Salon Selectives Fashion-Inspired Hair Care Revamp Set For September

The venerable Salon Selectives hair care brand has been reinvented with new salon-inspired formulas, milder fragrances and hip packaging, Helene Curtis said. The most complete revamp since the brand's 1987 debut, 26 new products will replace the original SKUs in September.

Credited with being innovative at the time, the "outdated" formulas were "in need of a facelift," Helene Curtis spokesman and celebrity stylist Richard Marin maintained.

The overhaul is the third such revamp in Salon Selectives' 13-year history. The Unilever division added botanical extensions in 1995, followed by a complete relaunch in 1998.

The new shampoos, conditioners and stylers continue the brand's customized positioning but add "some personality and fun to the brand" with younger, fashion-focused product names. "Hair is the greatest accessory a woman has," Marin said. "It is a means of self-expression...[and is] the ultimate personal fashion accessory."

Rather than offering women a specific look via the brand's original numbered lineup, new Salon Selectives items have "to-the-point" product names with formulas that make women feel "fun and individual," the stylist said.

For example, Don't Fade on Me Color Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner "help protect and revitalize color treated hair," while the Completely Drenched duo "moisturizes dry or coarse hair." Both lines will replace the brand's original Color Shield and Moisturizing formulas, respectively.

Lighten Up Highlighting Foam and leave-in conditioner "gradually lightens hair" after one to two weeks of use. Lighten Up is expected to be a star product and represents Helene Curtis' R&D advances, the company said. The foam will be available in three formulas for natural or color-treated blonde, light/medium brown and dark brown or auburn hair.

On the styling side, Loosely Defined Creme "provides texture and definition to flexible, natural looks...without leaving it too stiff or sticky and is ideal to create more 'piecey' looks," the firm claims. An accompanying pomade is slated to bow by the end of the year.

Two volumizing mousses, Rise Up for thin, straight hair and Get in Shape for thick, curly hair, will join Feel 'N' Control and Under Firm Control styling gels, Helene Curtis said.

The straightforward names are reflected on the back label where product attributes are illustrated with a humorous headline. For example, the label on Full of It Bodifying Shampoo reads: "The next time someone says you're 'Full of it,' thank them for noticing."

Product labels also will take the traditional "lather, rinse, repeat" hair care instructions to the next level with tips for creating different looks using the same product, "making it easier for women to get the looks they want at home," Marin noted.

Following a recent trend in the marketplace to "more done-up" hairstyles, the fashion-oriented hair care products target 17- to 27-year-old "hair dependent" women, compared to the original 18- to 40-year-old audience who loved to go to the salon, the stylist explained.

A more subtle scent created by fragrance consultant Ann Gottlieb, developer of Calvin Klein's cK one and Eternity scents, also is expected to appeal to a younger audience. The modified signature fragrance is a "toned-down" scent of peach, melon, berry and green apple notes.

Although the line has a premium mass market position, the products retail for less than many recent introductions, such as Procter & Gamble's Physique, which costs $7-$10. Salon Selectives is line-priced at $2.99, with the exception of the Highlighting Foam, which costs $5.99. Packaging has changed to colorful, transparent tubes and bottles with black print.

To inform consumers about the brand reformulation, extensive marketing support will include TV spots, radio commercials and print ads featuring image shots in fall fashion and beauty books such as Vogue and Seventeen.

A live online celebrity hair cut by Marin will appear on the brand's Web site, yoursalon.com, in October. Marin also is spokesman for Helene Curtis' Thermasilk and Finesse brands.