Hair and skin care: uncovering the trends at NACDS Marketplace

Drug Store News, August 4, 1997 by Lisa I. Fried

Walgreen and Longs have agreed to carry the line.

Hair care discoveries

In hair care, the focus is on texturizing products, which are designed to manipulate the hair to produce loose, soft hair or a clearly identified look--straight, curly, shiny, big hair, etc., a trend that has been big in salons. Products for frizzy hair have been growing for some time, and now several companies are also eyeing the straightening market. Many of these texturizing products are multi-functional.

Freeman has repackaged its Salon Textures line, a salon line, and is bringing it to mass retailers with suggested retail prices of $6.99 each, compared to the $10.00 price tag found in salons. The line includes Moisture Aire Shampoo, Volumizing Aire Shampoo, Leave-in Aire Conditioner, Intense Aire Conditioner Volumizing Aire Mousse, Shaping Aire Hair Spray, Easy Hold Aire Spritzer, Zero Alcohol Aire Hair Spray and Daily Aire Conditioner. The company will continue to sell the line in salons and will begin advertising it in women's magazines in September.

Freeman plans to unveil a straightening line next year. The company has also reformulated thickening products with Pathenol and renamed them Big Thick Hair.

Mastey de Paris has watched its products being diverted from salons to drug stores for years, and is now directly shifting distribution to drug stores. The company is offering the best selling products from its 18-year-old international hair care line to drug store retailers with retail prices of $8.49 per SKU.

Ultimately, the company plans to take its sun and skin care products to drug stores as well. The company's products are positioned as natural: They contain vitamins and ingredients that the company claims recreate the natural moisturizing elements that the hair and skin produce on their own. Hair coloring and styling often deprive the hair and skin of these elements.

John Frieda has extended its Frizz-Ease line with Miraculous Recovery, an intense conditioner for very dry, frizzy hair; Instant Touch Up, a serum spray that adds shine and tames frizzles; and a hot oil treatment. Under its Ready to Wear line, the company is adding Miracle Mend intensive conditioner and Gloss and Groom Hair Wax, a finishing product that separates and texturizes the hair, as well as adds shine.

Conair has launched Jherri Rhedding Texturizers, which extends its existing offering of styling aids. The line includes blow-dry activated thickening spray, blow-dry activated straightening lotion and curl energizer.

Advanced Research Lab's contribution to the texturizing craze is Citre Shine Stylers. At Alleghany Pharmacal, among the exciting new products were Hask Pure Shine Spray-On Luminator and Spray It Straight, a product sprayed on the hair before blow drying that is designed to shine, smoothe and defrizz the hair.

In the hot hair-thickening segment, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based HZL/Horizon Corp. is taking The Helsinki Formula hair care line to retail. The Helsinki Formula has done more than $150 million in direct sales to consumers since its 1984 television debut, according to HZL/Horizon president Hal Lederman.