🦧 grooming harder

🔍 guys, we see y’all

this chart here is none other than the youtube search trend for "men skincare" in the past 5 years (100 represents peak)

i’ve been jotting down notes on the men’s skincare (and broadly male beauty/cosmetic) uptrend – especially in asia

here’s another semi-vc-diary so i can come back to it later

hope you find it interesting!

📈 surging demand

• globally, the male skincare and grooming industry as a whole (skin, hair, shower, shaving, etc.) is expected to reach $183b, with only china and south korea taking up $62b

• the global men’s skincare market, in particular, is expected to reach ~$19b by 2027 (6.2% cagr) and is outpacing shaving and fragrance products.

• searches for “men skincare routine” have grown by 630% in the last five years

🌏 adoption in asia

• korean men use 13 beauty products a month on average

  • primary purchase channels = drugstores and one brand shops

• in china, it is becoming more advantageous to choose wanghong’s (“Internet influencers”) instead of celebrities as advertising models

  • the wanghong market is known to be worth ~$15.5b

• #malemakeup (in korean) has over 44.2M views on tiktok

  • that’s ~90% of south korea’s population!

• in southeast asia, thailand is established as an early adopter

  • in more conservative markets like indonesia, brands are adjusting strategy and are promoting genderless or unisex facial care and makeup lines

👀 im interested in keeping up with…

• mmuk man: uk-based maker of the world’s first men’s lipstick with 12 shades (garnered huge pre-order interest from china and korea)

• frontman: brooklyn-based men’s skincare and cosmetics, won the esquire grooming award less than a year after launching

• stryx: producer of men’s concealer, lip balm, and gel cleanser (featured on sharktank)

• cosrx: skincare brand and customized cosmetic prescription platform (38% acquired by amorepacific at $398m post valuation in sept-21)

finishing work late and writing this at midnight… gotta sleep now!

always always feel free to email me (apeofomaha@substack.com) to ask any questions! :)

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💡 something im thinking about

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🙏 closing comments

all of this is just one ape’s thoughts, but I would love to hear what you want to know about! happy trading!

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as always, just another ape's thoughts and opinions – i am no financial advisor! (i am no substitute for professional financial services)