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2021 Grooming Trends We’re Excited About

Wide-Ranging Trends Point to a Banner Year Ahead for Men’s Grooming

January 13, 2021

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Even though the pandemic slowed down so much of the average day-to-day, one of the things that didn't slow down was the continued male embrace of all things health and wellness.

"More and more publications targeted towards men are talking about the importance of skin care and services," says Dr. Jessica Wright, owner, operator, and medical director of skincare practice Rejuvenate Austin. "We see fitness forums increasingly talking about CoolSculpting ... and cosmetic dermatologists are also targeting their marketing towards men."

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The considerable interest in cosmetic treatments is just one of many male grooming trends that experts expect to continue right through 2021. It seems that rather than letting at-home life mean letting ourselves go, it's actually giving men the opportunity to explore and focus on grooming themselves more than ever before.

Men's Grooming Market Numbers Prove the Point

Men are finding value in unisex-marked skincare products that stretch well beyond traditional male grooming market consisting of mainly beard oil and body wash.

"Our growth with men, specifically, was up at least 20% as a proportion of who's shopping, and among those shopping, 43% of our sales went to men," says EiR NYC CEO Stacy Haase.

The primarily unisex brand is benefitting from what Haase sees as men leaning into "self-care as an ecosystem." Whereas in years prior, the male consumer was looking for that one-size-fits-all personal care grooming product, the trend now is looking for a more solutions-based product that focus on a specific need like a night serum or a foot soak.

Hero Cosmetics founder Ju Rhyu adds that this is partly due to the rise of at-home men's grooming brought on by the pandemic. She says increased interest in eye creams, facial creams, and overnight moisturizers points to a demand for a quality ingredient list and a good clean product.

What's more, one survey suggests the men's skincare market share will grow to $18.92 billion by 2027, a new positive of 6.2% from last year.

Looking Forward to Cosmetic Innovation

Men who are already comfortable with basic cosmetic treatments (sometimes erroneously referred to as "beauty" treatments) are ready to take the next step.

Boston plastic surgeon Dr. Samuel Lin is excited about the technological advances allowing for new non-invasive and minimally-invasive treatment options that ultimately make a grooming routine easier.

"Ultrasonic piezosurgery for the nose, commonly termed as piezo rhinoplasty, is a newer form of rhinoplasty that uses ultrasonic energy to reshape and reduce nasal bones," he notes. Essentially, the procedure uses modulated vibration to help cut and reshape sensitive bones, like those of the nose.

Some other innovations include platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy for hair loss and body contouring (of which a few popular names exist) to remove body fat that may have found its way in through the more sedentary lifestyles of 2020.

A Return to the Natural State in the African-American Community

Founder and CEO of OrganicCo Brands Kay Cola is the architect behind a company that represents three lines of skin and hair care products with much inspiration taken from her own hair troubles. She's noticed a return to authenticity of men's grooming among her African-American male clients.

"The trend for African-American men is growing their hair and beard out, wearing it in its most natural state whether that's curls, locks, dreads, twists, afro, cornrows, or waves," she says.

She points to celebrities like Mike Epps (who has completely grown his hair out), Colin Kaepernick (whose afro is long-standing) and Kevin Hart (who is embracing his 4C curls).

She adds that this hair style in African-American men is typically a higher-maintenance look, so she expects more men looking for clean hair care products, especially those that complement medium-high porosity hair types.

Speaking of Hair...

More time at home means more time to recover and that's allowing more men to consider hair loss and hair replacement procedures, which require some downtime.

Chicago hair loss doctor and replacement surgeon Dr. William Yates says that men are finding this (being 2020 and '21) a great time to schedule elective procedures while activity remains low. This includes procedures like follicular unit extraction, which requires a local anesthesia to harvest hair grafts that are then placed on a balding/less hair-filled portion of the head.

Although "men's grooming" may look a bit different to start 2021, it's a sure bet that more men than ever are exploring new trends and looking at ways to improve their appearance. The acceleration will only increase as the pandemic eases and people begin to ditch their lockdown beard and venture out to show off these new grooming techniques.

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