased number of men using various types of moisturizers and body lotions,” says Rajiv Shah, Dayal's managing director.
According to Shah, Enchanteur's body lotions are widely used by both men and women and with the forecasted growth of the male grooming sector, the company is planning to offer more fairness creams.