Men's Hair Color in China Surges +689% on Douyin — But Single-Use Packs Remain a Market-Wide Pain Point

Executive Summary

China's men's hair color and gray coverage segment posted CN¥ 139 million in MAT2023 sales on Tmall/JD.com — essentially flat (-3.95% YoY) as macroeconomic headwinds briefly slowed a market with a +35.19% five-year CAGR. On Douyin, the category exploded +689% YoY to CN¥ 6.89 million in January-August 2023, with sales tracking directly to platform topic volume. Bigen (美源) holds an entrenched 28.6% Tmall/JD.com share built on heritage and reputation; Schwarzkopf (施华蔻) and L'Oréal Men Expert (欧莱雅) achieved counter-trend growth through product innovation and celebrity endorsement respectively. Across all three leading brands, the dominant consumer complaint is identical: single-use-only packaging creates poor value perception. The brand that solves multi-use packaging while expanding color ranges beyond basic gray will unlock the segment's next growth cycle.

Market Overview: Structural Growth, Cyclical Dip

The men's hair color/gray coverage segment is a fundamentally demand-driven category. Unlike discretionary skincare, gray coverage addresses a recurring need — men who experience graying hair do not stop purchasing. That structural demand rigidity is visible in the five-year CAGR of +35.19% on Tmall/JD.com, placing this sub-category alongside depilatory cream as one of the two fastest-growing segments in China's men's personal care universe.

MAT2023 sales reached CN¥ 139 million ^[1] at an average product price of CN¥ 56.07, down from CN¥ 57.91 in the prior period — reflecting modest price pressure rather than demand erosion. Sales volumes in the September 2022 to August 2023 rolling year experienced only minor softening, with the market essentially holding position against the -3.95% YoY headline as consumers defaulted to trusted, established brands during economic uncertainty.

The monthly sales pattern shows stable seasonal peaks at November 11.11 and June 6.18 shopping festivals, with a consistent baseline monthly range of CN¥ 9-13 million. CR5 rose from 41.39% to 45.68% across three rolling years — a rising concentration trend that reflects consumers consolidating spending around trusted brands during economic uncertainty, not new competitive entrants winning share.

Price Segment Dynamics: The Mid-Range Holds, Premium Collapses

The price segment analysis reveals a nuanced picture distinct from the broader skincare market's polarization:

The CN¥ 50-100 segment is the only price tier achieving both product count growth (+7.2%) and sales growth (+5.5%), confirming healthy demand at moderate price points anchored by Schwarzkopf's core offering. The CN¥ 150-200 segment delivers the most counterintuitive signal: despite -11.6% product count decline, sales grew +1.0% YoY — fewer products but stronger per-product demand, driven by brand-loyal consumers buying multi-pack combination sets for repeat use. Premium segments (CN¥ 200+) declined sharply in both sales and product count, indicating that male hair color consumers prioritize functional performance over luxury positioning. The overall +11.5% product count expansion against -3.95% sales decline confirms intensifying competition, particularly at the affordable CN¥ 0-50 end where barriers to entry remain low.

Douyin: +689% YoY With Sales Gated by Topic Volume

The Douyin channel is transforming men's hair color from a mature, search-driven category into a content-discovery-driven growth market. Sales reached CN¥ 6.89 million in January-August 2023, up +689% YoY ^[2], with monthly volumes escalating from under CN¥ 100,000 in early 2022 to over CN¥ 1.5 million by June 2023.

The correlation between platform topic volume and sales is unusually direct:

Platform topic volume expanded from approximately 300-600 monthly mentions in early 2022 to 8,000-10,000 monthly mentions by mid-2023 — a 15-20x increase that directly drove the sales surge. CR5 on Douyin rose from 59.1% to 67.9%, indicating that leading brands are disproportionately capturing the channel's growth. However, average product price on Douyin declined to approximately CN¥ 40 — well below Tmall/JD.com's CN¥ 56.07 average — as small and medium brands compete on price to attract first-time Douyin shoppers. This price erosion signals a risk for brands pursuing Douyin purely through promotional pricing rather than brand equity investment.

Competitive Landscape: Three Brands, Three Strategies

The top five brands on Tmall/JD.com account for 45.68% CR5, with Bigen (美源) holding commanding leadership:

Bigen (美源) generated CN¥ 38.08 million — 28.6% market share — with 482,000 units at CN¥ 78.97 average price. The brand's staying power is built on decades of reputation accumulation and a "gray coverage expert" positioning rather than active social media marketing. Bigen averages approximately 100 monthly social media mentions, with Tmall brand flagship and Tmall Supermarket as primary sales channels.

Schwarzkopf (施华蔻) achieved the strongest counter-trend performance among established brands at +10.65% YoY (CN¥ 13.84 million), gaining +1.78% market share through its innovative in-bottle mixing design — cap brush for direct application, no separate tools required. It commands the highest consumer satisfaction scores in the category: 90.03% color/color fastness satisfaction and 94.10% scent satisfaction.

