More and more Filipino women are opting to color their hair in shades that, until recently, they would never have even considered. Straight, long black hair is no longer the norm.

For five years now, Watsons has been highlighting its hair color category, a subset under the hair care range, by holding promotions and in-store events.

Shampooing and conditioning one’s hair may be a given, but the market for women (and men) who color their hair has a high potential for growth.

“We want customers to go beyond the basics of shampoo and conditioner,” said Aimee Kris Pernia, Watsons senior category manager. “We offer the so-called ‘third step,’ consisting of treatments, hair color and styling products—all of which can be found at Watsons.”

To further encourage customers, Watsons, Asia’s leading health and beauty retailer, has been offering free hair color applications at selected stores. Those who buy hair coloring products from the store’s featured brand can have the color applied to their hair by trained staff.

“We’ve been doing this for around five years at Watsons branches at SM Aura, SM Mall of Asia, Sta. Lucia, and Lumina Point in Imus, Cavite. It’s proven to be very popular because the color is applied evenly and comes out like it was professionally done,” Pernia said.

As a result, customers become more confident to color their hair at home by themselves, or with a little help.

This year, Watsons has launched a campaign to encourage shoppers to move out of their hair comfort zones and experiment with different hair color and hair style trends. Dubbed #Hairgoals, it aims to introduce a whole new world of color, style options and alternatives for women.

SM Advantage Card (SMAC) holders stand the chance to win a trip to Bali, Guam or Sydney, Australia. Other prizes up for grabs include iPhone 7 or iPad Pro. Every P500 single-receipt purchase of participating products entitles each SMAC member to one e-raffle entry.

A kick-off event was held on May 19 at the SM Mall of Asia activity center where guests had the chance to try out new hairstyles and colors provided by participating brands.

There were informative talks from L’Oreal on hair color, and Tresemme on hair styles to easily update one’s look.

Hair color was provided by L’Oreal, Revlon, Kolours, Bigen, Beautylabo, Lolane, Liese and Revia.

There were styling tools and products from JML, W. Elite, BaByliss, VS Sassoon, Tresemme, Aquanet, Finesse and Suave. Hair products were provided by Dove, Pantene and Creamsilk.

On May 27, Watsons will hold a nationwide “Color Your Hair Day Sale.” Customers who shop at the one-day only sale can get 50 percent discounts on all hair color products from brands like Revlon, Kolours, L’Oreal, Beautylabo, Lolane, Revia, Liese and Bigen.