I recently went back to India and specifically engaged in my favourite activity: visiting neighbourhood mom & pop stores and corner pharmacies.
Its always too short a trip.
In terms of beauty (skin, haircare) trends I find that the biggest indicator of what’s in / out are neighbourhood pharmacies
Noticeable beauty trends were quite obviously
Massive shift in importance of haircare
Culturally, hair is extremely important to Indian women. I cannot even begin to explain to you how beauty in India is identified with hair as much as it is with your face etc.
It is a big, big deal if you are an Indian woman and you have bad hair.
Three year agos, you could only buy imported Biotin (hair supplement) but now, I could buy everything from anti-hair loss (onion) shampoo to Biotin gummies.
Similarly, hair oil is no longer just Parachute coconut oil, its now also onion oil, fenugreek oil and every brand with any form of substantial market credibility has haircare products.
Supplements are on the next big thing…
There is a massive shift in importance of supplements that would not be out of a place in a LA pharmacy…Spirulina, Curcuma and collagen flooded the over-crowded shelves of the mom and pop store I visited.
The market feels crowded and I genuinely believe there is still space for an extremely credible brand that produces bog-standard supplements but of exceptional quality.
However, complicated products (eg) Collagen powder are extortionately expensive…US$ 50 supplements were fairly common. India is a country that is not going to have bovine collagen. Period. Getting collagen to be effective will be therefore be challenging…
Are high-end fragrances having a moment in India?
A real good indicator for me in India of what might be the next big thing is Khan Market in New Delhi. The cream of Delhi’s elite society shop their when they need to buy something local and I think its fair to say that its where “old money” comes to.
So, when I visited Good Earth, I noticed it had completely got rid of external fragrance vendors and replaced it with 2 of its inhouse brands.
Both were not buying fyi and so I didn’t even bother to review them here.
Secondly, there was a standalone store – in Khan Market that had brands like Roja, DS&Durga, Floris etc. You get the picture. I was astounded. The indirect taxes in India are so high that you have to be absolutely desperate to buy such a fragrance here….
But obviously someone has read some tea leaves and thinks this is a good idea.
Emphasis on domestic, homegrown brands over non-Indian brands
A few years ago, Bioderma and Avene flooded the shelves…not anymore. Brands less than 3 years old flooded the shelves, indicating the pandemic gave domestic brands a much needed boost
Beauty products contain all the in vogue ingredients (eg) hyaluronic acid, peptides, Vitamin C but the quality of the product still leaves much to he desired.
Closing..
In summary, the tastes and demands of the Indian consumer have changed post pandemic to be more demanding. Domestic manufacturers are definitely upping their game and I am sure this is the just start
I am blessed and excited to be in this space.
#india #beauty #quality #beautybrands