The cosmetics industry no longer concerns just women; recent developments in the sector have seen a shift towards the male consumer.
The man of today is increasingly concerned about his appearance. In an image saturated society, presentation is key. Therefore, skin care has become more important to men than before. Men taking care of themselves is no longer taboo, now that masculinity has been redefined in the 21st century. Today, not only do men assume the use of cosmetics that are clearly intended for them, such as the traditional aftershave and deodorant, but more and more are buying their own personal care products; 62 percent according to a Mintel study. The “hygienist” era when men were satisfied with aftershave and deodorant seems to be over. Beauty is now also male.
Hygiene is no longer synonymous with masculinity or femininity but with well-being, and in recent years, with the rise of individualism in a neoliberal era, well-being and health have become priorities for the majority of men. Once restricted, the cosmetics market for men is now booming. In 2015, the French market reached 17.4 billion euros, 30% more than in 2011 according to Euromonitor. The cosmetics market for men today represents 11% of the French cosmetics market.
However, even though men and women have been united for the first time in their love of beauty products, there are still some differences between men and women customers within the sector. The first, most noticeable difference is that purchase of products is different between men and women. Whereas the latter favor in store purchases, where they can take a lot of time for themselves and peruse at their own leisure, men prefer to purchase their beauty products online. With a wider range of offers and also detailed web content or video tutorials, research shows that men buy mostly on the internet. The web is synonymous with their way of life and what they are looking for: speed and efficiency without a store clerk trying to give them advice.
Another reason for this preference among men may be the stigma around men purchasing beauty products. Some men may still be uncomfortable purchasing these products in-store as the beauty industry is traditionally associated with women. Thus, a man wanting to buy a hair coloring or depilatory cream, will turn more easily to the web than to a store advisor, as they see the internet as a more trustworthy, private pattern.
Another difference between male and female consumers are the types of beauty products that they purchase. The types of products popular with men have evolved a lot. Formerly limited to soap, shower gel, deodorant, shampoo and shaving products, French men are increasingly likely to use facial and body scrubs or light-textured moisturizing treatments, once they are male targeted. In Asia, the dermo-cosmetics market for men already has BB creams or tinted multicore care, products that will certainly appear in France soon. Other products that may be exported to France are hair regrowth products such as ‘Nanogen’ from the UK ; ‘Urban Soul’, a product used after sport which whitens the skin and decreases wrinkles ; or the dual-action anti-aging and skin whitening product put on sale by the Korean brand Daehwa.
Due to these developments, leading players in women’s cosmetics therefore, are now also investing in the men’s cosmetics market. This can be observed in the cases of Clarins or L’Oréal, who launched the Clarins For Men and L’Oréal Men Expert ranges respectively in 2002 and 2004.
One of the particularities of the market is the partitioning of its distribution networks. It is rare that a brand is positioned on several distribution channels at the same time, and generally these male and female beauty products are marketed seperately. However, due to increased male interest in beauty, there has been a push to market in a more inclusive, non-gendered manner. For example, Maybeline chose to promote their new Big Shot mascara on a mannequin with immaculate eyes, thick eyelashes … and a neat three-day beard. Manny Gutierrez (3 million followers on Instagram) became the second man to be chosen as beauty face by a make-up brand, after James Charles (1 million followers on Instagram) for Covergirl in 2016.
As the society is evolving, brands are adapting to this new demand. The game cards are being redistributed…
References:
Esther Elbaz (June 15, 2018) “Les codes de la cosmétique masculine changent”, L’express Styles (Online), retrieved from
https://www.lexpress.fr/styles/beaute/les-codes-de-la-cosmetique-masculine-changent_2015228.html
BusinessScoot “Le marché de la Cosmétique pour Hommes : France”, retrieved from
https://www.businesscoot.com/fr/page/le-marche-de-la-cosmetique-pour-hommes
Sneha Santra “Here are the reasons why the men’s beauty industry is growing”, Franchise India Wellness (Online), retrieved from
Cos' we care ! 