UK Haircare Market Report 2026
The UK haircare category continues to defy value-driven shopping behaviours, reaching a value of £2.2 billion in 2025, with value sales rising 7.7% year-on-year.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for haircare and styling products
- Opportunities
- Engage with the longevity trend without lengthening routines
- Align NPD with existing haircare routines
- Seize new opportunities in the textured haircare segment
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THE MARKET
- Snapshot – market size and forecast
- Preserve haircare’s resilience to savvy shopping behaviours
- How hairloss treatment advancements could impact category sales
- New retail channels could take sales away from traditional H&B retailers
- Protect category value amid a predicted fall in volume sales
- Graph 1: population, by age, 2004-47
- Cater to newly time poor consumers amid a return to office
- An increase in scalp treatment usage shows a willingness to broaden product repertoires…
- …but market growth will come primarily from trading up, rather than lengthening routines
- Market size and forecast for haircare and styling products
- Graph 2: market value forecast for haircare and styling products, 2019-30
- Significant use of premium haircare indicates a willingness to spend
- The styling segment continues to outperform
- Graph 3: retail value sales of haircare and styling products, by sub-category, 2024-25
- Take learnings from the top performing haircare and styling brands
- Convenience helps OGX and Pantene grow value sales
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THE CONSUMER
- How to increase haircare usage and spending in the category
- Lean into minimalist behaviours and premiumise routines
- Align with a need for convenience to preserve spend on haircare
- Drive value sales by enabling experimentation with international brands
- Leverage knowledge of Korean skincare to benefit K-Beauty haircare sales
- Enhance the textured hair market with international brands
- Reframe styling products to be used in heat-free routines
- Graph 4: typical weekly haircare, styling and scalp care routine, by self-reported hair texture, 2025
- Borrow from facial skincare to ensure scalp treatments’ upwards trajectory
- Serums are ripe for premiumisation
- How hair and scalp concerns can guide product innovation
- Explore novel approaches to hairloss to differentiate in the preventative ageing space
- Build trust in the anti-hairloss segment to capture a massive potential user base
- Align with consumers’ holistic view of hair health to encourage spending
- Embracing the longevity trend in the scalp segment
- Further differentiate the curly and kinky hair market
- Graph 5: current and future hair and scalp concerns, by select self-reported hair textures, by curly hair, 2026
- Allay fears about losing curls
- Help consumers keep their curls to extend the relevance of the longevity trend
- How premium brands can retain consumer interest
- Justifying price positioning is key for premium brands to encourage trading ups
- One-up ingredients to overcome the threat of dupes and mass market innovation
- Marry scientific proof points with the human touch to make claims resonate
- Embrace the sensorial aspect of haircare to revive existing products
- Social media shifts expectations for haircare brands…
- …so inject low-cost excitement with novel fragrances and eye-catching formats
- Leverage a longstanding brand name to win over a new generation of haircare users
- Graph 6: select associations with haircare and styling brands, 2025
- Leverage trust gained through clear communication to increase spending on mass market brands
- Graph 7: select associations with haircare and styling brands, 2025
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PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING
- Take inspiration from South Korea to deliver targeted approaches and ‘skinification’
- Pair impressive founder names with scientifically backed products
- Patented ingredients distinguish haircare brands
- Expand anti-dandruff innovation for textured hair to mass market price points
- Deepen commitments to inclusivity to create an authentic approach
- Hair fragrances can add a step into routines and benefit brand sales
- L’Oréal Elvive seizes the sports opportunity
- Hair diagnostic launches may alter consumer spending habits
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APPENDIX
- Report scope/market definition
- The market
- Forecast methodology
- Forecast methodology – fan chart
- Market size and forecast of haircare and styling products
- Market forecast and prediction intervals
- Market segmentation
- Channels to market
- Market share: shampoo
- Market share: conditioners
- Market share: styling aids and hairspray
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Repertoire analysis methodology
- UK generation groups
- Usage of haircare and styling products, 2024-25
- Graph 8: usage of haircare and styling products, 2024-25
- Launch activity
- NPD in the haircare and styling category, by sub-category
- Graph 9: NPD in the haircare and styling category, by sub-category, 2021-25
- NPD in the haircare and styling category, by launch type
- Graph 10: NPD in the haircare and styling category, by launch type, 2021-25
- UK: NPD in the haircare and styling category, by top 10 claims (based on 2025), 2024-25
- Graph 11: NPD in the haircare and styling category, by top 10 claims (based on 2025), 2024-25
- Advertising and marketing
- Adspend, by media type
- Adspend, by top 10 brands
- Graph 12: total above-the-line, social media, online display and direct mail advertising on haircare and styling products, by top 10 brands, 2025
- Other data source methodologies
- Mintel Spark
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Abbreviations and terms
UK Haircare Industry – Trends and Insights
- The UK haircare category continues to defy value-driven shopping behaviours, reaching a value of £2.2 billion in 2025, with value sales rising 7.7% year-on-year. While shampoo and conditioner still account for the majority of category sales, styling products are seeing strong value sales growth.
- Multiple trends, including ‘skinification’, K-Beauty and longevity, are transforming product claims, brand messaging and formulation within the haircare category, and have driven, and can continue to drive, value sales growth. Brands are increasingly using advanced skincare ingredients and clinical proof, even at mass market price points. This shift encourages engagement among consumers and puts pressure on brands to deliver evidence of effectiveness without added routine complexity.
- The largest growth opportunity is to become the go-to brand in the longevity space with science-backed, convenient solutions. The growth of this segment could offset potential threats to the category, namely the growth of diagnostic tech, which may suppress volume sales.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- Factors driving the continued success of the haircare category in the face of cost-of-living pressures
- Opportunities to drive growth by aligning with the longevity trend
- The potential disruption caused by new channels, namely K-Beauty and premium textured haircare retailers
- How a preference for minimalism is creating demand for high-impact, multifunctional products
- How to justify premium price points amid increasing competition from mass market and masstige brands
- The need to overcome the threat posed by prescription hair loss solutions, population shifts and diagnostic technologies
- White spaces for innovation in heatless style extenders and curl longevity products
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