Is Amazon becoming beauty’s secret weapon when it comes to selling more skin care and other grooming items to men?

Several prestige skin, body and hair care brands that recently joined Amazon after years of eschewing the platform are seeing an unexpected but most welcome uptick in male shoppers, historically a harder market to crack, although it is now steadily growing. 

According to Euromonitor International, the men’s global skin care market was worth $4.49 billion in 2023, compared to $3.94 billion in 2019. In the U.S., men’s facial skin care sales were up 8 percent in the year to July versus last year, with the majority of the gains coming from shave treatments, Circana data showed.

Still, in the U.S., there is much opportunity for growth as the market is very under-penetrated, compared to women. According to Circana, men’s skin care accounts for just 2 percent of the prestige skin care market.  

The Estée Lauder Cos. said that while Clinique, Bumble and bumble, Lab Series and Too Faced are off to a very strong start on the U.S. Amazon Premium Beauty store, the former three are seeing promising uptake with male consumers.

“We have seen perceptions shift as men become more educated about the importance of self-care,” said Stéphane de La Faverie, executive group president, of the Estée Lauder Cos. “Amazon, in particular, has emerged as one of the shopping destinations for men seeking prestige beauty products. This provides us with a tremendous opportunity to connect with a broader male audience. Several of our brands such as Clinique, Lab Series, and Bumble and bumble have already seen great interest from these consumers in our U.S. Amazon Premium Beauty stores.”

Kiehl’s Since 1851, part of L’Oréal, is seeing this, too. It launched on Amazon in May, also with the goal of meeting customers where they are. So far, men’s products and gender-neutral products have been selling particularly well on the platform, according to John Reed, Kiehl’s U.S. general manager. 

Clarins, meanwhile, told WWD that it over-penetrates on Amazon versus other channels when it comes to men’ skin care. 

Melis del Rey, general manager, beauty, baby and beauty technology, Amazon U.S. Stores, said: “It’s really important that we are expanding our selection to appeal to the varying preferences of our diverse customer base. In the past year, we’ve been excited to onboard more premium products for men’s grooming, from legacy skin care brands such as Clinique and Kiehl’s to cologne from Viktor & Rolf and Ralph Lauren, and we just recently launched Lab Series in Amazon Premium Beauty.”

As for why Amazon is becoming a popular platform for male beauty shoppers, Vanessa Kuykendall, chief operating officer of Market Defense, a consultancy that helps beauty brands sell on Amazon, said: “Men increasingly prefer Amazon for its seamless shopping experience, convenience and product variety. For brands, this makes Amazon an ideal platform to tap into a fast-growing audience and establish a strong presence in a market that’s only going to get bigger.”

Looking at the skin care category, Market Defense’s data found that searches for terms like “men’s skin care routine” jumped 22 percent year-over-year to 18,000 per month, while “men’s skin care sets” have grown 54 percent year-over-year to 5,000 per month.

Branded search terms are also gaining momentum, with “men’s skin care Kiehl’s” searches increasing by 488 percent since the brand launched on Amazon earlier this year.

Still, the Market Defense data showed that on Amazon, fragrance, deodorant and grooming tools own the biggest share of sales and continue to grow. Men’s fragrance is a $250 million business on Amazon, surging 43 percent last year, exceeding women’s fragrance annual growth of 34 percent. 

Men’s deodorant sales were up 44 percent year-over-year, fueled by 327,000 searches a month, an increase of 100,000 in the last six months. 

“An example of a hot new launch is Lume’s new men’s deodorant launch, Mando, which has seen a 308 percent lift in searches the last 12 months and has jumped to the top of this crowded category,” Kuykendall said.

WWD understands that Jack Black Pit Boss Men’s Deodorant, The Art of Shaving Shaving Cream for Men, and 18.21 Man Made Wash are some of the bestselling men’s grooming products in Amazon Premium Beauty so far this year. 

Among bestselling men’s fragrances are Montblanc Starwalker Eau de Toilette, Calvin Klein Eternity for Men Aqua Eau de Toilette and Burberry Touch for Men Eau de Toilette. 

But while Amazon appears to be a catalyst, the men’s market is also gaining traction more widely.

L’Oréal chief executive officer Nicolas Hieronimus highlighted the opportunity in men’s skin care when talking to analysts in July.

Men are an  interesting opportunity, especially in areas like dermo cosmetics, the most unisex category of products, he said, highlighting that half of CeraVe consumers in the U.S. are men. In mass L’Oréal Men Expert has been growing in double digits in Europe for the first half of this year.

And in its most recent earnings call, Bath & Body Works’ brand president Julie Rosen said “the men’s business continues to be one of our fastest-growing categories in body care during the second quarter.”