Beauty Broadcast Video Series

Evolving masculinity: Colorbar Cosmetics and Dow reveal biggest opportunities in male grooming space

11-Sep-2020 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 14:16 GMT

Once geared around mass-market personal hygiene products, the Asia Pacific men’s grooming category has undergone drastic shifts with the advent of social media, changing lifestyles and the democratisation of cosmetics.

Isabel Almiro do Vale, global marketing & strategy director of Dow Personal Care told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that the ingredient company saw immense opportunities in the male beauty category.

“This is one of the most exciting segments at the moment, the consumption per capita in the male population in beauty care is actually one of the lowest in the APAC region so the potential for those individuals to spend more on the category is tremendous.”

Samir Modi, founder and managing director of Colorbar Cosmetics, told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that embracing cosmetic products such as skin care is quickly becoming commonplace in Asia.

“It's becoming very natural. For me, I'm now going to the salon twice a week, it's become a way of life."

Almiro do Vale believes this shift in behaviours like these are largely due to rapid urbanisation.

“You see much longer working hours and people are exposed to aggressors like pollution. With these factors, people are really looking for products to help them destress, detox and protect.”

Colorbar, which claims to be India’s third-largest cosmetics company, is not just seeing men pick up basic skin care products, but also products such as face masks and specialised treatment product.

“They are looking for products that solves problems, for example anti-blemish treatments. Face masks is another category we're seeing big demand from men, especially masks from Korea, which are growing rapidly,” said Modi.

He added that company is eyeing huge potential in the skin brightening category for men, which is why the company developed a new unisex range that caters to both men and women.

Both Modi and Almiro do Vale believe the category will continue to grow very quickly and do not expect the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to hold it back.

“Despite COVID-19 affecting the some of the markets, at the higher end specifically, the online trends about what men search for... demonstrate that the demand for male-oriented high-quality products is there and is going to continue,” said Almiro do Vale.

To find out more about the male grooming category in Asia, check out the video above.