Ananya Kapur, founder of hybrid beauty brand Type Beauty, lets us in on the journey of its inception

Raising the benchmark of how a hybrid beauty product should look and feel like, the founder is set to revolutionise the make-up-meets-skincare brand

What do we do when we’re dissatisfied with our beauty purchases? More often than not, we either put that particular product to better use or simply jettison it. Like most of us, Ananya Kapur, founder of Type Beauty, too, struggled to find the correct set of beauty products—especially make-up—that would suit her skin type, give her the desired results and also care for her skin. Being a chemistry graduate from New Delhi, the 23-year-old put her extensive knowledge to use and deep-dived into the ingredient labels of make-up products, only to realise that they contained little to no skin-enriching ingredients. That is when she sensed a definite gap in the market and thought of propelling her own beauty line that would address consumers’ make-up and skincare needs.

Funded by her own family, Kapur started building Type Beauty in August last year and finally launched the brand in May 2022. Currently only available on the brand’s website, Type Beauty already created quite the buzz with its well-thought-out base products. Kapur aims to create a power-packed portfolio of products by January 2023 that allows one and all to pull a full face of Type Beauty make-up. In a brief chat with The Established, Kapur opens up on everything about the brand—from ideology to formulations and its attempts at inclusivity, given its 24-shade foundation range and 12-shade concealer range.

Why the name ‘Type Beauty’?

It most accurately reflects the core values of the brand, which is to create make-up based on your skin type. 

Was creating ‘skincare-meets-make-up’ hybrid products a conscious choice? 

Yes, definitely. The entire idea of the brand functions around the concept of skincare-based make-up, highlighting the aspect of customisation. We always felt that make-up never takes care of your skin, and even if it does, it doesn’t go the extra mile to heal your skin from within. Most make-up is safe for your skin; however, what we have attempted goes a step further, healing your skin from within while also improving its appearance. 

What new ingredients is Type Beauty formulated with? 

Many brands these days offer make-up and skincare products but we semi-custom most of our products, tailoring them for specific uses. We genuinely create beauty products that are built for you, reveal who you really are and provide users with a customised experience.

The Indian market is flooded with beauty brands—both homegrown and international. How do you plan to cut through the crowd?

People are drawn to us because our  brand is entirely focused on the consumer. It’s the segregation based on skin types that makes every product unique and it’s our deep passion for making products that suit every person’s skin type.

What’s your take on hybrid beauty products?

We believe hybrid beauty products are fantastic and each one is uniquely designed for a certain need. Earlier, make-up was not necessarily good for you, so we are glad about the changes that have taken place in the market. Brands have now moved towards this place that truly believes that make-up should have added skincare benefits.

Base products are tricky to get right in the Indian market. How did you navigate through this and what steps did you take to crack it?

Base products are definitely tricky to get right in any market in general. We worked with a cross-section of people to figure out what their skin types were so we could develop the base products and make sure that the shades were inclusive for the Indian market and were also suitable to our climate. We actually tested our products  against international products as well to see if we like ours better. We thrive on honest feedback from our consumers because we are looking to develop products for them. The best way is to co-create them with our consumers.

How do you  ensure inclusivity and diversity in your product portfolio?

The first thing that we do is try to represent as many skin types as feasible for us.  Our foundation is available in 24 shades and our concealers in 12 shades. Moreover, customers who end up ordering an incorrect shade for their skin tone experience a hassle-free exchange process. 

How do you ensure that your formulations offer maximum performance at all times?

I think, very often, people confuse clean formulations with herbal formulations and that’s not something that we do. We make sure that our products are as scientifically forward as possible without using ingredients that might be harmful to the skin. We follow Sephora’s ‘clean beauty product’ guidelines and always add a scientific ingredient to every product to ensure that it is not only great for your skin but also performs well and lasts long.

How do you plan to maintain the skincare-meets-make-up promise across product categories in the future?

Our recently launched lipsticks and eyeshadows are examples of how we are keeping the promise of skincare-meets-make-up constant. Our eyeshadows are formulated in two ways, based on two different skin types and needs. We did one for hydrating and anti-ageing and one for pigmented eyes, as these are two concerns that we encounter very often in the market. We then decide upon the actives that work for specific concerns. So for our eye shadows, we have peptides in the anti-ageing version, that help to build and strengthen the skin around the eyes which is where a lot of people get wrinkles. The other variant is enriched with niacinamide and vitamin C, which can help reduce  pigmentation around the eyes.

With our lipsticks, we have an amazing hydrating variant called ‘Soak it’ and we also have an anti-pigmentation lipstick called ‘Light up’which is enriched with vitamin C.  

Who is the Type Beauty consumer?

Someone who is very well-informed and trendy; who loves to glam up and knows what they want from their make-up. Type Beauty is for all age groups, but our (brand) colours target the Gen-Z demographic.

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