From shaving and experimenting with facial hair to trying out various hairdos and from developing a personal care routine to trying to find the best fit in terms of grooming products, the 20s are an important time of life.

“Skincare, in that regard, becomes a prime focus, because it is the early 20s when men start putting in more effort into looking better, and more importantly, feeling better about themselves since it is all related to self-esteem and self-confidence,” Suraj Chaudhari, co-founder, and CEO at Zlade, says.

 

“We have come a long way from using one (common) soap from head to toe to using an assortment of specialised products that are specifically crafted for different body parts,” he adds.

The pandemic has pushed the growing need to focus on personal hygiene for many brands and according to Statista, the personal care market in India, which was valued at US$11.5 Bn in 2019, is expected to cross US$15 Bn by 2023. The personal care industry constitutes nearly 46 per cent market share of the total beauty and personal care industry in India in 2019.

 

The growth of the personal care market is also driven by the generational shift in India, growing awareness about personal hygiene, and the availability of products on e-commerce platforms, which is resulting in brands exploring different product categories catering to men in their 20s.

Saurabh Srivastava, Director & Head, Amazon Fashion India, says that they have witnessed a significant surge in demand for male hygiene, skin, and hair care products, like hair styling creams, gels, beard, and hair oils or creams, protective sunscreens, face masks, trimmers, hair styling wax, and body care products like shower gels, perfumes, and deodorants.

 

“Modern men, especially younger ones, are becoming well informed and aware of their grooming choices. This shift is not just in metro cities, but men from Tier 2 and 3 cities are also adapting to this evolving trend. The market has showcased a robust growth in the last decade,” he adds.

Svish, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) personal hygiene brand that began operations last year in the thick of the pandemic, has seen its revenues grow 700 per cent. The brand has recently launched its latest “Hygiene below-the-belt” category, and is already getting a satisfactory response. Ishan Grover, co-founder of Svish, says that men in their 20s often ignore hygiene below the belt and focus only on grooming, and that is why the young generation needs to opt for more natural- based ingredient products for their regular skincare regime.

 

“You have to focus on genital areas. These areas are sweaty and cause a bad odour. An ideal routine should include men cleaning their genitals properly. Keep them dry and sweat-free to avoid bad odour. An early start is the need of the hour as we need to make personal hygiene a lifestyle today,” he says, adding that Svish has come up with an Anti Chafing roll-on for this very reason.

 

Also, it is important to note that people in their twenties work on the idea of immediate gratification through products, hence brands are also ensuring to engineer products that are not just efficient, but are also perfect for the modern man on the go.

“The lifestyle is fast, and the solutions need to be faster. We believe that intimate hygiene products should be essential once you hit puberty as the body goes through a lot. Men have a lot of sweat glands in their intimate area leading to excessive sweat thus leading to bad odour, room for fungal infection, irritation, and chafing,” says

Ananya Maloo of the brand Nuutjob, a male intimate hygiene company that was started in 2021 by her and Anushree Maloo. They were recently featured on Shark Tank India. Maloo says it’s important to educate oneself on the issues that can follow if one does not take care of their genitalia; for example, testicular cancer, epididymis, ringworm, balanitis etc. The brand has come up with Nuutjobs Dry wash, which is useful if you are heading out from work, hiking, travelling, etc. and when having a bath is not feasible. It’s a rinse-free cleanser that does not require water.

 

Moving on to skincare for men in their 20s, they just need to start with the basics — cleansing and moisturising twice a day, and using SPF in the morning according to their skin type. “One important thing to keep in mind is to avoid fragrances and alcohol-based products,” says Sujata Sharda, founder, Mellow Herbals.

Similarly, Manish Vyas, business head of Yardley India, says that for men in their 20s, hydration and moisturising the skin are crucial, hence choosing skin care products that are natural ingredients should be the focus.

Finally, with so much information available on the internet, how should one pick and choose the right process, brands, and products? Ananya Maloo of Nuutjob shares some insights.

Need-based: It is essential to choose based on your needs. You can start with the basics of intimate washes and manscaping tools. Build a routine of washing, moisturising, and deodorising on an everyday basis.

Ingredients: Note your ingredients as they make a whole lot of difference to your regime.

Problem-based: One needs to analyse the problem and look up products that efficiently and effectively solve them.

Price: If you are on a budget, you can start off by trying one product at a time and see how they work out for you, and then work on building the regime.

Brand ideology: You should figure out what the brand stands for. If they specialise in the segment, then the products have had thoughts put into them. Odd example, but you wouldn’t immediately buy a dress from Colgate, and you would not bat an eye if you were buying their toothpaste.