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Sneha Mankani profile imageSneha Mankani
Why are Indian influencers launching so many beauty brands?

Influencers have always served as the faces of beauty brands. Now they’re going ahead and making their own

When it comes to our beauty purchases, we’ve always had a bit of help (sometimes subconsciously) from catalysts towards making that final choice. Whether it’s asking your hairdresser to give you bangs like Brigitte Bardot or that instinctive lure towards an exact shade of red lipstick you probably grew up watching your mum wear, connections help us foresee the benefits of beauty products through someone else’s experience, thus making it easy to believe, and want.

Aanam Chashmawala  has 313k followers on Instagram and 250k+ YouTube subscribers.

Aanam Chashmawala has 313k followers on Instagram and 250k+ YouTube subscribers.

Through her debut product, she gave her followers bullet lipsticks that are as matte as they are buttery.

Through her debut product, she gave her followers bullet lipsticks that are as matte as they are buttery.

Today, we have ‘influencers’. They aren’t just celebrities but also individuals who aren’t tailed by the paparazzi. They’ve many a time helped us pick an eye cream, discover an ingredient or master a foolproof winged-eye technique, simply because it’s what they love to do. Over years of innovative content creation, knowledge sharing and listening to their followers on social media, they’ve built a loyalty no one can take away from them. The natural next step? Gathering all that they’ve gleaned through their careers yet, and a fair bit of guts, and creating a beauty brand they’re pretty darn sure their followers would love. But did they think they could have predicted this reality when they created their first- ever post? Probably not.

When founder of Huda Beauty, make-up artist Huda Kattan began blogging in 2010, she probably didn’t think that eight years later she’d be on Forbes's list of America's Richest Self-Made Women. When Emily Weiss started her blog Into the Gloss in 2010, she didn’t think her beauty brand Glossier, that she launched in 2014, would have a valuation of $1.8 billion in 2021. The last decade has given the beauty industry a facelift like none other.

Generation ‘You’

Diipa Büller-Khosla launched indē wild in October 2021, rooted in self-authenticity and as an expression of natural beauty. She began indulging in her passion for beauty and fashion through blogging while in her early twenties. Her first investment came from her family—200 euros to purchase the fashion items to blog with. Over the past decade, Büller-Khosla has become the face of L’Oréal, walked at the Cannes Film Festival, been on 24 magazine covers including VogueIndia, and founded a skincare brand, among many other milestones.


“I started off as an ambitious law student who only considered fashion and social media as a fun hobby to someone who has made it her passion and reality, getting to display things that truly matter to me, to over 1.2 million amazing people,” she says. Sprouting from the need to diminish insecurities like colourism, skin issues and a lack of representation she personally faced growing up, Büller-Khosla created indē wild with an AM Sunrise Serum (Vitamin C), and PM Bakuchiol Serum. Through her research with focus groups, she found that not enough brands were creating skincare globally that catered to ‘desis’ like her. “We take into account what our audience wants, we are a brand that’s co-founded by the people, naturally their opinion would be the driving force of our purpose,” she says.

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"We take into account what our audience wants, we are a brand that’s co-founded by the people, naturally their opinion would be the driving force of our purpose,” says Diipa Büller-Khosla.

Aanam Chashmawala became a blogger in December 2011 to blow off steam while studying for a degree in mass media. Today, she has 313k followers on Instagram and 250k+ YouTube subscribers. “Over the past decade, I've learnt my strengths and weaknesses as a creator, and I've tried to fill out the gaps and hire people where I was falling short,” she says. Chashmawala launched Wearified with a digital-first approach six months ago, with butter to matte longwear lipsticks, enriching them with skincare benefits. “I’m always observing what people struggle with. If there's an existing product that solves that problem, I'll recommend it without thinking twice. But if there’s a genuine gap in the space, I'd like to work on it and formulate products that might help someone.” Through her debut product, she gave her followers bullet lipsticks that are as matte as they are buttery. “To me, the idea of building my own brand has been such a huge ambition, and to see the way it's being accepted is something out of a dream,” she adds.

