Today is Sunday December 31st, 2023 (!) and I can imagine I’d be analyzing the last 12 months, paying special attention to innovation in haircare over the course of the year gone by… How dynamic was innovation in the hair segment? What will the future be like I wondered, whilst remembering some facts that marked some disruptive hair product launches…
It’d be nice to predict future trends and be active on the last day of the year building a haircare strategy and identifying the trends embarking on new hair projects that will impact the market during 2023.
Haircare will maintain great empathy with consumers and their needs whilst considering personalization, scalp, emotions, professional finishing and sustainability in new launches.
The hair cosmetics category has a projected CAGR of 5.6% in the period 2022-2028 according to Fortune Business, which represents a great opportunity globally. So, let’s have a look at 10 trends that will inspire us with the latest technological advances in science and the industry.
Hairbiome
The microbiome of hair and scalp is specific to everyone and it can be modified with consumer habits or conditions. That is how, recently research by Watanabe and colleagues in Nature reports found that hair strands contain Pseudomonas in a greater proportion, and Cutibacterium and Staphylococcus coexist on the scalp with distinguishable profiles from other skin areas.
Also, Cutibacterium, Lawsonella and Moxarella decrease due to hair styling while Pseudomona does it with bleaching.
Another study presented at IFSCC 2022 showed a decrease of Cutibacterium and Staphylococcus in people with androgenetic alopecia (AGA). This new knowledge has direct application in the hair industry which can recommend a healthy hair routine accompanied with a microbiome analysis!
Neurohair
The skin-brain connection is well documented. What about hair?
Mechanisms with the nervous system and hair growth are being investigated. At IFSCC 2022 we saw an active ingredient that binds to olfactory receptors expressed in the follicle and promotes hair growth indicating a target of interest.
Neuroscience techniques (electroencephalography EEG, galvanic response GSR, eye tracking) together with AI and VR tools allow us to evaluate the connection of fragrances and the response of consumers to hair product. We will analyse how neuroscience and predictions mix!
Hair saves the planet
The hairdresser startup Green Salón Collective gives the vision of Hair as Biomaterial. The disruptive innovation of this company is to re-use haircut. 5 tons of hair as: a) Fertilizer (72,000 tons/year from the salon end up in landfills in Europe) and b) Oil absorbent material.
Haircuts packaged in cotton or nylon tubes form powerful barriers to stop oil spills contributing to sea decontamination. Planet care opens up new opportunities in haircare.
Vegan hair
Alternatives to traditional hair material are booming, giving greater naturalness and performance in formulations.
Aja Labs is developing a biodegradable plant-derived polymer with excellent softness and shine characteristics to replace hair extensions. This vegan hair together with ecofriendly dyes (quinones, tannins, flavonoids, indigo, curcuminoids and carotenoids) are alternative biomaterials that will conquer the hair market.
Virtual hair
The brand Madison Reed recently launched a virtual hair colour test app using AR technology from Perfect Corp. The app allows consumers to try on more than 50 hair colours virtually, giving them confidence about their next colour style.
Likewise, AI and Machine Learning are useful to study active ingredients with anti-hair loss activity and predict compounds with antioxidant action in the follicle! The new hair claims developed with this technology will be thickening, regeneration, controlling alopecia and grey hair.
Hair devices
The portable device Rootonix Dr. Finger Volume Booster, presented at CES 2023, diagnoses hair health by evaluating the conditions of the scalp and hair loss, keeping the consumers informed and accompanying them professionally with a technological treatment from home.
We hope that it will be launched to the global market in 2023. technology for use by hairdressers is being implemented by Schwarzkopf’s SalonLab Smart Analyzer, where hair is analyzed offering customization. Device development will be rising exponentially in 2023.
Exosomes
Exosomes are small extracellular microvesicles that release mRNAs, microRNAs, cytokines, and growth factors. Studies demonstrated that exosome therapies can combat hair loss as well as stem cell exosome composition promotes hair growth.
Will we see an anti-loss exosome spray in our daily routine? We don’t know, but we are certain that in 2023 it will be a topic of interest.
Hair efficiency
Do you know we can spend up to 15 liters of water washing hair? This has been corroborated by a SCSS study report to calculate Water Footprint.
Innovations such as L’Oreal’s Water Saver which combines micronization technology with formulations infused directly into the water jet in a dispensing device, allow for a 60% reduction in water consumption.
Also, the REDUIT HAIRPODS based on magnetic nebulization contain a hair conditioner in an aerosol of drops 50 times smaller than a traditional product; it improves the product spread, penetration, and fixation. Five mL of the HAIRPOD is equivalent to 100-200 mL of treatment, Decreasing the number of ingredients in the process. We will see massification of these types of products with cost-benefit efficiency!
Premature anti-hair loss antioxidants
Controlling the oxidative stress in the bulb and scalp contributes to the reduction of hair loss. The manganese thiophosphite has a greater capacity for hair regeneration compared to Minoxidil, according to the study carried out in China by Zhang and colleagues in Nanolett magazine.
We will see a boom in the prevention and fight against premature baldness and exposomes that affect hair health!
New formats
We already saw disruptive innovations such as beer-type shampoo with ferments that promote hair health and ice cream-type treatments that provoke fiber care into a hedonic world.
Now, we will see new formats inspired by face care such as hair tonics and moisturizers to strengthen the scalp, and specialized treatments in the strengthening bond trend which penetrate the fiber and repair it from the inside with formats that improve effectiveness in the capillary cortex.
We are on a challenging path for 2023, which will take us to a new world and will review these trends at the end of the year with results leading us onto a new adventure.
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