For centuries, the haircare industry has relied heavily on the mass production of cleansing, conditioning, and styling products. It was very easy for consumers to substitute their favorite shampoo and conditioner combos because they all contained similar ingredients and seemed to work the same way. Consumers who were clueless about haircare would push the burden off on their local, professional hairstylist every week.
During the pandemic, it became apparent that the haircare industry was in for a wild ride. One aspect of the industry that I didn’t expect to boom was the explosion of personal, at-home haircare products.
But the pandemic created an even bigger monster — the uneducated consumer. Remember the Gorilla Glue Girl or the Quarantine Hair Color Disasters? The shift to being locked up in their homes and reliance on ecommerce made it very difficult for consumers to properly care for their hair at home, but that didn’t stop them from adding professional products to their Ulta Beauty carts. How they were using those products is the big question. An even bigger question is what’s going on with AI in haircare.
Haircare’s Scientific Renaissance
The haircare industry isn’t shying away from using technology to bring consumers better products and more education in exchange for brand loyalty. A mega shift has been underway by brands that are hyper-focused on using technology to bridge the gap between home and salon haircare.
The haircare industry is valued at nearly $100 billion and product innovation is the key driver for growth. At the heart of innovation is the obsession with protecting and marketing the latest proprietary R&D. Since 2020, haircare brands have become very intentional about adding “patented” or “patent-pending” to their marketing messaging. To put it into perspective, in three years post-pandemic, 21,000 patents for the cosmetics industry were filed globally.
Why is this important?
Having a good product is no longer the standard in haircare. Consumers can get a “good” product at any local drugstore. This is where patents become priceless assets. They give haircare brands a competitive edge in an oversaturated industry by providing legally protected solutions for pressing hair issues. Patent ownership also shows a brand’s commitment to quality haircare that’s backed by science.
L’Oréal has over 1,000 patents in the haircare category. Deputy CEO, Barbara Lavernos shares her strategy for keeping high-quality products in rotation matched by innovative new products at beauty’s biggest conglomerate, “What I love to do with my teams, with the brands and with the executive committee, is to look at what we know and must continue to do, which is already very demanding, but also look at what is possible, what is plausible, what is probable and what is preferable”
Keratin Treatment Kraze
In the past, the go-to solution for damaged hair was a good old-fashioned haircut. Now, thanks to extensive research and development there are better, more innovative alternatives.
Top haircare brands are in a race to develop their own proprietary keratin complexes. Most of the patents in the haircare category center around keratin, the material that makes up over 50 percent of hair. Brands, like L’Oréal and Wella AG are using their patents to address the unavoidable damage that comes with using heat styling, hair color, chemically textured products, and daily hair manipulation.
It’s a smart strategy because the shift to keratin-based treatments represents undeniable advancements in haircare technology. By focusing on repairing and reinforcing the hair’s natural keratin structure, these new product offerings aim to solve a range of problems.
- Strengthen hair fibers from the inside, out to reduce breakage and split ends
- Make hair more resistant to future damage
- Provide long-lasting protection against environmental stressors
Who’s Dominating Haircare Innovation
Innovations from newer brands have pushed the entire industry towards more science-backed, repair-focused treatments and styling products. Here’s a look at the most forward-thinking players.
Olaplex
The $15 billion dollar haircare brand Olaplex launched in 2014 and introduced a new category of haircare — bond-building treatments. This shifted the industry focus from merely coating hair to actually repairing its internal structure. Olaplex’s patented molecule, bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate, works by reconnecting broken disulfide bonds in the hair. These bonds usually break down due to chemical treatments, heat styling, or mechanical stress. Its monopoly on bond-building technology made its brand even sweeter. Unfortunately, being the first and only comes with a few drawbacks. Olaplex is currently overhauling its brand to bounce back from a 30 percent nosedive in sales during Q3 of 2023. This is partly due to a host of lawsuits that claim the products allegedly “caused hair breakage, hair loss and scalp irritation.” Their struggles opened doors for new players to enter the market.
K18
In 2023, Unilever acquired the premium biotech haircare brand K18. Co-founded by Britta Cox and Suveen Sahib, K18 offers a leave-in treatment based on biomimetic technology that claims to work in just four minutes. It aims to restore strength, softness, and elasticity to damaged hair. The acquisition price is undisclosed, but the value of this company lies within its enormous growth on TikTok and popularity with Gen Zers. The brand garnered over 12 billion views on TikTok on their very first campaign. Unilever Prestige CEO Vasiliki Petrou stated in a press release that the brand was “a testament to the importance of brands built on unparalleled science, product efficacy and community love.”
Cécred
What’s better than patented haircare technology? Sustainable, patented haircare technology. Cécred, founded by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, takes a sustainable approach to strengthening hair. The brand uses bio-fermented keratin proteins that closely mimic proteins that are naturally found in hair. This technology aims to repair and strengthen hair from within and protect it from future damage. What makes this brand unique is its celebrity backing. The combination of star power and science is a recipe for success. Since it launched in February of this year, we’ll have to wait to see the numbers. Still, the innovation at the foundation of the products is impressive. In a statement, Knowles-Carter doubled down on her brand’s commitment to tech by saying, “As a Black founder, it was important to me to concentrate on where I saw the greatest need for healthy haircare and to place scientific innovation and product performance above all else.” Levernos echoes the need for innovation stating, “By 2030, 40 percent of the world will have curly, wavy or coily hair. That’s a radical shift in our business.”
Tech Driving DTC Personalization
There’s no question that scientific innovation drives product development but technology is also reimaging how consumers discover and purchase haircare products. Prose is a pioneer in customized haircare and has made great use of AI to collect and analyze data to formulate personalized products for each customer. More recently they’ve expanded this tech into a skincare division of the company, supported by an impressive $140 million in net sales for 2023.
Initially, the brand faced a tech roadblock that interfered with its goal of delivering customized products with speed and precision. Prose founder and CEO Arnaud Plas elaborated on how the challenge opened new doors for the company, “This realization led us to develop our own technology—now patent pending—that powers a detailed online consultation process. This AI-driven system provides a comprehensive view of everything impacting an individual’s scalp, hair, and skin, allowing us to deliver 100 percent customized care.”
Tech-driven personalization puts DTC brands in direct competition with traditional salon brands like Redken, Keratase and Paul Mitchell, which have historically relied on professional stylist recommendations to drive sales. While these established brands maintain strong relationships with salons and offer professional-grade products, they’re being forced to adapt to compete with the customization capabilities of DTC competitors.
A Shift in Retail Haircare
Right now, retailers are in a perfect position to evolve beyond traditional merchandising strategies. From AI-powered personalization to patented repair technologies, today’s haircare arena requires retailers to become education hubs rather than mere product distributors.
As someone who frequents CosmoProf and Sally’s, I can tell you that the staff could use a little more training in product knowledge. Success in this new retail era relies heavily on creating dedicated display spaces for new innovations, implementing digital consultation tools, and training staff to understand and communicate the science behind the products.
There are also new opportunities for retailers to bridge the gap between professional salon services and at-home care while implementing personalization tech. By combining scientific innovation with educational resources—whether through partnerships with local salons, digital tools, or customized product recommendations—retailers can position themselves as trusted advisors in their customers’ haircare journeys. Those who successfully master both technological advancement and personalized experiences will be in the best position to capture the growing demand for sophisticated hair care solutions. The big benefit: lasting customer relationships.