L'Oréal Men Expert (欧莱雅) posted the highest growth rate at +87.58% YoY (CN¥ 5.38 million), driven by its July 2022 launch of a twist-and-comb gel format endorsed by celebrity Zhu Yilong. L'Oréal commands the highest average product price at CN¥ 83.47 but records the lowest consumer satisfaction among the top three: 70.67% color satisfaction and 72.22% scent satisfaction — creating a value proposition gap that celebrity endorsement alone cannot resolve.

Brand Satisfaction Comparison: Where Each Brand Leads and Lags

Portability satisfaction is universally high across all three brands (94-100%), validating the category's shift toward no-mix, single-unit application formats. The performance gap emerges in color and scent. Schwarzkopf leads both dimensions; Bigen follows closely; L'Oréal Men Expert trails significantly despite its higher price point.

The social platform distribution is also revealing. Schwarzkopf dominates Xiaohongshu (小红书) with 564 mentions — predominantly "girlfriend's perspective" hair dyeing diary posts that reach female partners who hold purchasing decision influence. Neither Bigen nor Schwarzkopf has invested materially in men's hair dye marketing. L'Oréal Men Expert is the category's only active marketing investor, though the concentrated KOL push in July-September 2022 — which was not sustained — produced underwhelming long-term results.

Consumer Profile: Post-95s Trend Followers and Gray Coverage Converts

The hair color category's consumer demographics differ from other men's grooming sub-categories in two important ways: women constitute a much larger share of discussion, and the male buyer skews younger than segments like depilatory cream.

Women account for 73.19% of men's hair color social media discussion versus 26.81% for men — driven primarily by female fans discussing celebrity hair color changes and female partners sharing hair dyeing experiences. Among male participants, the 21-30 age range dominates: 26-30 at 26.6% and 21-25 at 24.7%.

Geographically, Tier 1 cities account for 43.6% and new Tier 1 cities 31.8% — together 75.4% of all discussion. Second-tier cities contribute a meaningful 11.1%, suggesting broader geographic penetration than more emerging sub-categories like depilatory cream.

Consumer persona analysis identifies four distinct segments:

• Fan community members — Post-95s and Post-00s who track idol and celebrity styling choices and treat hair color as a form of fan identity expression
• Fashion trendsetters — men passionate about head-to-toe personal presentation, actively researching skincare, outfits, and styling combinations
• Travel enthusiasts — consumers who document lifestyle through social sharing and treat personal styling as part of their identity
• Hobby spenders — high willingness-to-pay consumers who invest in idol merchandise, live music, and IP products, demonstrating strong aspirational spending behavior

A critical consumer demand signal cuts across all segments: male consumers are not just seeking gray coverage — they are actively requesting trendy, skin-brightening, brown-toned hair colors described on social media as "no-makeup-needed, no-bleach-required, and textured." The current market's near-exclusive focus on black gray coverage leaves this demand unaddressed.

The Category-Wide Pain Point: Single-Use Packaging

The dominant consumer complaint across Schwarzkopf and L'Oréal Men Expert — and a recurring frustration for Bigen users of the traditional format — is the single-use-only packaging design. Consumers describe:

• Inability to use remaining product for partial coverage touch-ups
• Poor perceived value for money relative to small quantity
• Staining issues during application that are difficult to clean

Bigen's press-type format addresses the single-use limitation for its flagship SKU, achieving improved color/color fastness satisfaction versus its traditional format. Schwarzkopf's in-bottle mixing design is innovative but has not solved the single-use constraint. L'Oréal Men Expert's twist-and-comb gel receives the most complaints about this issue alongside inadequate color fastness.

The market opportunity is clear: a brand that delivers multi-application capability, expanded color range beyond black, and consistent effectiveness at a mid-range price point would directly address the three highest-frequency pain points across all current market leaders.

Key Takeaways

• Tmall/JD.com hair color held at CN¥ 139M (-3.95% YoY) with five-year CAGR of +35.19% intact — cyclical dip, not structural decline
• Douyin surged +689% YoY to CN¥ 6.89M in Jan-Aug 2023, with sales tracking directly to platform topic volume; brands that invest in content creation directly drive category growth
• Bigen (美源) commands 28.6% share through heritage and reputation rather than active marketing; neither Bigen nor Schwarzkopf invests meaningfully in men's hair color promotion
• Schwarzkopf (施华蔻) leads consumer satisfaction at 90.03% color/color fastness and 94.10% scent despite lower pricing (CN¥ 66.81) versus L'Oréal Men Expert
• L'Oréal Men Expert's +87.58% YoY growth was driven by launch momentum and celebrity endorsement — sustained content investment, not promotional bursts, is what builds long-term Douyin presence
• Single-use packaging is the most consistent consumer complaint across all top brands — multi-application design represents the category's most actionable product innovation gap
• The Post-95s/Post-00s consumer segment demands trendy brown-toned hair colors beyond gray coverage — a color expansion opportunity no current brand has addressed

## About the Data

This analysis draws on Moojing Market Intelligence data covering Q4 2023.

Moojing tracks 400,000+ brands across 30+ e-commerce platforms,

representing 58-65% of China's online retail GMV. For full methodology

and additional insights, see the complete Men's Personal Care whitepaper.