Does the ‘luxury’ tag for Ayurveda beauty brands make a huge difference?

While most beauty aficionados have a soft spot for luxurious beauty Ayurvedic concoctions, would these products garner equal interest in the absence of the ‘luxury’ element? 

Ayurveda, one of the world’s most ancient forms of medicine, dates back over 5,000 years. It has not only stood the test of time for centuries, but has also managed to fascinate a younger demographic, not just in India, but worldwide. From joint aches to gut health, wounds and bruises to a lacklustre complexion and unhealthy hair and scalp, Ayurveda provides solutions for most ailments or conditions by employing natural ingredients—mostly kitchen staples—into healing recipes. 

Today, Ayurveda has undergone multiple advancements, leading to the resurgence of the concept and its implementation in day-to-day life. From herbal-infused hair oils to ubtans and lepas inspired by Ayurvedic texts, one can get their hands on all kinds of Ayurvedic beauty preparations in modern, user-friendly and ready-to-use bottles and jars. While popular brands like Vicco, Dabur and Patanjali have been striving to prevent the extinction of Ayurveda through their austere offerings for a long time, homegrown labels like Forest Essentials, Purearth and Kama Ayurveda have pioneered the category of luxury Ayurveda, making it a mainstream concept for even those who steered clear from this space, fearing compromised quality in the name of ‘natural products’. International brands like Fable & Mane, Ranavat, UMA Oils, Sahajan and the likes have played a prominent role in taking Ayurveda to the world in recent years. 

For most consumers, the thoughtful, sensorial and well-packaged offerings from the aforementioned premium brands have become synonymous with Ayurvedic beauty products. So, does that imply that a luxury Ayurvedic is poised to sell out easier than an Ayurvedic product that doesn’t essentially come with a ‘luxury’ tag? We attempt to find out.

What does it mean to be a luxury Ayurveda brand?

“Ayurveda is an ancient Indian holistic healing system that focuses on maintaining a balance between the mind, body, and soul and emphasises natural ingredients, herbal remedies, and traditional self-care practices to promote overall health and well-being. The culmination of two distinctive elements resulted in the birth of Forest Essentials and its legacy of luxury Ayurveda, something that didn’t exist earlier,” shares Mira Kulkarni, founder of Forest Essentials. “We debuted with a luxurious natural soap, back when homegrown brands were selling mass-produced products and most Indians who could afford it [soap] were importing it from abroad. The products sold, and became bestsellers, contrary to popular perception,” she furthers, talking about the institution of the brand and how the element of luxury was at its heart since day one. “For us, true luxury is found in the details, the thoughtful touches, and the unique ways in which we can create memorable experiences. The sensorial experience of luxurious Ayurveda then also extends to the consumers’ in-store experience,” says Kulkarni.

For Vivek Sahni, co-founder and CEO of Kama Ayurveda, authenticity, potency, and purity were the paramount principles on which he built the brand. That the products are luxurious only seems like the most natural by-product of his approach to fabricating them. “We’ve never branded ourselves as a luxurious brand; our tagline is Authentic, time-tested and effective, and we always promote ourselves as an authentic Ayurvedic brand (against an Ayurveda-based or Ayurveda-inspired brand),” shares Sahni, whose brand offers classical treatments, picked up from Ayurvedic texts. 

“What makes us expensive is the authenticity and the quality of ingredients used.” The brand’s best-selling Bringadi Hair Oil uses only fresh—and not dry—Bhringraj. To keep this freshness aspect intact, the brand can only produce the ingredient eight months in a year, and store it for the next four months. Even the saffron used by the brand is sourced from Kashmir and not Iran or Afghanistan, given that Kashmiri saffron is the most potent. But, it’s also the most expensive. “When you follow stringent protocols like that, the cost of the formulation automatically jumps, resulting in a perception of a luxury brand,” says Sahni. 

The benefits of being perceived as a luxury (Ayurveda) brand

The foundational theory of Ayurveda thrives on natural ingredients. However, unfortunately, terms like ‘natural’ and ‘herbal’ are very loosely used (and abused) in the beauty industry today, leaving consumers ambivalent about the efficacy and authenticity of the products. And, luxury Ayurvedic beauty brands definitely fill a void in that sense. “Of course, the ‘luxury’ tag always helps,” says Vasudha Rai, beauty editor and author of Glow: Indian Foods, Recipes and Rituals for Beauty, Inside and Out. “It elevates a product as far as the experience is concerned. Look at what RANAVAT did with Kumkumadi Tailam (a traditional saffron-based oil); the brand took inspiration from the traditional recipe and developed its Radiant Rani Brightening Serum which is a really sublime product to use.”

Sahni is of the opinion that 70 per cent of repeat customers come back to Kama Ayurveda not because it’s simply a luxury brand but because it offers an authentic solution that delivers. “However, yes, this perception of being a luxury brand definitely helps, especially in the case of first-time consumers,” he says. “Customers feel safe in the environment of our store as they not only get to touch and feel the product but also interact with the brand’s apothecary-like ambience and the beauty advisors and Ayurvedic doctors who educate them through and through.” Twenty years ago, when Kama Ayurveda had no physical footprint of its own, Sahni strategically offered his products at chemists and shops that had the likes of French skincare brand Vichy, to target the audience that would be willing to pay for quality products. Even today, that unconscious positioning and efforts put into setting a certain mood at the stores, helps ameliorate a consumer’s introduction to the brand. The perception of being a luxury product then does help through the same old philosophy of the more you pay, the better quality you get.

The status quo of the Ayurvedic market

A Business Line report revealed that the market size of Ayurvedic products had touched US$4.4 billion in 2018. Just four years later, in 2022, and two years into the pandemic, the market expanded to approximately US$7.6 billion, according to another study, which also states that this market is poised to grow at a whopping compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.51 per cent by 2028. It’s crystal clear that the Ayurvedic market is undergoing a major boom. However, revisit any of these reports, and the brands that have secured the premier spots are all the popular ones that largely cater to the masses—Patanjali Ayurved Limited, Dabur, Emami Group and so forth, in that order.

“Of course, Ayurvedic brands can survive without being luxury brands,” says Rai. “Look around you—brands like Dabur and Patanjali, as well as traditional South Indian brands like K P Namboodiri (they offer an Ayurvedic toothpaste amongst other products) and even Indulekha (who offer a hair oil with a traditional Ayurvedic recipe), are all surviving and how,” shares the beauty expert. Rai swears by a hair cleanser from Anahata, which is not a luxury brand, but she loves the age-old recipe of the powder-based cleanser. “We all know that Ayurveda has been around for a few thousand years now and people have opted for Ayurvedic solutions for as long as one can remember without ‘luxury’ being in the picture,” says Sahni. “It’s been rediscovered in North India recently, but in South India, it’s been a way of life. People still visit vaids (Ayurvedic doctors) in the South. I, for one, had no knowledge of Ayurveda growing up, until I visited the South and discovered it myself,” he furthers. “I think Ayurvedic brands will obviously survive without being luxurious; that’s a no-brainer… it’s not even a question,” concludes Rai. 

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