The popularity and acceptance of gray, silver, and white hair is rising as pro-aging garners ground, marking a moment for beauty to step up, innovate, and invest in this developing haircare movement.

Worldwide, haircare generates a lot of sales, across shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, styling products, and hair colorants. And according to Euromonitor International, it's a market that is growing, with a global retail value of $94 billion in 2024—up 5.5% from 2023 and up 10% from 2022.

So, as haircare continues to grow–Statistica forecasts the global category will grow at a CAGR of 2.9% over the next five years—where are the opportunities? Gray or “silver” hair is certainly turning heads, as consumer and media sentiments shift from anti-aging to healthy and pro-aging. Enter gray haircare.

The Pro-Aging Philosophy

“The pro-aging movement is gaining popularity for a number of reasons,” said Magda Starula, consultant at Euromonitor International. “First, as a society, we are living longer and healthier lives. Second, the pro-aging philosophy is more inclusive than the anti-aging approach, which can be exclusionary and even negative.”

And in haircare, consumers across all age groups are prioritizing health over aesthetically driven factors like gray camouflaging and color protection, according to a 2023 Euromonitor beauty survey. Hair health and scalp health have been central over the past five years, “boosted by greater wellness pursuits and the establishment of haircare routines post-COVID.”

Mintel data matches this shift, with research showing 66% of US consumers believe embracing natural grays is a good idea.

“There is a growing pro-aging movement that encourages natural gray hair,” said Clare Hennigan, principal analyst at Mintel. “This is part of a larger age-positivity trend that celebrates aging and the natural changes that come with it.”

Alongside this shift, she said a plethora of haircare products designed to enhance gray hair rather than cover it have emerged—products consumers are keen to try. According to Mintel, 53% of US adults who have used at-home hair color in the last year express interest in products designed to enhance gray hair.

#GrayHairDontCare #SilverSisters

Michael Nolte, Senior Vice President and Creative Director at BeautyStreams, said there are certainly some interesting innovations and consumer engagements in the field.

“New haircare lines are popping up to cater to transitioning silver tresses, designed to meet consumers at every phase of the going gray journey. Shining the spotlight on silvery strands, several hair manufacturers present products that help the appearance of gray hair or enhance its natural beauty. Some other haircare products focus on the challenges that come with gray hair, such as unruliness, dullness, itching, dryness, breakage, and brittleness.”

Nolte said a lot of the branding and product development in the gray hair space has been, and remains, consumer-driven. “With more consumers wanting to live beyond imposed beauty standards, and adopting silver, gray, or white hair as a lifestyle, haircare brands have made room for a new ideal of beauty, celebrating the natural passage to gray hair through targeted products, adapted marketing language, and inclusive communication,” he added. “... With the haircare market booming, categories like gray hair previously considered as niche have finally received attention.”

Gray hair is now more of a movement than a category, he commented, and one that is very much “on the rise.” Social media hashtags like #GrayHairDontCare, #EmbraceTheGray, #SilverSisters, and #Grayhairrevolution continue to gain ground, he explained, as consumers and celebrities proudly embrace new gray looks and share gray hair transition stories, support, and tips about going gray. More and more consumers are turning to products and brands that can help them embrace their natural gray hair, he said. 

“Silver hair is becoming a statement for many consumers, and the demand for gray hair-specific formulas to enhance and protect rather than mask it will expand, opening up opportunities for brands to develop specialized products across all sub-categories like care, color, or styling,” Nolte said.

Targeting Specific Gray Hair Needs

Silverist—a US indie brand dedicated to silver hair—offers a gray toning shampoo, shine-infusing conditioner, and a protective leave-in serum, for example—each designed to protect and elevate gray hair using plant-based formulas. White Hot Hair, a UK indie brand focused on gray and white hair, offers a capsule collection made up of eight products, including a lightweight hair styling mousse, three-minute conditioning mask, and multiuse, leave-in hair oil, to help consumers brighten and nourish their gray hair. Silvina LONDON—another UK indie brand dedicated to silver hair—offers a shampoo and conditioner designed to hydrate, add shine, and fight brassiness in gray hair.

