Unilever and Shiseido Devote to Men's High-end Skincare Products
- Chaileedo Press
- Jan 23, 2023
- 3 min read
At the end of 2022, Kao Group launched its first men's beauty brand. Before long, Estee Lauder opened its Innovation Research Center in China, one of which focuses on men's skincare products.
In addition, Unilever and Shiseido also launched high-end men's skincare brands in the Chinese market in 2022. Will the men's beauty market become the hot cake?
The men's beauty market is bustling this year.
Estee Lauder, which already owns its high-end men's skincare brand Lance, further announced that regarding the officially opened China Innovation Research Center, it will establish a Men's Effective Skincare Research Center, which will focus on scientific research, product and packaging innovation of men's skincare products, as well as carry out clinical testing for Chinese male consumers.
It may be the first time that a global beauty giant has opened a research and development center specifically for Chinese male consumers.
Moreover, according to CHAILEEDO, only a few beauty brands, such as MAKE ESSENSE, have published reports of clinical testing for male consumers. Estee Lauder is likely to be the first international beauty giant to announce clinical testing for Chinese male consumers, reflecting its determination to further expand its presence in the men’s skincare market.
Other companies showing interest in the men's market include Shiseido, Kao, and Unilever.
Not long before Estee Lauder's announcement, Kao Group launched UNLICS, a men's beauty brand aimed at Generation Z men who are not satisfied with their beauty needs. It is understood that this brand is Kao's first cosmetics brand including makeup, specifically for men.
UNLICS brand manager from Kao Cosmetics Business said to the public that UNLICS will actively consider entering the Asian market, mainly China, and strive for the global market in the future.
This June, Shiseido launched SIDEKICK, a new luxury compound skincare brand for Asian Gen-Z men, with high-profile moves, and announced its launch in the Chinese market on July 1. As an important measure of "Winning Beauty and Skincare", one of the four strategies of Shiseido in China, the launch of SIDEKICK was highly expected by Shiseido and Ananche, the head of Men's Products Business Department of Shiseido Group, was appointed to be in charge of this brand.
As one of Shiseido's most significant ventures in the Chinese market, Ananche said to the media that he expects SIDEKICK to become the Top 3 brand in the Chinese men's skincare market within five years.
In May, Unilever (China) launched its high-end men's skincare brand EB39, which combines a trendy metaverse concept. The brand name means "Realizing skin self-iteration in 39 days", while EB stands for "ENERGY BUFF".
The brand claims that EB39 is the first affordable luxury men's skincare brand launched by Unilever in China, as well as the first metaverse brand and the first algorithm-driven skincare brand. Unilever's iPredict big data tool is used to enable cross-platform digital analysis. At present, the brand's products focus on men's anti-acne, moisturizing and anti-aging, and the main products are the essence categories.
Furthermore, L'Oreal, which owns men's skincare brands such as L'Oreal Men and Biotherm Men, has steadily occupied the leading position in the domestic men's skincare market. In the beginning of last year, L'Oreal also began to dip a toe in the water of men's makeup and launched a men's makeup cream, which has achieved good sales.
The major beauty giants are interested in the Chinese men's beauty market, because faced with the current situation of sluggish growth and fierce competition in the women's beauty market, beauty giants eagerly want to find potential new growth points. Therefore, the Chinese men's beauty market with huge untapped potential has become the first choice for them to find growth drivers and improve their brand deployment.
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