Despite 'Safety Concerns'... The Growing Market for 'Galbyeon Shampoo'

‘Sicho’ Modamoda to LG Household & Health Care and Amore Join Forces
Global Market Size $29 Billion → $42 Billion Next Year

Modamoda Shampoo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The so-called 'browning shampoo' market, where hair automatically dyes black or brown just by washing, is rapidly growing. Despite concerns about safety, it is gaining high interest across all age groups, from the 40s and 50s worried about gray hair to the 20s and 30s concerned about premature gray hair.

According to the cosmetics industry on the 5th, the share of dyeing and gray hair shampoos in the domestic shampoo market is estimated to have exceeded 10% as of the end of last year.

Modamoda first launched a browning shampoo on a US funding platform in June last year and then introduced it domestically in August of the same year. In the US, it is currently performing well in major distribution channels such as Target and Walmart, surpassing 1 million bottles in cumulative exports about nine months after entering overseas markets. Domestically, it is sold mainly through four home shopping channels and e-commerce platforms like Coupang. Combining domestic and overseas sales, about 3.2 million bottles have been sold, generating approximately 60 billion KRW in sales.

LG Household & Health Care's Dr. Groot recently launched Dr. Groot Black Recover, a hair loss shampoo that can cover gray hair. This product is an all-in-one shampoo that combines hair loss symptom relief, which has been reported to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, with root volume care and gray hair coverage functions.

In addition, LG Household & Health Care introduced two types of Rieun Muldeulim gray hair cover shampoo and treatment, featuring the patented bonding technology from LG Research Institute and the Black Tint ComplexTM as the key ingredient with hair loss functionality.

Amorepacific also launched the dyeing shampoo Ryo Double Effector Black in April and is preparing follow-up new products. This product dyes hair by cumulatively coating ingredients such as black ginseng, black beans, and kudzu root (galgeun). Depending on individual hair type and usage, effects can be seen after 21 cumulative uses of shampoo and treatment together. The initial stock prepared sold out within five days of launch. On SSG.com, it sold out quickly after launch, and on Gmarket, it ranked first in the beauty category since release. It also achieved first place in the entire hair category through an event held at Emart offline stores starting from the 14th of last month.

The industry expects the dyeing shampoo market to grow further for the time being. This year alone, about 13 billion KRW worth of dyeing shampoos were sold through CJ OnStyle and GS Shop, and Olive Young saw a 44% increase in dyeing shampoo sales in April compared to the previous month. According to Statista, the global hair dye product market size is expected to expand from $29 billion (about 36 trillion KRW) in 2019 to $42 billion (about 52 trillion KRW) in 2023.

An industry official said, "It is receiving great responses from consumers across almost all age groups, not only the 40s and 50s who find it difficult to dye gray hair every time but also the younger 20s and 30s experiencing stress-induced premature gray hair," adding, "Along with hair loss, the gray hair shampoo market will become more competitive in the future."