Silverist founder Evelyn Wang said the opportunity to address gray hair and adjacent hair concerns is “here to stay and grow.” “... There's a growing realization that a category impacting nearly 100% of people at some point in life is not a “niche” market; it's a universal experience,” Wang added.

And there are a plethora of different needs around gray hair, she said. “Silver strands, due to their de-melanated structure, are more susceptible to heat damage, toning issues, frizz, texture, and dryness,” she explained. “Our line addresses silver hair by utilizing heat protective ingredients, offering a more gentle/less drying toning solution to purple shampoo, guarding against humidity/frizz, restoring softness, and also addressing scalp wellness with the incorporation of scalp-friendly ingredients like niacinamide and fermented microalgae.” 

Wang said Silverist will look to develop its line further to cover needs throughout the gray hair “grow-out journey,” helping consumers from the start, to mid-way, and through to fully grown-out gray hair.

White Hot Hair founder Jayne Mayled agreed on the importance of addressing specific needs of the category, noting product development should stay targeted. White Hot Hair often receives requests from consumers for a hairspray, for example, but Mayled said there is no evidence that hair without pigment needs a specific formulation that isn't already available on the market. Demands for genuine heat protective products are also rising, she said, though these are warranted because heat stylers create yellow tones in white hair, so a foolproof product or styling tool would be a “great breakthrough.”

“We want to keep our range considered, where there are genuine needs and benefits that are gray hair specific, and never introduce new products just to have a NPD pipeline,” she said.

“One of the challenges with gray hair is that it largely appears at a lifestage where there is other significant physiological change, like menopause, so there are often other issues at play that affect the condition of hair, such as thinning. So, there can be more complex needs around white and gray hair that have not perhaps been a priority from a research perspective.”

A Fresh Approach to Gray 

Nolte agreed, suggesting clear potential for brands to approach innovation in the category differently. Brands could target mature hair, for example, by addressing the effects of hormonal shifts that perimenopausal and menopausal women face, offering both topical haircare and ingestible solutions to support hair from the inside and out, he said. They could also address other factors known to contribute to hair aging and hair graying, such as genetics, lifestyle, and emotional stress—areas upcoming technologies will also become important in. Developments in AI and genetic testing, for example, will enable brands and salons to offer more accurate hair health diagnosis and personalized recommendations for aging and graying hair, he added, and biometric hair tracking devices will enable real-time insights around melanin levels, scalp health, and hair graying conditions.

Importantly, Nolte said the industry should also try to shift the conversation around gray and graying hair. “People go gray at different ages, so society and the beauty industry should stop seeing gray hair as a symbol of age and look at it in a different way—i.e., as just another shade of hair color.”

According to Nolte, brands must drive greater diversity across advertising to celebrate gray, just as they do for all other hair colors and types and start using “gray-haired models of varying ages and dismantling commonly held, negative perceptions of gray hair.”

Mayled added, “When gray hair is perceived as just another color, we'll consider things have moved on.”

But Silvina Neder, founder and owner of Silvina LONDON, commented that, for now, mainstream beauty still has a way to go. “While there has been some progress, it is primarily small, independent brands like mine that have emerged from real necessity and are truly addressing consumer needs,” Neder said. “... There is still a long way to go in redefining beauty and self-care beyond 50. The industry needs a shift—one that moves beyond token representation and truly embraces this audience with products, messaging, and an approach that reflects their real needs and aspirations.”

Wang added, “The conversation around gray hair has always been around age. Yes, we get it; gray hair is more and more common as you age, but I was in my 20's when I started to go gray. All hair is aging hair. There's an opportunity to speak to silver hair that is emotionally resonant and understands it can be beautiful if you let it shine."