India: From need-based to essential and ecologically advanced beauty
Dr Renuka Thergaonkar, president of the Indian Society of Cosmetic Chemists, said the ongoing COVID-19 crisis had created a wave of change in India’s beauty market.
“Industry has changed tremendously over the past year, especially after the pandemic. It was a time to sit at home, look at the products being sold on the market, and think deeply on needs and demands, and the objectives of using our products. This actually led to the opening of new categories, as well as changing from a need-based to an essential category,” Thergaonkar said.
As brands invested in essential innovation, she said the need for improved efficacy had been sharpened, as had the focus on sustainability. “There is a lot of demand for these types of ecologically advanced products using natural ingredients.”
And Thergaonkar said last year’s New Cosmetic Act created by the Indian government had helped all this because, under the act, the quality of products being manufactured, marketing and imported into India’s cosmetics category had become “the most important aspect”.