Beauty firms move upmarket to jostle for space, lift margin

Beauty and personal care brands are relying on prestige products with globally sourced ingredients, innovative packaging and premium positioning to stand out.

- Sowmya Ramasubramanian

India's beauty and personal care market is expected to grow from $21 billion in 2024 to $34 billion by 2028.

The shift reflects a broader premiumisation wave as shoppers steadily upgrade to better, higher-priced skincare and personal care products, said experts. Once defined by broad-based and mass-market products, the beauty and personal care space is now seeing a number of direct-to-consumer players launching high-end lines. The shift signals not just a bid for higher margins, but an urgent need for sharper differentiation in a market crowded with lookalikes and aggressive discounting.

Earlier this month, Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer Ltd, launched a new venture, Lumineve, a nighttime skincare brand positioned in the prestige category, in partnership with Nykaa. “We believe this is not just a brand which will take India by surprise, but probably help us with global expansion in future,” Honasa’s CEO Varun Alagh said at the September quarter earnings call.