Shorter hairstyles jumpstart men's grooming category

Drug Store News, Sept 7, 1992

Ethnic hair care buyers say that black women tend to spend more money on health and beauty care items than white women, and they report the same is true for black men.

Black men are quick to adopt new styles like the flat top hair cut popularized recently by actors and sports celebrities. They tend to use a lot of styling aids to maintain the look, and their use of men's shaving products has made shaving preps one of the faster growing categories in the ethnic product category.

For the past few years, with some exceptions, black men have taken to wearing their hair short, but that hasn't stopped them from buying conditioners, hair foods, pomades, gels, spritzes and other styling aids to keep their hair soft, shiny and manageable.

Black men tend to use many of the same styling products that women use, which is one of the reasons why the styling aid category has been such a strong growth segment for ethnic hair care.

At Standard Distributing in Detroit, dollar sales of pomades - used frequently by men - are up in double-digit increments, as are cream hair dressings, oil moisturizers, holding sprays, gels and spritzes.

The category is growing because it works well as a styling aid for men with short hair, while women use it to give their hair staying power.

At Standard, the No. 1 seller is Murray's Pomade, followed by Sporting Waves from Soft Sheen and Dax Wave and Groom from Imperial Dax. Posner's Easy Wave is also doing well, and Let's Jam has a new pomade that is selling very well.

In California, Richard Nave, president of Paul's Sundries, says that just about all pomades are doing well in his market. But, he adds, Let's Jam from the Attitudes Unlimited division of Modern Research Labs is doing particularly well.

In the conditioning hair/scalp category, many distributors and buyers singled out Let's Jam Conditioner and Shining Gel, J. M. Products' Isoplus, the Ultra Sheen Conditioner, Blue Magic Conditioner and TCB Hair & Scalp.

In Alexandria, Va., Mike O'Neil, vp of merchandising for Harris Beauty Supply, says Let's Jam is his No. 1 conditioning/shining gel. He also says the Isoplus Spritz and Wrap are doing phenomenally well.

"We're getting very good movement on the new Vigorol Dazzling Shine Gel, Pre Con, Ampro and the 9-11 Leave-In Conditioner from Always Natural. The B & B Smooth Sheen Spray is also doing very well."

At North American Beauty Services, president Geoffrey Ziskind says the Isoplus Wrap Lotion, basically a women's product, and the Isoplus Spritz, a unisex product, are both doing "very, very well."

In Florida, a source for Eckerd Drug says the chain's best sellers include Let's Jam, High Five, Vigoral, Isoplus and Ampro. In oil sheens, the top brands are Isoplus, Revlon and TCB.

Several distributors reported a new trend in shine-enhancing products. Two items to watch are Let's Jam's Power Shine Laminator and Oil Free Shining Mist.

In the hair dressing category, Blue Velvet from Kensington Labs has become a winner. Launched two or three years ago as a value brand, Blue Velvet has emerged as one of the fastest growing brands in ethnic hair care, according to distributors like Kent Humphreys of Jack's Service and Dan Medow of Standard Distributing.

Also popular with men are the Duke Wave & Curl Texturizer Kit, Luster's S-Curl Kit and the Pro-line CombThru Relaxer Kit.

Light products of all types are hot right now, and in the light conditioning segment Medow particularly singled out Posner's Light Touch Conditioner and TCB's Life Hair and Scalp Conditioner.

One product that's been out for years, Luster's Pink Oil Moisturizer, is continuing to do very well. "It's used for conditioning and styling," explains North American's Ziskind, "so it's very versatile."

Men's shaving products are a particular good growth segment. At Standard Distributing, dollar sales are up 27 percent.

Virtually every buyer agreed that the best seller is Carson's Magic Shaving Powders followed very closely by the Magic Creme Shave. Medow said their sales were "tremendous. Steady growth all year. They own the market."

Men's shaving is also one of those categories, like skin toners and cocoa butters, that is generally merchandised in the general market section and sometimes cross-merchandised in with ethnic hair care.