Men's Grooming Expands Beyond the Razor
Examining why more men are embracing comprehensive grooming routines for well-being and self-expression.
For years I felt strange walking into Sephora. While they’ve always carried male-leaning fragrances and facial cleansing products for everyone, it was never a store that catered to me (which was completely fine). I would usually be one of three men there and at least seven years older than the average shopper. Once I started my skincare routine, I noticed a difference. While their target demographic hasn’t changed, I simply no longer cared what other people thought of my presence. I’ve also noticed more and more of my male counterparts not shying away from implementing their own skincare routines. Male grooming has blossomed far beyond quality shaving products, and beauty brands are hungry to begin capturing this marketshare.
I want to be clear - what we’ve seen the last few years is not the first time beauty and wellness brands have targeted men. When Kiehl’s was acquired by L’Oreal in 2000, they expanded their customer acquisition strategy to more aggressively go after men starting with their “Facial Fuel” line. Dove has had their “Men+Care” line since 2010 that comprises all their deodorants, body washes, shampoo and conditioners, etc. You can now find its products anywhere that other Dove products are sold. Dr. Squatch came onto the scene in 2013 with their soap and aggressively went after the male market with their rough and rugged outdoors campaigns. They’ve now branched into skincare, lip balm, and beard oil, and as of last year were exploring a sale for $2b. The original playbook to loop in male consumers was to start with the basics - shaving cream/aftershave, soap, shampoo, etc. - and then begin to upsell in other categories. Personal opinion with only anecdotal evidence: Dove seems like the only brand that really profited off of the first mover advantage and has been a mainstay product for a lot of guys, but with a category that has relatively few switching costs, companies old and new have the opportunity to grab marketshare either directly from others or capture the overall category growth.
TikTok Endorsements
TikTok has become one of the world’s most powerful social tools, and the best influencers understand the types of messaging that really hit with their target audience. There are more than enough male influencers who participate regularly in “Get Ready With Me” video content, most of whom follow some kind of skincare routine in the morning as they prepare for the day. While the trend started with women, brands saw this as a prime opportunity to extend their reach to a different segment once men began participating. Brand dollars can easily flow into the pockets of these creators through various types of user-generated content, allowing for continued social conversations of how men take care of themselves. The global men’s grooming market was worth a staggering $90b+ as of last year and with its CAGR of ~6.35% should reach $115b by 20281. With so many GenZers and Millennials on this app, every brand needs to have a strong social strategy in order to get consumers who they can keep for the next several decades.
Gender-Neutral Branding
Three years ago, Idris Elba started a skincare brand with his wife Sabrina. While they get to benefit from the star’s international movie and television fame, they want the brand to be inclusive of all genders. In a recent interview with Allure, Idris mentions, “There's no ‘his’ or ‘hers’ here. Instead, S'Able Labs is all about ‘us-care,’ the idea of looking after yourself, so you can look after others — and intentionally sharing moments with the people around you.2” Their messaging is also perfectly aligned with their website branding. The site features both men and women in photos, the product container colors are white and grey throughout, and the research about the all-natural African ingredients is scattered throughout the homepage and various product pages. Compare this to brands like Caudalie (admittedly the brand I use for my own skincare routine) and the results are night and day different, and that’s completely fine. Most brands can’t, and shouldn’t, try to cater to every persona, but when men want to start foraying into a category traditionally dominated by women, they’ll usually go with products that are a bit more toned down.
Shifts in Consumer Preferences
I’ve always believed that younger generations tend to do better than their predecessors. Men who are Baby Boomers and GenXers started getting manicures and pedicures when men in the Silent Generation (their parents) wouldn’t have dared doing anything of the sort. More and more of my millennial peers are going to get facials, which our dads might have not done. And though most of us aren’t their parents, Gen-Z guys are getting their nails painted. All of these shifts represent changes that create ripple effects for all men. The focus on this article has been primarily skincare, but the nail industry will start to see a growing number of men either buying these products or going to a nail salon. Don’t believe me? Just look at rappers like A$AP Rocky, Lil’ Yachty, Drake, Tyler the Creator, Kid Cudi, etc. These are all people who have tons of social capital and cultural influence, and all proudly display various forms of nail art. Jared McCain, the rookie for the Philadelphia 76ers who was an early contender for the NBA Rookie of the Year award before his season-ending injury, signed an NIL deal while he still played at Duke with nail polish company Sally Hansen. Caleb Williams, who will be starting his sophomore season with the Chicago Bears this fall, is also a big nail polish guy. People have unfortunately been very critical of men who do this, saying things like “nothing is just for women anymore” and “they’re trying to emasculate our black boys,” but they all somehow forget that minding your own business is completely free of charge.
I love that men around the world are embracing this form of self-care and I’m proud to see us implement different routines that help us look an feel good about ourselves. The stigmas and taboos that toxic masculinity continue to reinforce have always been without merit. For more news on the world of skincare, definitely make sure to check out
Statista’s Global Men’s Personal Care Products Report (2024); https://www.statista.com/statistics/287643/global-male-grooming-market-size/#:~:text=This%20statistic%20depicts%20the%20estimated,U.S.%20dollars%20as%20of%202022.
Idris and Sabrina Elba: Beauty's Newest Skin-Care Founders; https://www.allure.com/story/sable-labs-skin-care-review
This is such a great take on this topic! I really enjoyed reading. I love that more brands are focusing on their male customers. Thank you for the mention!!