Are Indian beauty brands prioritising packaging over formula?

From unappealing to Instagram-worthy, while the packaging of Indian beauty products has levelled up, most formulations still don’t live up to customers’ expectations

When you hear of The Ordinary, an image of a frosted glass bottle with a dropper and a minimally-designed black-and-white label instantly crops up in your head. Similarly, with Hailey Bieber’s Rhode, you picture glossy lip-balm tubes in shades of pink and plum. From M.A.C Cosmetics to Drunk Elephant and several others, there are a plethora of brands that can be identified solely by the strong recall value that their packaging boasts.

Over a decade ago, deep-coloured lipstick cases or substandard squeezy plastic tubes made the cut for most beauty products’ packaging yardsticks. Take Lakmé, for instance. The brand has enjoyed a longstanding presence of 75 years in the Indian market; over a decade or two ago, most products from the brand, be it a lipstick, compact powder, kajal or eyebrow pencil, would come packaged in monotoned grey, burgundy or black cases with the brand name embossed across. Today, the brand has undergone a shapeshift to some degree. Cold creams from brands like Pond’s, Nivea, and Himalaya have also transitioned from basic white plastic or tin jars to visibly upbeat labels. There is no doubt that packaging is very important for a beauty brand, and even more so in today’s day and age, where a sizeable chunk of consumers shop for a beauty product simply because of how good (read: Instagrammable) it appears. 

Looks, however, can be deceiving. Lauren Bliss, a New York City-based beauty industry commentator confesses in one of her recent beauty videos, “Lovely packaging, shit formulas? I don’t care that the packaging looks good if the formula [of the beauty product] sucks.” If that’s what consumers feel and think, we wonder why formulations of some beauty products from homegrown brands continue to be inferior despite their inviting packaging. We ask some industry insiders, and here’s what they have to say.

How packaging become the top-billing factor in beauty

The cosmetics packaging industry in India is projected to grow from US$1701.16 million in 2024 to US$2515.31 million in 2032, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.01 per cent. This market movement is influenced by a drastic shift in consumer behaviour patterns. According to reports, the packaging aesthetic of a beauty product makes or breaks the purchasing decision of approximately 65 per cent of urban shoppers. 

While Elizabeth Issac, founder of Gunam Beauty, believes that every touchpoint with your customer matters in an increasingly competitive and crowded market, Shamika Haldipurkar, founder of d’you, considers packaging to be crucial as it is the first thing you notice about a brand. “In the digital verse, where you get a mere few seconds to make an impression on someone, attractive packaging is non-negotiable,” she says.

Beauty editor and content creator Komal Basith, who feels consumers still judge a book by its cover, spotlights the element of recall value that is etched deeply in the packaging of a product. “I find it interesting how consumers, including myself, often re-purchase or recommend products [to others] by their packaging. If I’m running into a busy store and just need to buy what I’ve run out of, I often look for ‘the white tube with the orange cap’, for instance. We don’t often remember the names of our favourite beauty products, but always remember their packaging. ‘I can't remember what it’s called, but it’s the retinol from the green line’ is something I’ve said so often when recommending Murad’s Youth Renewal Serum to a friend or follower”, elaborates Basith. 

With Gen-Z leading the pack of beauty consumers—in India and globally—followed by millennials, social media has become a cardinal touchpoint for introducing or selling anything to these highest-spending consumers. Recapitulating the origin of this shift, Haldipurkar cites, “In the mid-2010s, unboxing videos became popular on YouTube, with influencers discussing packaging and feel in their videos, which trickled down to Indian consumers over the years. Consumers saw swoon-worthy top shelves with covetable products and wanted them on their vanity. These videos also became popular when international brands began to enter the Indian market with nicer packaging,” ultimately propelling homegrown brands to create products that resonate with the present-day sentiments of the beauty consumer. Quirky, fun fonts, bright colours that pop, more user-friendliness, a premium or, perhaps, playful feel and a pressing emphasis on sustainability are factors that largely entice consumers. 

“We didn’t want anything that alters our product formulation, so we do extensive testing on packaging compatibility and use airless bottles to maintain product integrity. Furthermore, for us, packaging does not end at just the bottle that houses the formula. We focus equally on our mono cartons and sleeves which are a secondary extension of our packaging. As a brand that prioritises educating the consumer, we have a lot of hard data on our cartons,” shares Haldipurkar, explaining her take on packaging for d’you. 

In concurrence, Anirudh Kastia, founder of Put Simply, adds, “Investing in a better formula [than the packaging] is more critical. However, there are also cases where the packaging can impact the shelf life and the formulation’s integrity. For example, an airless pump or an opaque packaging is necessary when it comes to vitamin C-based products.” For Issac, focusing on sustainable packaging was a natural extension of Gunam’s ethos. It is also favourable considering that 50 per cent of the consumers are conscious about choosing products with eco-friendly packaging. Using FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) paper and recyclable materials like glass and aluminium, as well as minimising excess packaging and inks, ensures our values reflect in every product,” shares Issac.

