The German company focused on showing the latest trends and how its ingredients and active ingredients can support them. In addition, the prestigious stylist, Rafa Braz, was present.
The company's VP Sales EAME, Daniel Ibarra, welcomed and thanked the attendees, together with Montserrat Delor, head of the Cosmetic Ingredients Division in Spain, who introduced Rafa Braz, a renowned figure in the world of hairdressing. Rafa Braz is a Brazilian entrepreneur and businessman who crossed the pond to fulfil his dream and who has worked with major brands such as Wella, L'Oréal and Redken and who has been able to revolutionise the balayage technique. During his speech, Rafa Braz, who spreads his own method and is a trainer, explained that one of his objectives is to ‘elevate the hairdressing sector’. For this reason, Braz emphasised the importance of the union between manufacturers and hairdressers: ‘We both need support and help to create synergies so that the product can really empower our work’, explained the Brazilian stylist to Next in Beauty.
Rafa Braz, who has collaborated with companies and groups dedicated to hair care, explains how the collaboration with Symrise came about and explained to Next in Beauty that it is a fruitful partnership for both parties: ‘For me it means knowing what is behind a product, and all this information must be told and the consumer must be able to absorb it. To be able to bring this into my life, into my work, is something I love. And I think it's also important for Symrise and for the industry to understand how professionals like me can pass on the consumer's message to them and let them know that we are there and that we see opportunities. There's a brutal market to keep growing.'
The impact of the pandemic on the beauty and salon sector
Another issue that Rafa Braz raised was the change that COVID has brought to the hairdressing sector. Braz explained that during the pandemic period, many hairdressers increased their investment in marketing and introduced new features such as pre-bookings. They made the real leap into social media content creation and during that time they went a step further with the marketing of online courses. ‘The pandemic was a great source of experience. The real value of hairdressing began to be understood,’ explained Rafa Braz.
Long live the curl
The stylist has argued some of the main challenges facing the hairdressing sector. One of them is the influence of being present on social networks and how to communicate through them, so it is important to take into account the ability to grow in RRSS as it promises to be a source of great potential and development.
Rafa Braz also pointed out that hairdressing is booming and that clients and consumers are now willing to pay more for both a treatment and good content on social networks. The entrepreneur specialising in hair styling and care also argued that hairdressing has undergone an evolution similar to that of gastronomy and that it is now also associated with pleasure and has become empowered. This new image we have of hairdressing has been thanks to new marketing and social media content management capabilities that manage to generate more sales and awaken consumer desire. ‘The way I see growth today is through contact, that is, through social media, I give and I teach,’ Braz tells us.
Alert to new trends
Trends arrive and invade. That is why, for someone like Rafa Braz, it is essential to keep up to date, but, above all, to anticipate them. Braz explained to ‘Next in Beauty’ how he manages to anticipate them and what his method is: ‘I start by looking at what they are really creating in the fashion sector. I look at the needs that women have, and then I focus on hairdressing. I was also inspired by other countries, such as Brazil, a country that sets trends in terms of hair’.
Rafa Braz also states that he follows hair skincare very closely and that he has a great track record in the industry ‘I am following it very closely and the consumer understands more and more that if he has a healthy scalp, he will have healthy hair’.
During her speech, Braz also explained that the male hair care market is booming and that they are starting to look more, as in the case of women, for the experience. It is no longer a formality that they have to go through almost weekly to maintain their hair.
Braz presented a series of products that are gaining popularity within hair care, such as leave-in products, those that are free of sulphates in their formulation, thermal protectors and scalp treatments, without forgetting the relevance of sensoriality, closely related to the fragrances and textures of the different products.
As for the consumer, the stylist also noted that consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of establishing a hair care routine at home, and that they attach more value to the advice given in beauty salons.
