Colour Forecast Autumn/Winter 2017

Wella Professionals
#COLORFULHAIR from L’Oréal Professionnel
A CHANGE
WOULD DO
YOU GOOD
UNDERSTANDING HOW CONSUMER HABITS ARE ALTERING CAN
HELP SALONS EMBRACE CHANGE RATHER THAN FEAR IT
FROM THE OUTSIDE, you could
be forgiven for thinking that the hair
colour industry was booming. One
look at Instagram and it seems women
everywhere are colouring their hair
– frequently and creatively. And if we
consider the growth of the hair colour
market in terms of sheer numbers, then
it’s definitely growing. In fact, women
on average now colour their hair once
a month, according to ‘A Statement of
Colour’ – a recent study carried out by
Wella Professionals.
But in monetary terms, the hair
colouring sector is fluctuating in value
and declined 1.4 per cent in 2016,
according to Mintel. This is mainly
due to the use of temporary colours –
they’re on the rise, but generate less
revenue. The at-home colour sector is
also booming, with 94 per cent of women
admitting to home colouring their hair,
according to Wella Professionals.
Skyler McDonald is tackling this headon
with her colour-only salon, Skyler
London. “Quite often clients are drifting
into home colours, because when they go
into a salon, they feel pressure to have a
haircut, too. So we have created a place
for those people who value their colour
higher than a cut and want it done more
regularly,” she explains.
Skyler could be onto something as
the demand is clearly there, with 76 per
cent of those who colour their hair at
home thinking their efforts don’t live up
to the same standard as a salon service.
And it doesn’t even work out cheaper –
over a year, women spend about £138 on
colouring their hair at home, compared
with £156 in the salon.
Changing habits are contributing to
the decline in clients getting their hair
coloured professionally, but it’s also
down to the salons. Unclear pricing and
service menus are a factor, but greater
access to information has also led to a
change in the way clients interact with
salons. They visit less and spend less.
Despite this, there is still opportunity
for salons – if the difference over a year
between at-home and in-salon colour
is £18 but the difference in quality
is noticeable, surely clients can be
convinced coming to the salon is worth
it? To do this, we must first understand
how women’s habits are changing, and
it’s all to do with time and inspiration…
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Colour Forecast