The Beauty & the Beast (of an Industry!!! :-))

Ah the ironies of life…beauty may be fleeting but the business of beauty is certainly not. One of the most stable, recession proof and profitable businesses that can ever be! Ever since it was formally recognized as an industry 100 years ago, it is rumored to have always overtaken GDP growth…......

But before we go any further on the statistics of the Indian beauty industry, lets clearly define what constitutes this industry. So here goes…

The beauty industry in India comprises of:
Skin Care segment that includes skin creams, moisturizers, cleansers, toners, astringents, sun protectors etc.
Hair Care segment that includes hair oils, dyes, shampoos, conditioners etc, and
Other Beauty Products segment such a makeup, nail enamels, lipsticks, lip gloss etc

A clear definition is important because the category does NOT include Beauty Soaps, Deodorants, Shaving products etc. Most definitions are muddled and overlapping because the mother category, FMCG, has a rather wide range of sub categories

Anyways that established, lets now move on to the statistics. It is estimated that the overall annual size of the beauty products category is approximately Rs. 5000 Crores split almost equally between Skincare & Haircare. And if beauty service industry is included then the size is estimated at Rs. 15000 Crores (that's the reason you see so many clinics and spas coming up)

Broadly there are two types of beauty products; personal beauty products and professional beauty products. As their names suggest the former can be self applied whereas latter requires professional help of beauty technicians and are therefore available only in a salons. Professional products account for a mere 14% of the total products market and are furtehr segmented into; Cosmeceuticals, dermaceuticals, active products etc. & other serious R&D based products specifically targeted at specifoc skin concerns like Acne etc. These account for 15-20 % of the professional range

Hindustan Unilever and L’Oreal are the accepted market leaders the skin and hair segments respectively. There are others like Schwarzkopf, Dabur, P&G, Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals, Dermalogica and Neutrogena etc. in both these segments

It is he Rs. 10,000 crores beauty services market is where maximum action is taking place though. The segment is largely unorganized with thousand of individual beauticians and neighborhood parlors. But the organized segment is catching up with players like Lakme Salon, Lakme Studio Kaya Skin Clinic etc and many other local chains. Even here segments are emerging such as Spa, Clinics etc. The unorganized segment will see an exit of several fly by night, non-serious and unscrupulous players who have entered to make a fast buck