Explore how men's wellness is becoming a $500 billion market, with growing interest in skincare, mental health, and holistic treatments like light therapy.
Men are emerging as the beauty industry’s newest growth engine, opening a fresh path in the half-trillion-dollar global market.
From discreet moisturizers and beard balms to light-therapy devices, adoption is accelerating worldwide. For brands seeking new revenue, the question is no longer whether men will buy care products, but which formats they prefer.
Allied Market Research forecasts the men’s personal-care segment could reach $166 billion by 2022. NPD Group reports that U.S. men’s skin-care sales alone rose more than 7 % last year, pushing the category to about $122 million.
“The idea that men can’t—or shouldn’t—use skin care or care about appearance is fading,”
said Andrew Stablein, research analyst at Euromonitor International.
Digital-first labels such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club show, in Stablein’s words,
“the average men’s routine now goes beyond shaving and can include skin-care staples.”
Luxury houses are joining in: Chanel introduced “Boy de Chanel,” its first skin-care and makeup line created for men, in September 2019.
“Mass players are trying to widen the user base to offset slowing growth,”
said Alison Gaither, beauty and personal-care analyst at Mintel.
Makeup tutorials aimed at men—from Charlotte Tilbury and Rihanna’s Fenty label—illustrate how subtle grooming tips are entering the mainstream.
Asia-Pacific is among the fastest-expanding regions. Jason Chen, general manager of Chinese platform Tmall, told Coresight Research that “supply still lags demand for male cosmetics across China.”
Yet many Gen-Z shoppers favor a gender-neutral stance. NPD’s iGen report found nearly 40 % of U.S. adults aged 18–22 express interest in products marketed as genderless.
“Growing up, many consumers don’t feel bound to the gender assigned at birth,”
said Larissa Jensen, beauty industry analyst at NPD.
“Beauty is no longer an ‘ideal’ imposed from outside; it can be anyone, any look, any gender.”
In 2016 CoverGirl, newly acquired by Coty, named YouTube artist James Charles as its first male brand ambassador, underscoring the shift toward inclusive marketing.
Charles’s later public dispute with fellow vlogger Tati Westbrook highlighted how much influence—and scrutiny—these online personalities now carry.
WHO: Global health data NHS: Skin care basics
While Charles has since lost millions of subscribers, the early attention he drew from CoverGirl encouraged other big brands to follow suit; in 2017 L’Oréal cast beauty blogger Manny Gutierrez—known as Manny MUA—as the face of its Maybelline Colossal mascara campaign.
“A lot of people assume a man wearing makeup is transgender or wants to be a drag queen, but that’s not it,”
Gutierrez, founder and CEO of Lunar Beauty, told CNBC.
“Right now, people are still intimidated by the idea.”
His makeup tutorials and reviews have drawn nearly 5 million YouTube subscribers. According to an NPD Group note, one setting-powder sales jumped roughly 40% after Gutierrez featured it.
“It’s about inclusivity—encouraging everyone to welcome men and women in beauty,”
Gutierrez said.
“As more men enter the space, acceptance should keep growing.”
