Will the real Indian Estée Lauder please stand up?

Masaba Gupta, Katrina Kaif, Tamannaaha Bhatia, Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Anusha Dandekar

VJ and television host Anusha Dandekar has, for a very long time, grappled with the word "brown skin". When she started her showbiz career, she remembers witnessing a lot of colourism. "All of this would sit in my head, and make me wonder, ‘Why is this still happening? And why is nobody speaking about it?'" The lockdown, she says, came as a blessing, because it gave her ample time to think about these thoughts playing in her subconscious, and do something about it.

Her beauty brand, BrownSkin Beauty, launched in November 2020, was a direct response to this discrimination, she tells us over a call. "In our country, and unfortunately I don't know why, the two words ‘brown and beautiful' are never used in the same sentence, considering the fact that every one of us has a brown skin tone... the fair and lovely narrative has been pushed into our brains far too long," she says, adding, "[Through my brand] I was hoping to change that narrative."

Custom-made for the Indian skin, BrownSkin Beauty offers a slate of products, from sunscreens to cleansers, moisturisers, scrubs and masks, that Dandekar says, are made keeping "our skin type and weather in mind".

Masaba Gupta's LoveChild, which launched in August last year, emerged out of a similar, if not the same, concern. "LoveChild as a term has been woven into my destiny ever since I was born," says Gupta, daughter of actress Neena Gupta and West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards. "...and it was time to weave that destiny into a brand." "Being a woman of colour and belonging to two different ethnicities, it was difficult for me to find cosmetics that would suit my skin colour and type. Also, dealing with acne and sensitive skin for over 15 years, I grew up loving all my mum's makeup but disliking what it did to my skin," says Gupta, in an email interview. This is where LoveChild, her brand, which offers a range of makeup for all skin types and tones, fits in.

Fashion designer, actress and entrepreneur Masaba Gupta during an event for her beauty brand LoveChild earlier this year

Gupta and Dandekar are just two among the growing number of celebrity faces investing in beauty and skincare businesses. Internationally, it's already been a successful trend - pop star Rihanna has Fenty Beauty, Selena Gomez is the force behind Rare Beauty, and Kylie Jenner is ruling the roost with Kylie Cosmetics. Closer home, the trend has been picking up in the last five years.

In 2019, Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif set the ball rolling, when she turned her love for make-up into a business enterprise with her label, Kay Beauty. Since then, every year has thrown up a new direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brand with a familiar name. More recently, Deepika Padukone and Jigar K Shah founded 82°E, with a slim but exciting skincare range. The brand had raised $7.5 million in seed funding in December last year.

Bollywood actress-entrepreneur Katrina Kaif's range Kay Beauty is known for adopting an inclusive approach and catering to a diverse range of skin tones

For Gupta, her eponymous fashion label and acting skills have already made her path-breaker of sorts. Her decision to enter the beauty market, was solely because of how passionately she felt about the category and the offerings that have been available in India. "It's much more about making a difference in every Indian girl's life even if at a small extent, and build a safe space, a community that pledges to drive and embrace inclusivity and empathy, and encourage them to achieve whatever they set out to get," she says.

Neither Gupta nor Dandekar are content with being mere faces of their brands. "I enjoy the process of being involved right from scratch," says Dandekar, "Be it researching the latest beauty trends and innovations to shortlisting shades and formulations; and even sitting with the teams and conceptualising the launch, marketing and distribution strategies. I find the entire process therapeutic." Dandekar even visits the manufacturing team in Delhi. "Sometimes I suggest a certain texture, or a particular ingredient and fragrance. And then, the team tries and incorporates these recommendations; the tests and trials can last months. There's a lot of back and forth and I remember it seemed almost endless, when we were formulating a sunscreen," says Dandekar, adding, "What you need is a lot of patience."

Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor is an investor in MyGlamm, and as brand ambassador is also the face of its beauty range; (right) Anusha Dandekar who founded BrownSkin Beauty with Gaurav Kumar in 2020, says she is very involved in the creation of the skincare range

In 2021, Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor was roped in as brand ambassador of MyGlamm, a leading D2C makeup brand. Around the same time, she also invested in it. Her involvement in the business, however, goes beyond her role as an investor, says Sukhleen Aneja, CEO, Good Brands Co, Good Glamm Group. "She has had a significant impact in the realm of conscious purchases and raising awareness about the environmental implications of our choices. By actively participating in these processes, Shraddha Kapoor ensures that the company's offerings are in line with her vision and values," says Aneja. Kapoor's makeup curation - her top beauty picks, party faves, and products she swears by - which are available on the brand's website, has also given them an edge, feels Aneja.

"Shraddha's awareness of current trends, coupled with her impeccable taste and deep understanding of the beauty industry and our consumers, has made her curation a highly anticipated and valued aspect of our brand," says Aneja, adding, "Our target audience is always eager to see which products Shraddha swears by, as they trust her insights and recommendations."

