The year is 2023, and if your nude lipstick is washing you out, you can do better a sentiment that appears to be shared by international brands looking to make inroads into India’s thriving beauty business. With the world waking up to the country’s status as a key stakeholder on the global beauty spectrum, brands looking to gain the favour of the average Indian beauty savant are waking up to a unanimous truth: one shade does not fit all when factoring in the undertones that are unique to Indian skin.
The notion is seconded by Rohan Vaziralli, general manager at Estée Lauder Companies, India. “Smashbox’s Always on Liquid Lipstick franchise was an instant bestseller with the Indian consumers. But during our research, we noticed a gap in the market for a versatile shade that could transcend age groups, skin tones, gender and conventional use. This was where the idea for Gulabae was born as a playful take on the word gulabi with the aim to make this shade the most versatile and desirable pink for all Indians,” he shares. While he concedes that pink is a relatively common lip colour, India would become the first country in the Smashbox portfolio to have its own shade and Vaziralli is glad to share that the payoff has been worthwhile. “The shade went through multiple rounds of colour swatching ondifferent skin tones combined with internal feedback from store artists and educators. Since its launch, Gulabae has become the top-selling lipstick shade for the brand, and it has also recruited the most consumers into the brand, as per data shared with us by our retail partners,” he says. Among other India-only initiatives, Bobbi Brown released the 24-Hour Waterproof Kajal Liner exclusively in the country a nod to this makeup staple’s cult status in Indian beauty kits while makeup maestro Charlotte Tilbury devised the ‘Indian Bridal Look’ campaign in a bid to assist Indian brides with increasing the longevity of their makeup through prolonged ceremonies. The impact of this paradigm shift feels especially significant for Netijyata Mahendru, an independent beauty consultant who has witnessed India-only shades ascending from swatches on a mood board to the best-selling counters at beauty stores. “Watching an India-only lip colour perched as a #1 bestseller keeping our tones and choices in mind instead of blindly adapting to the West is a matter of immense pride for me and for every Indian woman,” she signs off.
And Vaziralli isn’t alone in his mission to offer the Indian beauty consumer with colours and hues concocted specifically to suit their needs. “When we launched M.A.C Cosmetics in India almost two decades ago, the idea was to bring global products to India. However, over the past few years, the endeavour has pivoted to bringing India to the global stage,” notes Karen Thompson, brand manager at M.A.C Cosmetics, India. This prompted the brand to unveil two India-specific shades: Yash, a deep neutral, and Mehr, a mid-tone mauve pink. “While these lipsticks were initially launched to compliment Indian skin tones, they have now gone on to become global bestsellers,” she raves of the lip colours’ global clout one Mehr lipstick is reportedly sold every seven minutes.
