A recent US study revealed that 78 per cent of consumers consider haircare to be as important as skincare.
The Asia/Pacific region, particularly China, has also been fueling the growth of scalp care products in recent years.
This growing skinification of hair and consumer demand for products that also cleanse and moisturise the scalp is a clear shift from traditional haircare, which focuses on the hair strands.
Therapeutic scalp solutions mainly target specific concerns such as dandruff.
Neutrogena has been making haircare products for 40 years and has launched the Healthy Scalp Collection in the US, exclusively in Walmart stores until the end of the year.
Vogue International, a haircare and personal care manufacturing company acquired in 2016 by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the parent company of Neutrogena, has been working on the new range for the past two years.
Key skincare ingredients featured in the scalp collection include hyaluronic acid, micellar water and tea tree oil.
Sales of dry shampoo have been surging in leading markets such as Australia, the US and Europe in recent years. COVID-19 lockdowns have also sent sales soaring.
The Healthy Scalp Collection features Natrasurf, an ultra-gentle surfactant, and is formulated for daily use.
According to a statement from J&J – “Just like skin, the scalp needs regular cleansing of hair to be truly healthy – meaning skipping out on regular hair washing and overloading on dry shampoo could be doing more harm than good.”
A new haircare launch is a timely move for J&J. The multinational reported a strong Q1 with a sales hike of 9.2 per cent across its consumer health division, including Neutrogena, Aveeno, Johnson’s and Listerine.
But the company’s latest Q2 results have seen an overall sales slump of 10.3 per cent to US$18.3 billion due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consumer health division saw a global sales drop of 3.4 per cent to US$3.296 billion for the period.