HairSkinification and its role in social networks
After the stylist's speech, Eva Toribio, Regional Marketing Director of Symrise Cosmetic Ingredients, took over to talk about how the industry is talking about the term ‘hairskinification’, which refers to the inspiration that haircare is taking from skincare or facial care and that goes beyond treating the scalp, it is about the incorporation of ingredients, actives and routines commonly linked to skincare.
Eva Toribio presented data supporting an increase in hair care products that include ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, which is highly linked to skincare. Following the study prepared by the marketing team, different hair trends were categorised.
The main objective of consumers of hair products is to promote healthier hair and also highlights the proliferation of experiences such as ‘hairspas’, a hashtag that has more than 37 thousand mentions on TikTok. Also, professions and terms related to trichology have experienced an increase in mentions on this social network.
Other relevant hair care trends
In addition to the use of certain actives and ingredients, Symrise explained other trends:
Overnight: used for products that are applied overnight and treat the hair while the consumer sleeps. According to Symrise, this term has seen a 61% increase in new launches compared to 2022. In addition, it also becomes an opportunity to shape hair during sleep.
Awareness of thermal damage to hair: Consumers are now increasingly aware of the damage that high temperatures can cause to the hair structure, which is why the presence of products with properties that protect hair from thermal damage and also help to control frizz has grown so much.
Curly hair treatment: 54% of Spanish women are interested in haircare products formulated specifically for their hair type and, increasingly, they are committed to maintaining the natural beauty of their hair rather than continuing with the traditional storytelling of ‘taming curls’, explained Júlia Puig, from the Marketing team. Therefore, brands must take care of the details of how they convey the message to validate consumer trust.
Bond Repair: A term that refers to products and treatments designed to repair and strengthen the internal bonds of hair that have been damaged. Hair is composed of proteins, mainly keratin, which are held together by different types of chemical bonds, such as disulphide bonds. When hair is subjected to aggressive treatments such as bleaching, chemical straightening, or frequent use of heat tools these bonds are susceptible to breakage much more easily, resulting in hair that is weak, brittle and prone to damage.
Bond repair products work by repairing and strengthening these broken or weakened bonds, restoring the hair's structure and improving its strength, elasticity and overall health. This is one of the major concerns of today's consumers.
Premiumization: As Rafa Braz pointed out, the consumer is more aware of hair care, and for this reason, he or she is betting on higher quality products, even if this implies a higher economic outlay. Consumers are becoming more selective. Interest in professional hair care products has grown globally by 10% in the last year, according to the study conducted by Symrise Cosmetic Ingredients. This has also been achieved by focusing on a specific target group and improving the product message.
The scalp: the hair care revelation
To close a day full of knowledge and innovation in terms of hair, Marta Lázaro, Technical Manager of the applications laboratory in Barcelona, related the trends explained by the Marketing team with the solutions that the company can offer to adapt to the market and its needs.
She explained the characteristics of the scalp and how it acts as a barrier function and the relationship between the microbiome and lipidome. He also mentioned the impact that ingredients such as peptides, ceramides, niacinamide and others have on the scalp and the importance of maintaining a balance in this area.
Marta explained to the audience the role of sebum on the scalp and the problems that an excess can cause: it can cause alterations and be the reason for greasy hair, greasy roots, bad smell, lack of growth and hair loss. Ingredients such as Symcontrol® Scalp, an active sebum regulator, or SymHair®Force, a hair root revitaliser, were highlighted in this section. Marta Lázaro then focused on explaining the different parts of the hair, such as the cortex or cuticle and the problems they can suffer from, discovering how to avoid them with a series of active peptide-based innovations: the new SymProt'In™ Oat and SymProt'In™ Lupin are able to penetrate the hair cortex and repair damaged bonds thanks to their small size.
During the exhibition Symrise also presented a number of formulations to the attendees. Rafa Braz was able to give his opinion: the professional had used the formulas presented in order to have a real opinion on their use and admitted to being pleasantly surprised in their application and results, as well as showing deep interest after learning about the science, technology and innovation behind them.
The event ended with a lunch and allowed space for networking among the attendees.