Market for fairness creams, bleaches touch Rs 2K cr

Beauty, it is said, is skin deep. Not so anymore for Indian consumers who demand from their beauty products more than just a superficial whitening of their skin tone for a short duration. This has led to companies coming up with several products to woo consumers.

Traditional ideas of beauty in India have largely been inclined towards fairness. The high value of fair skin has resulted in the market for fairness creams and bleaches touching Rs 2,000 crore. Of this, fairness creams account for approximately Rs 1,800 crore, while bleaches make up about Rs 200 crore of the market pie. However, the situation has changed a lot.

"Consumers want a product that stays on their face for some time to give an intensive dose of nourishment. They want a product that not only gives instant glow, softness and skin lightening but also revives skin health," said Sanjay Singal, head of marketing (skin care), Dabur India. "People look for fairness products that, on regular use, improve skin health, texture and tone to give a healthy glow," said Singal.

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"I have a dusky skin tone. But what I want from my fairness cream is not exactly fairness but something more. I want a glowing and healthy skin," said Saili Singh, a student.

"I look at the list of ingredients of a cream or a lotion before I buy it, because something might not suit my skin type. I had been using Fair & Lovely since I was a child but now I have switched to Garnier light. I feel it suits my skin better," said Singh.

"Anything trendy and natural attracts consumers these days. They want the best for their skin, so when they get to see things like kesar, jaiphal, haldi, and chandan as the ingredients in a product they are keen to try it. They hope to get a better result when a new cream, lotion or bleach comes into the market," said a store owner on condition of anonymity.

Companies have taken the cue and launched different products to suit the changing tastes. Two years ago, Dabur introduced the Uveda range of fairness products. "Unlike ordinary fairness creams, these don't leave a white layer on the skin. Rather, these work from within and nourish your skin with every use to give your face a fair, even tone and a blemish-free complexion that glows with health," said Singal.

The Dabur Uveda range has two products - the Dabur Uveda Complete Fairness Cream with SPF 20 and the Dabur Uveda Lightening and Radiance Mask. Dabur Uveda, which is rolling out in Hyderabad and Bangalore this year, saw a 200 per cent growth in gross sales revenue in the last fiscal. This has accelerated in the first quarter of the current financial year. "We have our Fem range of fairness bleaches. They not only give instant fairness in 15 minutes, but also help in removing tan, breathe new life into the skin by removing dead cells and unclog the pores," said Singal.

Fem, which is sold both in the retail market as well as to beauty parlours, is the market leader in the fairness bleach category with more than 50 per cent marketshare. It registered a healthy growth of 20 per cent in the last fiscal and continues to show double-digit growth in the first three months of the current fiscal.

Brands such as Unilever also turned to ayurveda to attract more consumers by pushing their Fair & Lovely product with ayurvedic ingredients.

Courtesy: Mail Today