"Hair Care needs technical packaging that works like magic", says Cécile Pompili from Lumson

With a global value of $94 billion in 2024 – forecasted to reach $213.47 billion by 2032, at an annual growth estimated at 10.4% – it’s safe to say that the hair care market is experiencing strong growth. 

Within this segment, scalp care, skinification, and sustainability are already standing out as three top trends globally, painting the picture for a brand new landscape of hair care. 

We sat down with Cécile Pompili, Strategic Marketing Manager at Lumson, to find out why and how this leading Italian supplier of cosmetics packaging is entering this thriving market.

re-sources: Lumson has always provided solutions for skin care and make-up, so why move into hair care now?

Cécile Pompilli: We are skin care specialists and we know how to develop primary packaging specific to the needs of the skin care market. This requires technical know-how and efficacy for formula preservation and smooth application.

Firstly, the hair care segment is the second in value globally in the beauty & personal care industry. Mass market distribution represents 80% of the hair care category, and is now evolving towards more premium offerings with the trend of skinification of hair care, with the US market leading the way at a 32% growth rate in 2022 (says Euromonitor).

The market is estimated to increase by 7.5% in the next few years (2023 to 2027) according to Euromonitor, which demonstrates the strong potential of this segment. 

Secondly, we see the market shifting towards a more premium offering with many luxury hair care lines such as Augusutinus Bader or the latest celebrity launch Cécred by Beyoncé. In these cases, attention is given to overall hair care that mimics skincare routines, with a particular focus on scalp health using exfoliators, serum, oils, and other treatments for a full routine.

Some cultures have long been aware of the importance of the scalp. In Asia, for example, the scalp is part of daily life and is considered an extension of the facial skin. In the United States, more and more products – scrubs, serums, etc. – are being launched with names inspired by skin treatments. In Europe, the trend is still in its infancy but is gradually becoming established in hair care routines.

Thirdly, we understand that the market needs better, more sustainable product solutions as it undergoes premiumisation with more offerings on the masstige and prestige categories. At Lumson, we know technical packaging, and we believe that we can present relevant solutions to the market.

We haven't identified a 'specialist' in hair care packaging. Often, the offering for hair care on the supply side is coming as an extension of the skin care or personal care catalogue, and it can lack sophistication or full range capabilities. So, we think developing relevant and effective hair care ranges makes a lot of sense considering our know-how and background.

Margins in hair care are not the same as in skincare: we have to be careful to offer more solutions with different market positionings. This is why we have opted to develop 3 dedicated ranges where we have strong production capacities that will enable us to distribute fluid formulas as well as thicker formulas.

The choice of bottle materials is PE (flexibility), PETG (very good resistance) or Pet (recyclable) and glass. Overall, we have 19 references across 3 lines.

re/sources: What is your positioning on this new segment? What market needs are you focusing on?

Cécile Pompilli: Lumson is known as a high-quality partner and we pay particular attention to our bottle production. Our site in Santa Maria di Sala – near Venice, Italy – is where we apply our know-how, in particular in EBM (Extrusion Blow Moulding) or ISBM (Injection Stretch Blow Moulding) in a continuous process for our bottle ranges.

Ultimately, quality and efficacy are what pushes us more towards top-of-the-range in hair care. 

As much as possible, we want to offer our expertise in technical packaging. These are quite straightforward, ergonomic solutions, especially for shampoos and conditioners (38% of the hair care market – Euromonitor). 

We have developed bottles with accessories such as a lotion pump (2 CC) with PE or PET bottles or a disk-top or flip-top with PE bottles. 

For leave-on care products or sun protection, we have thought of more portable formats (100 ml) with our spray pumps.

Last but not least, it's in scalp treatments and hair care that we've developed our widest range (16% market share worldwide). The scalp must provide the hair with fertile soil on which it can flourish and grow with strength and vigour. It is the living part of the hair. It is an extremely sensitive area due to the high density of nerve endings that react to the slightest stimulus. Each of its 600 cm² contains 2,500 receptors, twice as many as the skin on your face! This makes the scalp an extremely sensitive part of our body.

Hence our range of more technical formats, including bottles with standard twist-off capsules that snap onto our bottles with special rings, made up of two components – a cap and a shutter. Thanks to their 2 mm or 5.5 mm opening holes, they are suitable for fluid or medium-fluid products (gel creams) to be applied directly to the scalp. As the pack must be safe for consumers, a "click sound" is made when opening and closing the packaging.

Finally, hair care products (hair fibre), with their skinification-based formulas, find their pack solutions in our 30 - 50 and even 100 ml glass bottles for the oils or creams we supply with our droppers or small-dose pumps.  

We want to offer the underserved market of hair care technical packaging that works like magic.

re-sources: What are your ambitions on the market?

Cécile Pompilli: The US is the most mature market in hair care, and our US customers already trust us. Consumers are using top-of-the-range hair care products and become aware of the quality of their hair as soon as they start using the new formulas.

This is a real change. However, these products are more expensive, so we need to 'save money' and 'reduce consumption' by using small quantities of products: the role of the accessory is essential.

We have set up an in-house working group to analyse the needs of this market: application, container, format, materials. This reflection led us to expand 3 existing lines SLIM, ROUND, and VERONA, with different characteristics to be able to meet all demands: both in terms of accessories and ergonomics. 

The scalp and hair must be treated with "care".

We are also excited to see new developments and new launches on the market. We are dedicated to serving top-range hair care brands, as well as brands specialising in line creation or extensions from skincare. We want to help develop their expertise in the skin across other sections of beauty care.

The segment is truly blossoming. Visiting most beauty stores now can be eye-opening when you discover the section dedicated to hair care, which was almost non-existent a few years back. 

Consumers who are aware of the care they need to give their hair want to invest more, are able to spend more (and better) to get their hair in good health, so this is a market with huge potential.