Skincare: Pampering Consumers With High-end Products

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Indian skin is being pampered like never before as a surfeit of global brands like Amway’s Artistry, Clarins, Nina Ricci and others are launching high-end, technologically advanced skincare products, prompting even homegrown players like Lakme Lever Ltd to upgrade their products.

Pitched at the growing clout of the ‘progressive urban Indian woman’, the aim clearly is to upgrade her from using basic skincare to sophisticated solutions and thereby increase the consumer base.

For the Indian consumer basic skincare is not basic anymore and sophisticated formulations are finding their way into her life is evident from the fact that currently anti-ageing category is the fastest growing segment.

Increased demand, analysts say, for skincare products is not only coming from basic skincare products such as cleansers, moisturisers, but specific purpose products like under-eye creams and age-defying products.

Analysts estimate that of the total Indian cosmetics market worth Rs 1,700 crore, skincare constitutes 71 per cent while colour is 29 per cent. Skincare is currently growing at 18 per cent to 20 per cent on a yearly basis, and is estimated to become a Rs 2,300-crore market by 2005-06.

Not surprisingly then, companies are attempting to take a chunk of this growing segment. The latest to invade the market is the direct selling company Amway India, the Indian arm of the US-based direct selling major Amway Corp, which has just launched its Artistry daily skin care range in the country. The range was relaunched globally about a year ago with an investment of $100 million, according to Amway’s beauty consultant Colleen Kirk.

Betting high on its prestige skincare brand Artistry, priced Rs 999 onwards, Amway India hopes to make the brand worth Rs 80 crore in the next five years in India. Interestingly, the company has already test-launched six Artistry products in the country last year.

“I definitely see a lot of colour here, but there’s very little knowledge about skincare, I think our launch is timed well. There’s a huge lack of knowledge about basic skincare even though the consumer is all ready to lap it up,” Amway’s Ms Kirk said.