Muskan Chanchlani, Ambi Parameswaran and Sujata Assomull

Digital creator and beauty influencer Muskan Chanchlani, who goes by the handle @missmcblush on Instagram, feels that the current set of celebrity-backed beauty brands are definitely "competitive". "Some of them have been in the industry for very long, and understand the needs of the Indian skin." Chanchlani says these celebrities also have the resources to invest in creating a beauty and skincare range that's aspirational yet affordable. "I think Deepika Padukone is the only one who seems to be doing things differently and that's perhaps because her target audience is also very different. Her products at 82°E are very highly-priced, and are meant to be luxury, for a very mature audience." Masaba's LoveChild, on the other hand, is playful with a pop of brightness, while Kay by Katrina, she feels, is inclusive and caters to a diverse range of skin tones. "The quality of her range is top-notch."

Their celebrityhood definitely gives credibility to what they are selling, adds Chanchlani. "Having a huge fan base helps, as the engagement is very different. When Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty launched in India [on June 15], the traffic was so heavy, the website crashed. A celebrity gives the much-needed kick-start to a brand."

Dandekar, however, says that it's not all roses. "Of course, being a face that people recognise helps... you have an audience that really trusts you," she says, "And if they trust you that much, you never really want to break." But, in India, she says the audience is also very discerning. "They trust you, but not blindly. And I think that's got to do with the fact that we don't have a crazy pop culture influence here. They will look at a product from all angles - the price-point, what it offers, the reviews, and whether it's really good for them. So, you need to offer them something that's quality." According to Gupta, more than a celebrity face, what people really need is a "relatable face or an individual with whom they relate to, based on their personal experiences and journeys".

It also makes for astute business sense to have a stake in the beauty industry. According to McKinsey's report titled The beauty market in 2023: A special State of Fashion, the international beauty market is supposed to touch $580 billion by 2027. Another report, India Beauty and Personal Care Market: Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2028, by the International Market Analysis Research and Consulting (IMARC) Group stated that "the India beauty and personal care market size reached $26.3 billion in 2022". IMARC Group expects the market to reach $38 billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate of 6.45 per cent during 2023-2028. Last month, Inc42, one of the largest tech media platforms in the country, listed Padukone's 82°E and Sugar Cosmetics, where actress Tamannaah Bhatia is an investor, as one of the top 75 D2C brands disrupting India's consumer market.

Brands, meanwhile, are increasing their visibility across platforms. Kay Beauty is now being sold at 100-plus retail stores in the country, apart from online marketplaces. LoveChild is currently available on the brand's website lovechild.in, and leading beauty platforms like Nykaa, and marketplaces like Amazon and Myntra. "We are also present on Tira. In addition to this, we are available offline at the existing House of Masaba stores pan India. We are also expanding our physical footprint with the mother brand, having launched new stores at Bandra and Kala Ghoda in Mumbai, Khan Market in Delhi and very recently in Ahmedabad," shares Masaba.

Ad veteran and independent brand coach Ambi Parameswaran says that India is only mirroring what's been happening in the West for a long time. "Often the celebrity just lends the name and a big company does the rest. But in the recent past, celebrities are media voices themselves with fan following numbering millions. So they are leveraging this to create products [beauty/skincare]. You may call this a kind of a brand extension," he says. But the big issue, he says, of having pure-play celebrity brands that are owned - sometimes partly - by celebrities, is that it could create some confusion in consumers. "For instance, who is the real Deepika? I suppose over time celebrities will figure out which works for them better: the whole enchilada or just take the money and endorse a brand," he says, adding, "There is, however, a difference between what Deepika/Katrina [or anyone else] are doing and what say, Masaba is doing. Masaba has positioned herself [personal branding] as a designer and so it is a logical fit for her to launch cosmetics to supplement her clothes. Deepika and Katrina are actors. They may have great sense of skincare; but for them, this is a side hustle."

According to Sujata Assomull, a renowned fashion journalist and author, the beauty and skincare market is currently saturated. "We have a new beauty product launching almost every day; in such a scenario, the offering has to stand-out," says Assomull. From her own experience, she admits, it's been difficult to stay loyal to any of the new products the Indian market is being inundated with. "It's nice to try them and have fun with them, but when I have a major skincare issue, I am not sure if I can trust them yet. I generally go back to Sisley Paris or even Ayurvedic brands like Kama, Almora or the Indian clean beauty brand BiE, which is formulated by Dr Dinyar Workingboxwalla. "

She feels that internationally, Victoria Beckham really aced this with her luxury beauty and skincare brand by working with power skincare brand Augustinus Bader - "she knows what a woman wants, she is cool, she is out there, and has teamed up with a great beauty expert." Having said that, Assomull says the "jury is still out on this one". "I don't think we are seeing an end of the trend yet. To see who actually makes it to the endgame, we will need to talk five or 10 years from now. It's too soon to predict whether anyone of them is going to be the next Estee Lauder or Helena Rubinstein."