The new face of hair care: One of beauty’s most dynamic categories

Hair care is having its moment

A recent walk through the halls of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the world’s leading trade event for the beauty industry, made one thing clear: hair care is undergoing a remarkable phase of development. With over 3,100 exhibitors from 68 countries at the 2026 edition1, the show floor reflected a category in transformation. Scalp health, longevity-first formulations, biotech-derived ingredients and next-generation hair devices were among the dominant themes. An increasing number of brands are launching dedicated hair propositions, and the category has moved well beyond its traditional boundaries.

Globally, hair care is a market valued at approximately USD 94 billion in 2025, with forecasts projecting a CAGR of up to 7.7 percent through 20342, and Europe accounting for roughly USD 25 billion3. In the UK, the category is valued at GBP 2.2 billion as of 2025, up 7.7 percent year-on-year and defying broader value-driven shopping behaviours4. Perhaps most telling is what consumers are buying: in the first half of 2025, Circana reported that prestige hair serum sales grew 40 percent across Europe, with masks up 32 percent and treatments up 20 percent5. This is a category that is premiumising rapidly.

From skinification to wellness

The category has attracted skin experts through the “skinification” of hair care: consumers increasingly treat their scalp like facial skin, seeking active ingredients, clinical proof and dermatologist-backed claims. Leave in scalp treatment sales grew 19 percent year-on-year in the first half of 20255. A number of established skincare brands have entered the space. CeraVe launched its first hair care range in 2024, formulated with ceramides and niacinamide. Neutrogena and Vichy have followed, bringing their dermatological credentials and existing consumer trust into scalp-focused formulations. In the UK, beyond established players, a new wave of fast-growing challenger brands has emerged, including Hairgain, Hair Syrup and Bouclème. Chāmpo, a UK brand combining Ayurvedic principles with modern trichology, has also gained traction, stocked in Harrods and Selfridges and building a loyal following through its clinically proven growth serum range.

Hair thinning, postpartum shedding, perimenopause and stress-related loss are now openly discussed, and this transparency has turned hair care into a wellness category in its own right. A booming subcategory of growth serums, supplements, scalp devices and hormone-friendly formulations has emerged, and consumers are willing to pay more for high-stakes concerns, which supports premium pricing and higher margins. Hair care now borrows from skincare (actives, serums, acids), wellness (supplements, stress care) and technology (LED devices, microcurrent tools)6. This cross-pollination keeps the category fresh and positions it as the beauty segment with the most room to innovate and the most emotional payoff for consumers.

The wellness dimension extends into supplements and ingestibles, where hair-focused vitamins have become a fast-growing subcategory. Brands such as Bears with Benefits, a German VMS brand acquired by Havea Group in 2022 in a transaction on which EPIC acted as exclusive financial adviser, have expanded rapidly into a broad range of hair, skin and wellness supplements, reflecting both the depth of consumer demand and the commercial scalability of the format. This convergence of beauty and consumer health is drawing new entrants and new capital into the space.

M&A activity is accelerating

The M&A landscape reflects this growing strategic interest. In March 2026, Henkel agreed to acquire prestige hair care brand Olaplex for USD 1.4 billion, or 3.3x the brand's 2025 sales of USD 423 million7. This came just weeks after Henkel's purchase of mass-market brand Not Your Mother's for an estimated USD 927 million, or over 4x sales8. Together, these deals signal a deliberate strategy to build a multi-tier hair care platform spanning mass and prestige, directly challenging L'Oréal and Procter & Gamble.

L’Oréal’s acquisition of Color Wow, a UK and US-based brand with sales exceeding USD 300 million9, further underscores how large beauty groups are using hair care to drive growth. Unilever acquired biotech hair care brand K18 in early 2024, while Wella purchased clean hair care brand Briogeo in 2022. Industry sources point to brands including Amika, Gisou, Rôz and Crown Affair as potential targets10, and M&A activity is expected to continue through 2026 and beyond.

What this means for investors

For investors and leadership teams, the structural shifts in hair care have direct implications for value creation. Science and IP are becoming valuation drivers, with acquirers paying for patented technology and clinically validated claims, as the Olaplex and K18 deals illustrate. Premiumisation is driving margin expansion as consumers trade up from basic products into treatments, serums and scalp care. Digital discoverability remains critical too, and as we discussed in our previous thought piece, brands with strong social commerce engagement and structured digital data are commanding premium valuations. A pronounced winner-takes share dynamic is also emerging, as major strategics consolidate the category while agile challengers with clear differentiation continue to attract interest.

Hair care is becoming one of the most investable categories in beauty. It combines structural premiumisation, strong emotional resonance with consumers, a rich innovation pipeline and accelerating M&A momentum. At EPIC, we continue to track this space closely through our Consumer and Retail team, identifying opportunities where category tailwinds and brand-level execution intersect. An increasing number of clients pursuing buy and-build strategies are asking us to assess acquisition opportunities in the hair care and adjacent wellness categories, and we expect this trend to accelerate.