An exclusive hair-care routine is an individual’s well-kept secret. However, hair comes in varied textures and patterns and every single one of them requires a routine that fits, especially when it’s curly.

Even though curls look effortlessly pretty, it is a known fact that they have a mind of their own, caring and styling the same being a task, but there exist specialized solution providers to help with the problems that come with curly hair. The Curly Girl Method commonly known as CGM is an approach that is unique and allows one to select the right product for their curls.

Indian home-grown brands such as Arata, Fix My Curls, Manetain, Curl Up, etc. provide the audience with hair care products that help reveal the natural beauty of curls.

With the majority of people worldwide having textured hair, reports state that the acceptance of curls leads to the emergence of a Rs 200 crore industry.

According to a report, the Indian hair care market is forecasted to reach $4.89 billion by 2025 growing at a CAGR of 6.58 percent, and around 1.2 lakh monthly online searches by Indian users on managing curly hair have been noticed on various e-commerce websites.

“The changing consumer dynamics and increasing product awareness are expected to majorly drive the market. A majority is still figuring out their hair texture and are naïve to the Curly Girl Method, so there exists a lot of potential for spreading awareness and helping them select the right products,” said Yuba Khan, Co-founder, Manetain.

Similarly, Dhruv Bhasin, Co-Founder, Arata stated, “A rise in the conscious consumer can be clearly witnessed, as they are becoming more careful and thoughtful of their choices. As a result, a drastic change in people’s buying behavior can be seen, especially for personal care products, mostly non-toxic, eco-friendly, sustainable, cruelty-free, and vegan products.”

Currently, the Indian Retail market consists of a few big players, and Fix My Curls claims to be one of the top 3 category leaders holding about 25 to 30 percent market share in India in the curly hair segment across products, with Curl Up and Arata being close competitors, and Ashba Botanics right behind.

“Our brand is placed in a high quality, the mid-priced range that has easy-to-use beginner products as well as products for those who are well versed with curl care,” said Anshita Mehrotra, Founder, Fix My Curls.

Why Curly Hair Care?

For Arata, it all started with the founder’s introduction to the ingredients used in hair products in India. “We discovered that ingredients that caused hair fall and whitening were widely used, not just in styling products but in most of the personal care products in the country,” said Dhruv Madhok, Co-Founder, Arata.

This made the larger problem more apparent, helping the brand envision an honest personal care range that would offer trustworthy and credible products, made of the highest quality ingredients that were safe and clean.

On the other hand, founders of brands such as Fix My Curls and Manetain had first-hand experience managing curly hair and realized there were very few brands and no salons or stylists with knowledge of curly hair products, cuts, and how to care for curls.

Which led Anshita to create Fix My Curls, a community-led brand with start-to-end solutions for all types of textured hair, curly, wavy, or coily, and Hinshara and Yuba to create Manetain, while Simran Sainani formulated Curl Cure.

“Although 60 percent of the world’s population has curly or wavy hair but our societal beliefs and perceptions have manifested straight silky hair. So, Manetain was born out of the online community, by two women divided by geographies, age, and profession, but united by curls,” commented Khan.

Options Galore

With consumers looking for the easiest and fastest way to look after their curls, Fix My Curls provide them with leave-in creams and gels that give them definition and hold for days, along with accessories like satin pillowcases to keep curls intact. The brand is able to achieve around 60 percent of its sales just from its 5 styling products.

“We have innovated to ensure that aside from being chemical-free and plant-powered, our products also deliver on their promise and make hair feel great,” commented Madhok.

Arata’s range features high-performing formulas that vary in functionality, with its new ranges like Colour Cure, Anti-Dandruff, Curl Care, and Grow+, it offers solutions for everyone’s hair care needs.

Manetain is currently available in 2 categories – the personal haircare segment comprising of shampoos, conditioners, hair cleaners, and leave-ins and the hair accessories section comprising scrunched, hairbands, hair bonnets, pillowcases, etc. 

