Most mornings are heads or tails between waking up with gorgeous beachy waves or frizz like a witch from Azkaban for curlies. On one of the later type days, I decided that maybe a mask will help pacify the feisty frizz.
Soon I was multi-tasking the same task on various websites — finding a curly hair mask with a reasonable price tag. Priced higher with around 50% to 100% premium compared to normal counterparts, I started wondering if I was financially prepared to buy a hair mask.
About 16% Indians identify that they have curly hair and about 8% have wavy hair. These hair types are also gaining traction on Google Trends searches. For those blessed or feel sometimes burdened with curls, the premium this community pays for products are not easy numbers.
Insightful chats with industry insiders like Alchemic Beauty’s Isha Mahabal and Curl Talks’s Christina Christian, shed some light on the justification of this premium in curl care. Here’s what I found from rainy afternoon chats that detangled ingredients, boot-strapped businesses, technique that spills into the product’s price tag.
Ingredient Quality And Pricey Alternatives
One of the primary reasons for the higher cost lies in the very formulation of curl-specific products. Mainstream hair care relies on available and cost-effective ingredients, some of which are considered no-go for curly hair.
“There are no-go elements like silicon, para beans. For cleansers and shampoo, the base ingredients is sulphate. So when you have to create an alternative to these, it gets expensive,” explains Isha Mahabal, founder of Alchemic Beauty and co-founder of Curl Co.
Silicones, often used in non-curly hair serums and creams for their smoothing effect, are generally avoided for curls as they can lead to dryness and frizz.
“Undertaking Curl Co., I have to make sure that none of these ingredients are used,” Isha emphasizes. Gentler, or natural ingredients, like shea butter may need to be imported or sourced in smaller quantities pushing production cost higher.
Scale Struggle: Small Batches, Bigger Bills
Another significant factor contributing to the higher prices is the small-scale nature of many niche curl-care brands. Unlike large businesses with established supply and scale, these brands often operate on a bootstrapped model with limited funding.
“Most of the curly-hair brands are boot-strapped small businesses. We have to convince our manufacturers to do small batches,” Isha points. Producing in smaller quantities inherently leads to higher per-unit costs and a premium compared to the other players’ mass production.
This also means that performance marketing becomes a crucial tool for brands. With an estimated 30% adoption of curl care routines over the next five years, the potential market for curly hair care in India could grow from approximately Rs 22,000 crore to a value between Rs 65,000 and Rs 75,000 crore annually.
“The market is cut-throat market for sure, lot of brands are surviving based on performance marketing,” Isha adds, highlighting the added expense of reaching their target audience amid rising competition.
Expertise And Exclusivity: The Salon Equation
The higher cost associated with curly hair extends beyond just products but also stretches to salon services.
“This is also a bit of a demand-supply thing. With services, the products, steps and the time takes will be different for curly hair, like it might be half-an-hour more than regular cuts. A minimum of five styling products are used so this along with expertise adds to the cost,” said Isha. The time investment for curly hair services coupled with the use of a wider range of products, translates to higher service charges.
Isha shared that three four years ago when she started embracing her curly hair is when she realised that this is a market worth exploring. She went on to to a few courses abroad for the technical knowledge.
“In the future hopefully, curly hair will not be so unique and that at least one person in the salon will know how to handle it,” she concludes on a hopeful note.
Indian Landscape: Pricing And Promises
Indian consumers are spending more time on haircare regimes and show a willingness to experiment, especially with personalized options. For instance, Mintel Global Consumer research shows that 42% of Indian consumers occasionally experiment with new ones.
Christina Christian, founder of Curl Talk With Christena shares her view on pricing with Isha while also highlighting a few other factors.
“We have brands in India and the prices are much lower than it used to be back when we used to get ingredients from the US. They are in the affordable ranges and budget friendly options coming up,” said Christena.
Christina also places a spotlight on the consumer’s perspective when it comes to the vast range of products in the market.
“Lot of people buy reading only what is written on the front but no one really gets to the back. But consumers have been realising that the promises of frizz-free hair and shine may not be real,” Christena notes.
She highlights the growing discernment among curlies who are becoming more ingredient-conscious and less swayed by marketing hype. Its more about the technique and not always the product, she sums up. The story here being the shift to understanding how to work with curls rather than relying on expensive products.
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