Creative expression of natural hair colours, more natural fade outcomes and improvements in at‑home colouring are unlocking growth opportunities in hair colourants, while consumer segmentation and scenario‑based needs are expanding the innovation space for styling products.
Lynn Niu, Senior Research Analyst – BPC, China
Market Definitions
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel uses the following definitions:
The hair styling products market refers to hair sprays and setting sprays, gels and liquid gels, elastin creams, styling mousses and foams, waxes, clays and pomades, perm creams, solutions and lotions, volumising and hair fibre powders and flyaway taming products, as well as hair sprays used before or during styling that are not primarily marketed for hold, hair growth or care benefits, along with other styling products designed for men, women or unisex use.
The hair colourants market refers to all permanent, semi‑permanent and temporary hair colouring products, as well as highlighting products and other colourants designed for men, women or unisex use. The category also includes hair colour products with conditioning benefits.
Market size is based on sales through all retail channels, including direct to consumer, but excludes the professional sector, including hairdresser sales to the consumer and C2C channels (eg WeChat Business and Taobao).
Collapse All
-
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- Hair colourants market size and forecast
- Hair styling products market size and forecast
- Market factors
- Keys to success
-
THE MARKET
- Market size and forecast
- Hair colourants continue their steady expansion
- Graph 1: best- and worst-case forecasts of total value sales for the hair colourants market, 2020-30
- Hair styling products maintain steady growth
- Graph 2: best- and worst-case forecasts of total value sales of hair styling products, 2020-30
- Market factors
- Hairstyle is a core element of personal image management
- Graph 3: key fashion priorities, 2026
- Modest growth in at-home, one-off styling and hair-colouring occasions expands opportunities for home-use products
- Graph 4: at‑home hair colouring and styling behaviours, 2023-26
- Hair colouring serves as both personal makeover and channel for emotional expression
- Mass-market expansion and mid-to-premium growth coexist in the hair colouring market
- Graph 5: share of hair colourant volume sales on Tmall, by price band, 2024-25
- Graph 6: share of hair colourant volume sales on Douyin, by price band, 2024-25
- Styling product price tiers remain broadly stable, with a split between mass and premium segments
- Graph 7: share of hair styling product volume sales on Tmall, by price band, 2024-25
- Graph 8: share of hair styling product volume sales on Douyin, by price band, 2024-25
-
COMPANIES AND BRANDS
- Market share
- Hair styling on Tmall is dominated by established brands, with limited change in rankings
- Douyin hair styling is led by emerging local brands, with faster brand turnover
- Schwarzkopf Professional is deeply rooted in professional salon hair artistry, bringing fashion-led styling to life
- Hair colourants on Tmall are led by international brands, with new players breaking through via niche needs
- Hair colourants on Douyin are dominated by domestic brands, with a steady stream of emerging players
- Isyun lowers the barrier to home colouring with one-to-one personalised guidance from professional hairstylists
-
THE CONSUMER
- Social media drives hair colouring decisions as creative takes on natural shades and colour evolution create new product opportunities
- Hair colouring inspiration is driven by both content platforms and professional channels
- Graph 9: sources of inspiration for hair colouring, 2026
- Consumers rely on instant inspiration for hair colouring and expect fast, visible results
- Hair colour choices vary significantly across colouring occasions
- Brown tones lead in at-home hair colouring, with preferences skewing towards natural and low-risk shades
- Graph 10: hair colours consumers are willing to try, 2026
- Enhancing the stability of natural shades across usage scenarios and lighting types
- Consumers accept colour fade but expect it to look natural and appealing
- Colour fade is no longer just loss: it can feel natural and even deliver pleasant surprises
- Unlock growth around at-home hair colouring experiences; build trust in no-bleach dyes; address flexible touch-up needs
- At-home colouring edges up while overall home-use penetration remains stable
- Graph 11: hair colouring and styling behaviours*, 2024-26
- Graph 12: usage of home hair colourants, 2025 vs 2026
- At-home hair colouring pain points span the full journey, peaking after dyeing
- Graph 13: pain points for at-home hair colourants, 2026
- Product examples addressing unsatisfactory colouring results and limited post-dye colour longevity
- Product examples highlighting integrated colouring and care
- At-home bleaching has edged up, but hair damage and limited control over results remain key barriers
- Graph 14: hair bleaching behaviours, 2024-26
- Rising demand for no-bleach hair colour reflects growing experimentation; a lack of trust in results is emerging as a key driver of innovation
- Graph 15: volume sales and YOY growth of no-bleach hair colourants on ecommerce platforms, 2025
- Innovative product examples in no-bleach hair colouring
- Consumers prefer flexible, small-pack options for touch-up colouring
- Graph 16: attitudes towards hair colourants and styling products preferences, by hair colourant pack size, 2026
- New product examples for targeted touch-up colouring
- Growing multi-scenario styling needs create opportunities for targeted, precision products
- Men favour styling sprays and gels, while women prefer elastin creams and targeted styling products
- Graph 17: at-home hair styling product usage, by gender, 2026
- Segmenting by hairstyle, brands can simplify application steps to help men recreate specific looks at home
- Focusing on women’s targeted, detail-led styling, with dot-on or brush-on applicators for light-touch, precise shaping
- Social gatherings and special occasions are the most concentrated usage scenarios for styling products
- Graph 18: styling scenarios, 2026
- Graph 19: styling scenarios, by number of scenarios selected, 2026
- Profiles based on the number of styling scenarios
- Styling needs across scenarios show a dual structure of core hold and functional differentiation
- Graph 20: usage of at-home styling products, by scenario, 2026
- Enhance styling product relevance with scenario-led design
-
NEW PRODUCT TRENDS
- Styling claims centre on longevity, speed and ease, with growth in botanical, moisturising and repair benefits
- Graph 21: popular claims for new hair-styling product launches, 2021-26
- Hair colourant claims centre on ease of use, botanical positioning and longevity, with rapid growth in speed and damaged-hair care benefits
- Graph 22: popular claims for new hair colourant launches, 2021-26
-
APPENDIX – MARKET SIZE AND FORECAST, RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ABBREVIATIONS
- Market size and forecast – hair colourants
- Market size and forecast – hair styling products
- Methodology
- Information on qualitative research respondents
- Abbreviations
Market Intelligence Made Easier With Mintel
The first Mintel Market Intelligence report was published over 50 years ago. Since then, we have provided our unique insights and understanding of consumers, innovation and global markets to thousands of customers worldwide. Here’s why our customers rely on Mintel:
- Gain a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the market: Mintel reports blend consumer research, market forecasts, product innovation tracking, and competitive analysis, allowing businesses to see every angle of their industry and identify new opportunities quickly.