Why aren’t formulations equally superior?

Have you ever bought a pretty-looking lip gloss only to be displeased by how sticky it is, or a luxuriously-bottled face cream to realise that it is just as good as its drugstore counterpart?. There are many brands that focus on packaging more than formulation, and there are reasons galore too, says Mumbai-based celebrity dermatologist Dr Madhuri Agarwal. “One is the visual appeal—striking unique packaging grabs the eyeballs of consumers in the sea of so many products. Unique packaging also becomes the brand identity as people associate it with a particular brand. Oftentimes, consumers equate higher quality packaging with better quality products, and so the brand’s marketing focuses more on the packaging.”

“I’ve worked in the beauty industry long enough to know that [what is seen on] the outside can be misleading. I recently met a seasoned design expert who was telling me about how, after spending 20 years designing for other [beauty] brands, she’s decided to launch her own beauty brand,” begins Basith, “She spoke excitedly about being able to design for her own brand and get the packaging exactly how she wanted, even the branding. When I asked her about the formulas, she was visibly less excited; someone else was manufacturing it for her and she confessed she doesn’t really know much about beauty products. This is telling of the approach those  launching beauty brands in India might be taking today. It’s all about the look—style first, substance later.”

Agarwal agrees to have experienced this, and more so with homegrown brands. “Many products look great, but unfortunately the efficacy is missing. There is a lack of scientific evidence backing the claims made on packaging. When you open the product, there can be stability issues, and the ingredients may not be effective or could even cause reactions.” This is perhaps because the rules and regulations about cosmetic products and how a brand markets their labels are not very stringent. You could only include a very minuscule amount of an ingredient in your formulation, and still endorse your product on the premise of that very ingredient. 

Stating the potential reasons behind this phenomenon, Basith says, “Most beauty brands are receiving investment and funding from companies who view it solely as a business play without taking into consideration knowledge, expertise, and consumer needs. Skincare is hot right now, but there seems to be a huge oversight when it comes to caring about whether the brand has world-class formulations or not. There’s also, unfortunately, still this prevailing idea amongst many founders and investors that the consumer doesn't know better, which is woefully untrue.” Upon asking Haldipurkar if the money spent on packaging is more cost-effective with better ROIs (return on investment), she says, “Sometimes, the cost of packaging can mirror the cost of formulations, in which case they can be equally, if not more, expensive. The importance of spending that money depends on you and your audience. Do you want to spend the money on packaging, making your product more expensive and potentially alienating a price-sensitive audience? It’s a decision to be taken seriously and after much consideration. For us, the investment is worth its while.” 

When it comes to R&D and nailing formulations, every number of trials can seem to be less since the market is cluttered with promisingly potent solutions. Countries like Switzerland, Korea, France, Japan, and Germany are skincare hubs that have cracked the code. Indian brands like d’you, Gunam, into, and Put Simply have resorted to laboratories in these countries to create high-performance products. R&D is an expensive affair; Devyani Nalla, founder of Into, points out that, “for indie brands, packaging often presents challenges due to higher minimum order quantities (MOQs) from packaging manufacturers. In contrast, product manufacturers are more flexible with smaller batch sizes, while packaging partners typically maintain stricter MOQs.” For nascent Indian brands, this industrial roadblock could also pose an either/or challenge between packaging and formulations in light of profits, even if that shouldn’t be the case.

When packaging distracts you from reading labels

“Patients should prioritise the efficacy of skincare products over their packaging. While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying pretty packaging, the real focus should be on the formulation and its ability to deliver results,” says Lucknow-based board-certified dermatologist Dr Nidhi Singh Tandon. “What matters most is that the product addresses your skin’s needs and performs effectively. Always take the time to read the label and understand the ingredients and their true concentrations.” 

Singh Tandon uses the example of cosmeceutical products. “They involve minimal packaging and focus on formulating products specifically for common and more targeted skin concerns, which tend to be more effective and are solid choices for over-the-counter skincare. Cosmeceutical products often come in simple, non-attractive packaging because their primary focus is on efficacy not aesthetics, reflecting a clinical approach. Additionally, simpler packaging keeps costs down, so that budgets can be allocated to research and development,” says the medical expert. 

“If the packaging attracts you first, read product reviews to understand if it’s worth your investment. Pretty packaging is no doubt the best way for brands to attract more customers, but it cannot on its own sell a product if its formula lacks merit,,” concludes Haldipurkar, indicating that the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the consumer too.

Lead Image: Instagram.com/kounthear

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