By Silvia Lourenço

Brazil has been facing economic hardship in the last years and one of the consequences for the beauty segment was the retraction on the retail sales of many beauty and personal care products. Despite the recession, the haircare products segment has not been as affected as other sectors, and it is expected to recover its growth rate starting in 2017.

The Brazilian haircare Market grew 4,7% in 2015, and 5,8% in 2016. Mintel researches estimate that in 2017 the retail market sales will grow 6,8% reaching R$ 15,53 billion of Brazilian Reais.

The Brazilian Consumer

Despite natural hair trend, many Brazilians still prefer straight hair. Although 40% of Brazilian women interviewed consider themselves to have wavy hair, 48% say the hairstyle they wear most often is straight. Amongst the women who answered the survey, 29% say they use wavy hair or curly hair (19%) most of the time.This may reveal that the natural hair trend, in which consumers keep their hair exactly as it grows, even if it is wavy or curly, is not significant among the Brazilian population yet.

Haircuts and hair cuticle repairs are mainly done in salons
According to the survey, Brazilians already do most of their hair treatments at home. However, for more complicated treatments, such as haircuts and hair cuticle repairs, beauty salons are still preferred. Therefore, developing products for those who have just had a haircut, or cuticle repair, is a way to continue delivering benefits to the consumers even if they are still done in the salon.

Hair loss products can benefit from the hairceuticals trend According to the survey, the most cited problem by Brazilians was the high incidence of hair loss, which was cited by 32% of the interviewees. This characteristic was mainly cited by the women (45% compared to 18% of men). Thus, hair loss products can benefit from the hairceuticals trend. Made with natural and medicinal ingredients, these products combine technology and high-performance results to combat problems such as hair loss, hair thinning, and dry hair.

Brazilian hair characteristics

Survey participants were asked to choose which characteristic would apply to their hair at the moment (more than one characteristic could be chosen). The answers were:

• My hair falls out a lot …………………………………………………………….32%
• My hair has a lot of volume…………………………………………………….29%
• My hair is oily ………………………………………………………………………28%
• I have a lot of grey hair ………………………………………………………….28%
• My hair is frizzy ……………………………………………………………………27%
• My hair has dry ends …………………………………………………………….23%
• My hair takes a long time to grow……………………………………………19%
• My hair has split ends ……………………………………………………………19%
• My hair doesn’t have a lot of shine…………………………………………..14%
• My hair has no volume …………………………………………………………..13%
• My hair is damaged due to chemical treatments ……………………….12%
• My hair is difficult to comb …………………………………………………….10%

Brands need to educate Brazilians on how to use preshampoos
The survey also reveals that 17% of Brazilian people are interested in preshampoos. A number of products, that should be used before washing to prepare for the next step, have been launched in the market, however, it does not mean that the Brazilians are using the product. Brands need to educate consumers on how to use these products and the benefits they provide in a clear and easy to understand way.

Overview
According to the survey, the hair treatments that Brazilians have done more frequently at home than in salon are moisturizing, blow-dry, flat iron, and short – and long-lasting dye. In addition, 40% of the consumers have demonstrated interest in haircare products with natural ingredients, and 30% in shampoo that do not have chemical ingredients; 21% of the survey participants are also interested in antipollution shampoo. All in all, 21% (of men and women) look for haircare products that designed specifically for their gender: male or female; 20% tries to get rid of grey hair (e.g. hair coloring); 20% would rather save Money by buying haircare products in bigger packaging; 14% look for opinions on new haircare products from bloggers; 9% have been using more curl activators now compared to a year ago; 8% get inspiration on new hairstyles from celebrities (e.g. color, haircuts).

Article produced in august 2017. Survey: Mintel. Haircare Brazil, April 2017