Blurring Of The Sexes Helps Drive Shaving Market.

Gone are the days when shaving was simply a macho sport. As the well-groomed male has arrived as a permanent fixture in an image-obsessed culture, the shaving market has opened its doors to a multitude of products featuring traditionally female benefits, such as anti-aging and natural ingredients, according to Market Trends: Shaving and Hair Removal Products, a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com.

As the market continues to cater to an appearance conscious population that thrives on convenience, comfort, and style, Packaged Facts anticipates that the shaving and hair removal industry will reach $3.1 billion in 2005, and projects that it will continue to grow at a steady rate to surpass $3.6 billion by 2010. However, top marketers are looking beyond the male dominated market of “power” and “turbo” shavers towards the growing female, teen, and undeveloped ethnic markets

“As precision-styled facial hair has taken off as a driver for innovation in the male market, demand for easy-access, skin-rejuvenating, and ultra-comfort shavers and depilatories-lotion or chemical-based hair removal creams-has taken women’s products out of the closet so to speak, moving them from salons and spas into neighborhood retail outlets,” said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts. “What we’ve found is that men are open to exploring the benefits of male-formulated, female-type products, and women and teenage girls are opting out of macho razors for more feminine-friendly products.”

Simultaneously, key to healthy industry growth are the wide open ethnic segments-highly developed in other personal care markets, but sorely neglected in this one.

For more information at http://www.packagedfacts.com