Tressed to impress: Semi-permanent hair dyes the next big thing to hit APAC mainstream market

In June, CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ reported​ that South Korean cosmetic titans Amorepacific and LG Household & Healthcare (LG H&H) both launched shampoo and conditioners that can conceal grey hairs with semi-permanent dyes.

“At the moment, it's specific to Korea and it’s really booming. What we’re seeing is a shampoo and conditioner combo that has a cumulative effect to give a very nice, intense black shade,” ​said Marianne Peltier, managing director, cosmetics Asia, Sensient Beauty.

She clarifies that such products can also be found in markets such as Japan and Thailand, but it has only reached the mainstream market in Korea, thanks to the aforementioned personal care majors.

“It’s already booming in the specialised area, but maybe what we are missing in other regions like South East Asia, are the big players like Unilever or P&G, which would really push it mainstream.”​

As with many K-beauty trends, Peltier is confident this trend will find its way into the wider Asian region, especially as greying hair is a concern among men and women across markets.

“Clearly Asia follows Korean trends, now that we have two big Korean brands following this, we will soon see more following.”​

Follow the rainbow

At the moment, consumers are turning to these shampoos and conditioners to cover grey hairs. However, there is potential that it will evolve to include more colours.

Peltier highlighted that there are already such products available in Japan’s professional market, with players like well-known salon brand Milbon coming up with a rainbow of colours.

Such products could be used to maintain professional permanent hair dyes, or simply to experiment with new colours.

“We’re seeing this especially among the Gen Z, they like intense colours, they like to change and experiment and express themselves,” ​said Peltier.

In anticipation of this, Sensient Beauty has developed Arianor, a range of semi-permanent hair dyes in an array of colours that can be applied to various formats, including shampoos, conditioners, and even solid shampoos to fit sustainable beauty requirements.

Peltier noted that it can be technically tricky to formulate these products. Furthermore, a formulator must consider the type of hair.

“You need to take into account that some people will bleach their hair, so depending on the type of hair, you may get a different response. We have tested it on both Asian hair and Caucasian hair and found that the formulation also differs between them. You also have to formulate based on consumer preference, there are indeed differences between how consumers want their hair to feel, as well as the shades they like.”​

To help formulators, the company has recently introduced Virtual Interactive Visualisation and Ingredient Development Studio (VIVID), an online platform that can help support formulators virtually with live demonstrations from its technical experts.