The textured hair-care market is on the rise, and the professional hair-care brand Redken is the latest to release a collection specifically for coils and curls.
Earlier this month, Redken launched the Acidic Bonding Curls system, a six-product collection formulated to restore the pattern of curls and coils. The collection includes a shampoo, a conditioner, a leave-in treatment, a curl cream, a styling gel and a curl refreshing mist, each available on Redken’s e-commerce site and at Ulta Beauty. The products range in price from $32-$38.
“Curly hair is becoming more common across consumer demographics,” said Candy Gebhart, Redken’s U.S. gm. “Plus, we know curly hair is more fragile than straight hair and seven times more vulnerable to breakage and dryness.” Because the cuticles are raised, bonds are more fragile and the shape blocks natural lipidic conditioning, she explained.
She added, “WIth curly consumers embracing their natural curl patterns more and more, Redken seeks to be at the forefront in providing a scientific, pH-balanced approach to curls.”
Redken joins a long list of brands tapping into the growing textured hair-care market. In January, consumer goods company Unilever announced it would launch 15 new bond repair products in 2024. Since then, textured hair-care brand SheaMoisture launched a Bond Repair Collection in April. Also that month, Aveda tapped actress Antonia Gentry as its first celebrity ambassador to help reintroduce its Be Curly Advanced collection for textured hair.
The heightened focus on textured hair reflects both increased consumer demand and the growing population of people with textured hair. In 2018, according to a report from curly hair blog NaturallyCurly, an estimated 65% of the U.S. population identified as having curly, coily or wavy hair. And a Google Search Analytics report showed that, in 2023, search volume for textured hair grew by 40.5% — it’s expected to grow by 20.1% in 2024. Market research firm Allied Market Research predicts the curly hair-care market will grow to be worth $15.65 billion by 2031.
To launch the Acidic Bonding Curls collection, Gebhart said Redken took an all-hands-on-deck marketing approach.
“It was a 360-degree activation, including product sampling, promotions and gifts with purchase, sell-in and sell-through support, in-store placements, and PR and influencer amplification,” she said. Digital elements of the campaign included #HotlineRinglets, a social hashtag encouraging consumers to dial a Redken Hotline and leave a message about their curly hair concerns. In addition, the brand tapped Redken ambassador Leysa Carrillo (@leysahair; 120,900 TikTok followers) to star in the campaign. It also collaborated with influencers Elle Smith (@officialellesmith; 97,400 Instagram followers), Dayne Board (@dayneboard; 73,600 Instagram followers) and Mailaya Zuri (@mailayaa; 184,000 Instagram followers) on paid posts.
For the first time, Redken also paid a multi-lingual influencer, Lucero Tanke (@curlswithlu; 11,400 TikTok followers), to create multi-language content to target LatinX consumers. The brand gifted the products to an additional 400 influencers, which resulted in over 20 million organic impressions, Gebhart said.
Redken is owned by L’Oreal, which acquired the brand in 1993. In L’Oreal’s latest earnings, released in April, the company reported first-quarter 2024 sales of $12.14 billion, up 9.4% year-over-year. In a summary of the earnings, L’Oreal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus credited Redken’s product innovation as a growth driver of its professional products division, which saw 10.7% growth year-over-year.
