The mane event in men’s grooming

Masculine grooming choices are soaring — beard services are up 20%, men’s hair lightening 110% and men’s coloring 8%, according to Kline Pro, which also found men are especially interested in products for thinning hair, finishing and shine. The brands men look for include Layrite, Baxter and Jack Black.

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Although hair growth formula sales are down, a great deal of dollars can be found in such brands as Rogaine, Viviscal and private labels. Emerging as a tool to stimulate hair growth are devices like HairMax’s Laserband. Several chains cross hair growth solutions in both shaving and hair care to make sure men don’t miss the selection. Next up, retailers expect more ingestibles for hair growth.

It is no longer one bottle fits all in the shampoo aisle. Men appear to want special formulas for hair care. Combe’s Just For Men is leveraging its strong name in hair color to keep sales expanding in shampoo, too. The company just launched Control GX.

"Control GX is perfect for a guy who is looking for the easiest possible way to slowly reduce and, even ultimately, eliminate his gray," Ralph Marburger of Combe's Just For Men brand said. "It easily fits into the routine of any guy who wouldn't use a traditional hair color." Color GX is available nationwide as a shampoo and a combination shampoo/conditioner online and in stores for $7.99 to $9.99. The brand said it works on any shade of hair except for redheads. 

ManCave also is making waves in the hair care market with its Caffeine Shampoo, which offers “no nasty’s,” or chemicals consumers don’t want such as dyes, parabens or petrochemicals.

Hair color is an exploding men’s category and one where men definitely don’t want to sneak into the women’s department. Retailers estimated footage devoted to men’s hair color has doubled in the past year alone — more men, especially boomers, want to look younger. The major brands for hair color include Just For Men, Clairol Natural Instincts and SoftSheen Carson.

And of course, there are products for men going the no hair route. Bee Bald enjoyed triple-digit sales growth this year, according to Dennis Fisher, Bee Bald’s founder. Shave, a shaving cream, and Heal, a post shave balm, held positions as top sellers, he said. “A big part of our success has come from our ability to reach and engage our customers and fans on social media. We now have more than 70,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 15,000 on Twitter. We were late to the gate on Instagram, but are picking up momentum and closing in on 1,000 followers, with very strong engagement coming from the professional beauty industry.”

A few cult men’s items buyers are singled out as moving the sales needles and adding one more item to the basket. One is Nivea Crème. “It’s an entry-level product that brings men into the moisturizing category,” said a Nivea spokesperson. The product is a good way to get men accustomed to skin care since it is an easy-to-use multipurpose moisturizing cream for the face, body and hands. The company agreed that men are demanding more when it comes to skin care.