Men are spending more on their grooming products. So much more than even women

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that their monthly expenses on grooming products have gone up by about 40 to 50 per cent. The trend has been corroborated by a recent Assocham study.

Assocham study said that this newfound male grooming consciousness was encouraged by active participation of men in fashion shows and beauty pageants exclusively for men. Following the trend French high-end cosmetic brand L’Occitane has seen the highest growth in men’s category in India among the 90 countries it operates in. “When we opened our store in Delhi’s Khan Market area end of 2009, we received fantastic response from men who were looking for high-end and natural products. Since last year, the men’s category has grown at a very rapid pace and today, India has the highest percentage of sales coming from men’s products out of the 90 countries where L’occitane is present in,” said Guillaume Geslin, GM, L’Occitane India. The company is planning to add more products to its range to cater to the growing demand.

In the mass premium range, players like HUL, Marico, Emami are actively pushing products with launches in skin care, hair care, bath and shower gel and deodorants for men. Already, brands like Axe from HUL and Fair & Handsome from Emami have become Rs 100-crore brands.

The men’s grooming market—which includes face cleansers, moisturisers, hair gels, body washes, deodorants and shaving products—is estimated at around Rs 1, 500 crore, largely in urban India. Industry players say that the market has been growing at around 20 per cent with face care products and deodorants growing at twice this rate.

A HUL news release said that the company’s recent launches of Vaseline Menz and Fair & Lovely Max Fairness performed well. As the market for male grooming grows, personal care firms are vying with each other to expand their geographical reach and product portfolio. For instance Marico Industries has recently acquired 85 per cent stake in Vietnam’s International Consumer Products.