r beauty culture at the moment… it is a hot, hot, hot topic,” Mylius told Inside Retail. “I firmly believe that any brand owner can do what they want, as long as it abides by rules, guidelines and laws,” he added. However, unlike the copy-paste approach that many brands in the beauty industry are taking, Hairification is doing things slightly differently. Imitation versus inspiration  Taking a subtle cue from Kerastase’s best-selling K18 leave-in molecular repair mask, Mylius landed on the name H24 Complex Leave-In Repair Hair Mask for his new product. “I want to be able to give consumers great results for their hair care needs, whether they recognize that there is a connection that I’m trying to make or not,” Mylius stated.  “Ultimately, the goal of this product is to deliver the same or better results as the more expensive product in the market,” he continued. The H24 collection by Hairification is exclusively stocked in the Australian pharmacy chain Priceline, nationwide. As Mylius recalled, Hairification presented its extensive pipeline of products in development to Priceline. “It wasn’t necessarily about the kind of dupe positioning, for them, they want to deliver value to their customers,” Mylius noted. “We even worked very collaboratively with Priceline on the coloring of the packaging, the watermelon color that we went for,” he added. The watermelon color is also prevalent in Kerastase’s branding for its K18 leave-in molecular repair mask. The proof is in the results  While Hairification has used subtle packaging elements that mimic Kerastase’s K18 branding, it’s more focused on trying to signal to current and future customers that it is just as efficacious as the market leader. “I think that consumers, over time, become more and more savvy, and therefore more and more demanding when it comes to active ingredients,” shared Mylius. Hairification has positioned itself as a masstige brand, specifically designed to target the educated consumer who wants more from their haircare. It is exclusively stocked in supermarkets and pharmacies to create accessibility.  Mylius had always envisioned producing a K18-like product for Hairification but refused to bring it to market until it could deliver the promised results at the correct price. “We actually wanted to release the H24 range, the shampoo, leave-in conditioner and hair mask when we first rolled out the brand, but unfortunately, the product was not in a place that we were 110 per cent happy with,” Mylius confessed. “The reality is, just because a product in the beauty world is $100 doesn’t mean that it cost anywhere near that to make it,” he added. “If I can deliver a product at an accessible price point and value-driven price point, then I will do it if it makes commercial sense.” While Hairification is producing a hair mask that offers similar benefits to Kerastase’s K18, Mylius doesn’t consider it to be a direct competitor. His brand is focused on building an accessible brand that is not exclusive to big-box beauty retailers and high-end hair salons. More is more in beauty  Hairification’s new hair mask also hits on a bigger trend. According to Mylius’s research, the hair category will be adopting more beauty trends than just dupe culture. He predicts that more brands will lean into routine, more specifically, creating and marketing products that fit into consumers’ ritualistic beauty regimens. “A lot of people every week exfoliate, self-tan, moisturize…while they’re doing that, they may put in a hair mask, do a face mask or a peel, or something with their nails,”  elaborated Mylius. And when it comes to selecting which products to add to their beauty regimen, consumers’ purchases will likely be driven by two value elements; aesthetics and ingredients. “For the next five years, I think certainly there will be consumer demand for more for their money,” Mylius confirmed. “The race is to produce products which are aesthetically pleasing and beautiful – aspirational to have in the bathroom, whether it’s in your cupboard, on your counter or in your shower caddy,” he added. As consumers continue to become more informed and results-driven, the desire to try new and innovative products is only going to grow. “It’s not just about those tried and trusted ingredients in hair care like biotin or B5 – ingredients that we’ve seen for decades,” Mylius concluded. “There’ll be demand for new and exciting ingredients, which is certainly something that Hairification is doing already, and we will continue to do.”