- Make decisions with confidence, grounded in robust data: Each report draws on up-to-date, reliable information from trusted sources and industry experts, ensuring your strategies are based on solid evidence rather than speculation.
- Benefit from expert analysis and practical recommendations: Mintel’s reports are written by experienced analysts who interpret complex data and provide clear, actionable insights you can trust to guide your next moves.
- Stay ahead with actionable intelligence on market trends and consumer behaviour: By combining fresh research with long-term market monitoring, our reports help businesses anticipate changes and adapt strategically. So you’re prepared to make informed decisions and drive growth.
What goes into a Mintel Market Intelligence Report?
Curious about how a Market Intelligence report comes together? We like to think of it as building a detailed puzzle. We start with individual pieces: data from consumers, market statistics, industry trends, and online conversations. Then our expert analysts add world-class human insight and industry knowledge. The pieces are assembled to reveal a clear, comprehensive picture of a market.
The Four Pillars of Our Research
We use a combination of four main research methods when creating our reports, each adding a valuable perspective:
- Consumer Research: Direct surveys with real people, giving us clear, current insights into what people think and do.
- Desk Research: In-depth review of trusted data sources. We use this rich database, plus powerful internal tools that track new products and market sizes, to detect trends and guide forecasts.
- Trade Research: Insights from conversations with industry experts. Their real-world experience helps us understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
- Brand and Social Media Research: Analysis of online opinions and trends. This lets us spot trends, measure brand sentiment, and capture feedback in real time, adding further depth to our research.
Bringing It All Together
Each of these four pillars provides a different piece of the puzzle. Consumer research tells us what customers think, desk research provides the factual framework, trade research offers an insider’s view, and social media analysis reveals public sentiment.
Our expert analysts are skilled in weaving these diverse data streams together. They apply a range of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques to uncover the deeper story, connecting the dots to deliver clear, actionable insights. This comprehensive, multi-layered process is how we transform raw data into a market intelligence report you can trust to inform your most important business decisions.
£ 3,695 (Excl.Tax)
- Pay via credit card or invoice
-
PDF, PPT and Excel download delivered instantly
Instant delivery when paying by credit card, invoice orders may take longer
-
Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports
Save 10% when you purchase two reports together.
Save 15% when you purchase three reports together.
Save 20% when your purchase four or more together.
Discount automatically applied in basket
Need help before you buy?
Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.
Contact usTrusted by global industry leaders
We use Mintel Reports, mostly for financial services and ecommerce markets, plus a few retail and technology ones.
As a leading payments provider, we value additional insights into consumer behaviour, opinions and trends that are shaping the many different markets we operate in. Mintel is a very good and very quick way for us to obtain those insights.
We use Mintel to get a view on where a particular market is going, which can support us in product development and help us identify opportunities or indeed risks, it is a very useful barometer of a market’s potential.
Andrew Neeson, Market Intelligence Manager, VocaLink
Mintel is really good for getting a handle on a particular category quickly. If we are working on a new business pitch in an area we don’t have much experience in, it’s a brilliant way to get up to speed with what’s going on, what’s changing and what the key trends are in any category.
It’s very rare now that anyone will plough through a 200-page report – that’s why the summaries are really useful. We know they are backed up by a lot of detail, so if you need to go into something in more depth you know the information will be all there for you.
Pauline Robson, Managing Partner, Mediacom
When I’m investigating specific sectors I tend to use Mintel reports for their forecasting, which I’ve always found to be very accurate.
They also offer really broad and deep coverage in their reports. They are very, very detailed. For example, we were able to gain insight across a wide range of business areas from just one report, proving that Mintel is excellent value for money.
So overall, it’s the level of detail and the quality of forecasting that really stand out for me.
Rebecca Green, Market Insight Manager, Wincanton
At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.
Alana Gavin, VP Research and Insights, Jackman
We use Mintel to inform our thinking and reinforce strategy. If you’re presenting new ideas, it’s essential they are underpinned by robust data and evidence, and clearly rooted in fact.
Mintel gives us all that. It’s a great brand and one that is trusted by clients.
Marie Stafford, European Director, The Innovation Group, VML
Need help before you buy?
Our research specialists can answer your questions and recommend the reports that best match your business needs.
Contact us