Despite a rouch financial patch, Malvika Sitlani continued creating content seven years ago, and when she started getting noticed by brands, she knew it had to level up. “I also began at the right time; it was a time where content creators were just trying to make their mark. I’m so glad I chose to bet on myself and believed that if I put in my hours, something great will have to come out of it,” she says. Sitlani launched MASIC Beauty (Malvika + Basic) in 2020 with scented candles, anchored by her entrepreneurial husband and ex-manager, now co-founder. MASIC Beauty’s main aim: to achieve a balance between luxury and budget-friendly products. “We wanted people to experience luxe packaging, design and formation along with it being affordable,” says Sitlani.

Malvika Sitlani launched MASIC Beauty (Malvika + Basic) in 2020 with scented candles.

Malvika Sitlani launched MASIC Beauty (Malvika + Basic) in 2020 with scented candles.

MASIC Beauty’s main aim: to achieve a balance between luxury and budget-friendly products.

MASIC Beauty’s main aim: to achieve a balance between luxury and budget-friendly products.

Selling authenticity

Besides crowdsourcing the inception of what to launch next, the creators want to make what they couldn’t get, and share it with the world. For Kattan, an unapologetic make-up lover, launching with her now cult lashes was obvious. “I first started wearing false lashes as a teenager and have been wearing them every day since,” she said to me in an earlier interview. She’d stack and customise her own lashes then for her clients, and eventually decided it was time to make it more accessible. Weiss wanted to stop playing messenger and create her own brand that would understand, communicate and co-create with her audience and the changing dynamics.

The biggest advantage creators today have over other brands is a direct communication channel with who they're creating for. When Büller-Khosla decided to make indē wild, she knew it had to be a solution to a problem she’s personally faced and certain others have, too. “Growing up and feeling unaccepted by most beauty standards, it took years into my adulthood to finally accept the real version of myself. It is a concept I have implemented in indē wild—to accept one’s true identity, underneath filters and a mask,” she says. It is something they like to refer to as #RealOverPerfect—the brand follows a 0.0 per cent photoshop ethos. With her all-female board of hair and skin experts, Büller-Khosla wants this “people-powered” brand to stand for representation, education and radical transparency.

“Growing up and feeling unaccepted by most beauty standards, it took years into my adulthood to finally accept the real version of myself.

“Growing up and feeling unaccepted by most beauty standards, it took years into my adulthood to finally accept the real version of myself."

Büller-Khosla wants this “people-powered” brand to stand for representation, education and radical transparency.

Büller-Khosla wants this “people-powered” brand to stand for representation, education and radical transparency.

A loyal army

The success of most ‘influencer beauty brands’ is evident in their trajectory. Their audience didn't need much convincing—they already trusted its maker. Büller-Khosla made $20,000 in sales on their very first day, minutes from launching. “I remember looking at my laptop screen and just seeing the orders people were placing one after another. It was truly an ‘is this really happening?’ moment.” In their first month, they accumulated $150,000 in sales, coming from over 2000 orders, and recently hit a major milestone with their investor funding, raising $3million in funding.

Meanwhile, Chashmawala’s second launch, the IRL Paris Filter Airbrush Powder, was sold out on their website in under four hours. “I think the goodwill of having an excellent debut product has led our existing customers to move on quickly to this launch.” With a community of 51k+ on Instagram, an expanding team of eight members and nine SKUs, and ₹1.3 crore in gross revenue in less than six months, Sitlani is hopeful of a bright future. She knows she has her “hype gang,” or her loyal followers, for support, and that’s really what links these women and others like them. “From their enthusiasm to their physical support for the brand, they have helped grow indē wild day by day, exponentially. They gave their advice, opinions and suggestions, which we took and turned into a brand they could feel they had contributed to,” says Büller-Khosla.

“Having a set of people who trusted in my beauty reviews, choices and made purchases based on my opinions gave me the confidence to understand the pulse of what was working and what wasn’t,” says Chashmawala. Sitlani adds, “The support of my audience only makes me want to do more and grow in ways I cannot imagine yet. The pressure is on. However, I feel very comfortable making mistakes and being honest about them. They [the audience] are like my family and they truly get me.” And vice versa.

We’re in an era where we know better, or at least, we want to. If influencer brands are listening to us and trying to give us what we need by being authentic, real and transparent along the way, it’s a step towards the kind of diversity this industry is definitely ready for.

Also Read: What does it mean to be a Gen Z beauty brand today?

Also Read: Why are celebrities launching their own beauty brands?

Also Read: Here’s how Indians are shopping for beauty in 2022


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