There’s been plenty of talk about the fragrance boom, but hair care was beauty’s dark horse in 2025. Sales growth of prestige hair care outpaced similarly priced perfumes in the months leading up to the holidays, according to Circana. The “skinification” of hair care routines saw people trading up for their stylers and treatments — but not their shampoos, the category’s biggest moneymaker.
Within the ballooning styling category, specificity ruled. Brands with catalogues of products tailored to particular hair types and concerns were the biggest winners — none more so than Color Wow, known for its curly hair and frizz-control products, which was scooped up by L’Oréal in June. But there’s no one size fits all approach to success, as demonstrated by Crown Affair, another of the year’s big winners. Instead of a sprawling assortment, the it-girl hair care brand has kept it tight, focusing on products like a hair towel and dry shampoo that are as effective as they are easy to use.
Professional hair care brand Olaplex may want to take notes. The once white-hot brand continued to struggle to get back on track this year, even as the bond building category that it popularised continued to be a key hair care category in 2025. Plagued by a storm of softening sales and lawsuits, new CEO Amanda Baldwin is hoping that increased education around its products combined with new launches and recalibration of marketing strategy can turn things around.
This education piece proved key in hair tech, too. While tools designed for textured hair have continued to hit the market, brands have failed to communicate to their audience-base the very basics — such as how exactly they’re supposed to work. While consumers are well versed in Dyson and Shark tutorials by now, the two battling brands ceded some market share to the humble heatless curling rod and other analog hair accessories. But no matter how you get there, bombshell volume is the objective.
The standout lesson of the year was undoubtedly about how brands should communicate value with their consumers. For those who want to break through in 2026, it’s advisable to look away from the kinds of figures that might work in different categories: in hair care, stylists remain the true gatekeepers.
Top Stories
1. The Architect of Olaplex’s Turnaround. Chief executive Amanda Baldwin has been tasked with course-correcting the embattled haircare brand. Using her marketing muscle, she hopes to rebuild the bond Olaplex once shared with beauty consumers and investors alike.
2. The Hot Competition Behind Heatless Curls. The pursuit of loose, wavy curls with the promise of less heat damage is driving intense competition in the hair tools space, thanks to innovations from brands like Dyson and TikTok-fueled demand for new products and processes.
3. Hayley Williams’ Hair Dye Comeback. In 2016, musician Hayley Williams of the band Paramore and stylist Brian O’Connor launched the hair colour line Good Dye Young — and watched it tank. Recent changes have made the brand profitable again, its founders told The Business of Beauty.
4. Prestige Hair Care’s Shampoo Problem. Premium hair brands have begun to grow faster than their mass competitors. But winning the category means convincing shoppers to trade up from the drugstore.
5. In Hair Care, Stylists Are the Real Influencers. Against a cooling market and a competitive online landscape, brands are doubling down on their professional credentials to stand out. Leveraging hair stylist support takes consultative work and planning.
6. Why Hair Tools Still Haven’t Won Over Textured Hair Consumers. Hair tools have been thrust into the spotlight as brands try to create inclusive marketing campaigns that speak to curly, coily and tight-textured consumers. But many are still falling short.
7. The Case for Lab-Grown Hair Extensions. Following a flurry of headlines alleging that synthetic hair extensions contain harmful chemicals, British company Ruka is launching a lab-made option using a complex formulation process, which it says is a safer alternative. Marketing and scaling its business could be just as complex.
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