Lounge
How India's celebrity make-up artists are trying to make beauty more diverse
Summary
Make-up artists are using their expertise and experience to formulate special made-for-Indians beauty products
When Namrata Soni launched her make-up brand, Simply Nam—perhaps the first such offering by an Indian celebrity make-up artist—in 2020, her first product was a reusable make-up remover towel that claims to rid the skin of all kinds of long-wear and waterproof formulas, and replace disposable wipes. Her 20 years of experience working with celebrities like Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Jahnvi Kapoor had reinforced the need to go back to the basics—having fresh, clean skin before using any product. But the driving force behind starting Simply Nam, which has since expanded into vegan, cruelty-free products, was the need for colours that suited the Indian skin tone.
“I was tired of looking for products that suited our skin and weather," she says. “They needed to suit the Indian undertone, not just the skin tone," she says, referring to the hues beneath the skin and not just the colour one sees.
Five years on, other celebrity make-up and hair artists, including Sandhya Shekar and Parul Garg, are building on this niche offering with skincare-first make-up products.
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Most of these brands are currently available online, with products starting around ₹500. Simply Nam retails in Sephora stores as well, offering an indication of the demand for artist-led products.
What gives them an edge in a market crowded with international and celebrity-led beauty brands is their hands-on experience. They hope to capitalise on their expertise the way international make-up artists such as Charlotte Tilbury, Patrick Ta and Pat McGrath have to create brands.
Shekar’s Mokae Beauty, launched in November 2024, was born of necessity after she struggled to find products that suited her sensitive skin. Her initial products were a mascara and a kajal. “I would buy something clean only to find that it’s not high-performing or vice-versa," says Shekar, who has worked in the industry for over 15 years with actors like Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone. “It was important to create something that delivers on both counts."
She’s currently working on launching complexion and brow products. “Indian skin is very complex," she says. Though international brands offer a wide range of products, they don’t work for Indians.
“Hyperpigmentation, scars, discolouration, tan and dark circles are common here. Our tones can range from being as light as Caucasian as well as much duskier," she explains. “We can’t use one foundation to mask everything. The undertones also change across the country, mostly yellow, pink and olive. So one face can have many problems to cover."
Shekar works on each product for two years and “tests it in the market among a community of make-up artists" before deciding whether it’s good enough to be rolled out publicly. “It’s very hard to formulate when using clean high standards," she says.
The reason for taking baby steps instead of introducing a wide range of products is the difficulty in formulating long-wearing products that have clean ingredients, says Soni. “One needs to be patient and focus on a few products instead of scaling. We make our colours from scratch, specific to the skin of our audience, instead of picking colours created in bulk from private label companies. The focus is on the undertone of the Indian skin colour," Soni says.
The desire for made-for-Indians products extends to hair as well. Last month, French hair and make-up expert Florian Hurel, who’s been working with Indian actors such as Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for years, launched FHair, a luxury haircare brand free of sulphates and parabens to suit Indian hair texture that’s frizzy, dry and exposed to sun, dust and pollution. The product line includes shampoo-cum-conditioner with ingredients meant to protect colour-treated hair from sun damage and colour fading and lock in hydration.
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“While international brands have long had a presence in India, we saw an opportunity to create India’s first professional luxury haircare brand—one that is crafted locally," says Hurel. Internationally, there’s a lack of inclusivity when it comes to skincare and haircare. “It is important to understand diverse hair types, climate challenges and styling preferences unique to India."
It remains to be seen whether these artist-led brands will make a splash, especially among trends-obsessed young shoppers, but the intention to keep it India-focused marks the start of a new era in beauty.
Dhara Vora Sabhnani is a Mumbai-based writer.
