🦧 grooming harder
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🦧 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! :)
💡 something im thinking about
🙏 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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