Male Hair Colorants Soar in UK

UNITED KINGDOM: Use of in-home hair colorants is soaring among Britain’s star-struck young males, as they take inspiration from celebrities and social media personalities. According to Mintel, the percentage of 16-24-year-old men using hair colorants grew from 38% in 2018 to 46% in 2019.

Celebrities and social media personalities play a significant role in their choice of hair color; one in five (19%) male in-home color users say they took inspiration from social media personalities for their latest hair color choice, while a further 14% drew inspiration from celebrities/models, noted Mintel. This compares to the mere 7% of female users who say the same. Showing their adventurous side, just a quarter (25%) of men used the same color they have always used when they last dyed their hair.

While Britain’s young men are experimenting with their hair, it seems the nation’s more mature ladies are going natural as usage of at-home colorants among women aged 65 and over reduced from 36% in 2018 to just 27% in 2019.

“Major celebrities like Zac Efron, Zayn Malik and 2019 Love Island contestant, Jordan Hames, have debuted bleached or vibrant colored hair recently, which has resulted in young men feeling encouraged to express their individualism through their hair color,” said Alex Fisher, associate director for beauty and personal care at Mintel.

“At the other end of the age-scale, dissatisfaction with the anti-aging rhetoric has meant fewer older women are now using colorants, instead, accepting their naturally gray hair. This movement gained momentum in the summer of 2017 when Allure magazine announced it would no longer use the term ‘anti-aging.’. Since then, a number of celebrities have spoken out about embracing aging including Salma Hayek, Helen Mirren and Daniel Craig.”

Overall sales of in-home colorants are far from bright: in 2018, the hair colorants market declined in value by 2% falling to £311 million ($375 million at current exchange rates). The market value of semi-permanent color grew by 1% from 2017-18 to reach £13.2 million, while permanent color fell by 2% to £218 million. Natural versus vibrant continues to be an issue as seven in ten (71%) adults think hair colorant brands should use natural ingredients wherever possible, while half (27%) think a vibrant result is important, rising to 43% of 16-24-year-olds.