Curl cure offers an exclusively formulated product range for curly and wavy hair texture for all age groups, its simplified hair care routine consists of three steps- shampoo, conditioner, and curl cream.

"This way, it does not appear to people as a 'task' and produces amazing results, simultaneously working with salons across the country to teach them how to care for curls thus prioritizing good hair health over good-looking hair,” said Simran Sainani, Founder, Curl Cure. ​

Scope for Newer Categories

The brands believe that the personal care segment in itself has a massive scope of growth, and has come a long way currently. However, it’s a growing market, and as long as brands are coming up with new innovative products as it’s the key factor in this industry.

Curl Cure believes a lot can be done with curly hair. “The products and treatments available in India are extremely limited; we hope to bridge the gap and anticipate more innovation in the segment,” asserted Sainani.

While Arata believes, there is a need for plant-powered, sustainable products made from non-toxic ingredients, Fix My Curls believes that there is scope for an entire satin and silk accessories market to evolve for curls, an appliance market for curly hair brushes and diffusers, and treatment-based products are yet to arise from brands that exist.

Technology and Hair Care

Being a D2C brand in today’s competitive era is not easy without the constant help of technology, and thus every brand has incorporated technology in some way to make themselves more convenient, reliable, and simply exist.

The main technology Fix My Curls has used is combining skincare and haircare to create a hair oil that does the job of a serum but provides real results with a powerhouse ingredient like retinol for the scalp. “We use our quiz to accurately depict which of our product combinations will work best for someone's hair type and journey,” said Mehrotra.

Arata’s technology inclination can be clearly witnessed in its products, its Grow+Turmeric Range is formulated with Capilia Longa which is known to be a powerful plant-based alternative to minoxidil. Based on clinical data from Capilia Longa PPF efficacy studies by Vytrus Biotech, 2016, the ingredient reduces hair loss by 89 percent, creates an average of 13,500 new hairs in 150 days, and increases hair density by 52 percent.

Dhruv Bhasin added that the Anti-Dandruff Range is powered with piroctone olamine - a non-toxic, anti-dandruff active ingredient and CutiBiome CLR regulates scalp microbiome and acts against dandruff aiding the consumers to achieve their hair goals.

Manetain focuses on the digital accuracy of the brand, to help with an acute mix of performance marketing and organic word-of-mouth outreach through grassroots influencers that have high engagement even with a lower following. “This mix works best to capture customers at the top of its funnel and make sure they reach the end stage where they learn about the product and why buying it is good for their hair,” said Khan.

Future Plans

Having established itself, Arata plans to grow and expand while remaining hair-centric and developing new products within this segment.

“We plan to hire more talent and accelerate growth. Having successful collaborations and partnerships with bigger brands and on-screen personalities is also on our to-do list. Apart from this, we plan to expand our range and offer affordable, plant-powered products to national and international customers,” commented Madhok.

Mehrotra sees her brand spread across stores, and salons and available over the counter for anyone to find. “We want our distribution to be king across India, and globally for us to expand to up to 30 countries, so we create an international presence. We also want our own salons someday where curly-haired people can find hair stylists who truly care about, the texture,” she added.

Manetain aims to become a go-to brand for every hair type, planning to expand into salons, offline stores as well as more international marketplaces. 

“We are expanding our product portfolio, so we would love to see our brand become a household name and continue to build up the Curly hair online community as we grow and capture the market,” said Khan.

The brand aims to grow into an inclusive brand and foster a community of both men and women who embrace their natural hair texture. 

Working towards global expansion, Curl Cure will be entering the US market through Amazon, being available in more than 50 countries worldwide.

“To further strengthen our product portfolio with new additions, we intend to launch 4-5 new products in the coming year, including hair-strengthening treatments and scalp health products. The well-formulated product line provides superior hair care without the use of synthetic additives,” concluded Simran Sainani.