Meet 5 Indian skincare brands that are offering unique beauty solutions

With changing times and increased awareness, natural and organic products are gaining more popularity among millennials over the past few years. People today are making a conscious decision to use chemical-free products and adapting environmental-friendly solutions. 

According to a Redseer report,  the Indian cosmetics industry is expected to grow to about $20 billion by 2025, compared to the global cosmetics market, which is expected to reach $450 billion by 2025. This means that by 2025, India will account for five percent of the total global cosmetics market, making it one of the top five global cosmetics markets by revenue.

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In recent times, many Indian brands have gained prominence, and with the government's effort to push for more ‘Made in India' products, more such companies are expected to rise.  

YourStory lists five such Indian skincare brands that are bringing a change in this lucrative market.

Nature's Tattva

Delhi-based Nature's Tattva is a Do-it-Yourself (DIY) beauty brand, which aims to revolutionise the way beauty products are consumed. The brand provides raw materials with easy DIY tutorials, enabling the consumers to make their own cosmetics suited to their skin and hair type.

Since these products are freshly made at home by the consumers, there are no added preservatives to them and are chemical-free. 

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Megha Wadhwa, Co-founder of Nature’s Tattva, said, “We are sourcing the best of the products from across the globe, and our USP is getting the products from the source itself after thorough research. We have set standards for each product, and stringent quality measures are taken to assure the very best products reach our customers.”

It offers a variety of skincare items such as body butter, essential oils, facemask, gel, and hand sanitisers.

Currently, Nature’s Tattva products are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and its own website. It also sells through speciality offline stores in Delhi-NCR and Goa. 

Founded in October 2018 by Karnesh Mahendru and Megha Wadhwa, it raised $150,000 from Bollywood singer Sukhbir Singh and Rakhee Singal, Co-founder of Startup Buddy in April 2020.

Nature’s Tattva has clocked Rs 1.6 crore in its first year of operations, and is looking to grow at 20 percent month-on-month in the second year of its operations. 

SkinKraft

Conceptualised in 2017 by Chaitanya Nallan (CEO), Veerendra Shivhare (CTO), and Sangram Simha (CMO), SkinKraft leverages data to provide a customised skincare regime for Indian women.  

The Hyderabad and Bengaluru-based startup caters to typical complexion issues such as dark spots, dark patches, skin lightening/tanning, and acne. 

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Its product formulations take into consideration the skin types — normal, oily, combination, and dry — in addition to the current skin health markers, revealed in the questionnaire and related to the customer’s lifestyle. The startup then customises each kit according to the individual’s needs. 

It claims that its products are designed to be gentle on the skin and are free of harmful chemical compounds and irritants such as parabens and formaldehyde. 

“All SkinKraft products are backed by over 10,000 hours of intensive research and collaboration with Indian, Taiwanese, and Japanese dermato-cosmetologists, pharmacists, and pharmaceutical engineers,” Chaitanya explains.

SkinKraft targets women in the age group of 24-45 years, with a majority of them from Tier-I cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata.

Part of global media company IncNut Digital, in July 2020, the startup raised $4 million in its Series A round. It would use the funds to improve the overall infrastructure and artificial intelligence-driven data technology of SkinKraft, and its customised Ayurvedic beauty care regimen – Vedix.

Vilvah Store

The loss of her mother to a complication arising from a skin condition made Kruthika Kumaran build products that are chemical-free and suitable for all skin types. 

The 32-year-old engineer founded Vilvah Store in 2017 with an initial investment of Rs 10,000. The Coimbatore-based startup aims to become a pioneer in goat milk skincare products in India, and is looking at catering to all skin types. Vilvah Store offers organic products for hair and skin care. 

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The bootstrapped startup claims to have seen 100X growth in the second year of its operations, and this year, it claims to be seeing over 300X growth. It sees over 8,000 orders per month, with an average of Rs 1,500 per basket. 

Vilvah’s products are available on popular ecommerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa, to name a few.

Tribe Concepts

While pursuing her Master’s in Bengaluru, Amritha Gaddam was troubled with skin and hair problems, which she had never faced back home in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh.

Wanting to take better care of herself, she asked her mother to send her a few homemade self-care products.

Seeing the effectiveness of these homemade products, coupled with her childhood dreams of entrepreneurship, Amritha started Tribe Concepts — an organic hair care and skincare brand — in May 2019. 

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Apart from being preservative-free and chemical-free, Amritha shares that the products use ancient and forgotten Ayurvedic forest-based ingredients like Bakuchi, Rasna, and Manjishtha, among others, making Tribe Concepts a truly ‘Made in India’ brand. 

Amritha, along with her sister Apuroopa Gaddam, and Nitya Mohan, started the brand, which has its manufacturing plant set up in Rajahmundry, with business operations headquartered in Bengaluru.

With 10 products in its portfolio and 30,000 customers worldwide, the bootstrapped startup has managed to earn Rs 2.25 crore in its first year of operations. In the first nine months, it clocked revenue worth Rs 1 crore, followed by Rs 1.25 crore in the next three months. 

With sustainability as a core ethos and a zero-waste philosophy, Tribe Concepts’ products are packaged in reusable steel tins and glass bottles. 

Skinella

Cosmetics Engineer Dolly Kumar realised that Indian skincare brands were not targeting to the millennials — girls between the ages of 15 and 25 years — who were looking for complete skincare solutions. 

Discovering a gap in the market, Dolly launched Skinella, a brand that provides a complete skincare range to this target group, in 2017. The brand uses superfoods to make its products. 

“We all know superfoods are very beneficial when we consume them, imagine how good they can be when you apply them topically on your skin!” she exclaims. 

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Apart from the goodness of superfoods, the products are free from harsh chemicals, are vegan and PETA certified. 

In a span of three years, Skinella has created a portfolio of 26 products that range from lip balms to body butter. The products are available in leading retail outlets across India, as well as on ecommerce platforms like Nykaa, Amazon, Flipkart, and Paytm Mall.

A self-made entrepreneur, Dolly is the Founder of Cosmic Nutracos — the parent company of Skinella. At present, her venture doesn’t have any private funding, and she is proud when she says her startup has zero debts.