Recently, Fair & Lovely decided to drop ‘Fair’ from its name owing to long displeasure of people for stereotyping Indian skin tones and equating ‘fairness’ with ‘success’.
Stroking the wordplay, the brand soon used a synonym for ‘fair’ and renamed its identity as ‘Glow & Lovely’.
The real definition of beauty
Beauty is not about being fair – While this is the general sentiment of people, this is what Shahnaz Husain, the founder, chairperson & MD of The Shahnaz Husain Group in India has always believed in.
“Beauty is an impact of one’s physical, emotional and spiritual power. It is the blending of these qualities of an individual into one integrated whole. A healthy mind and body will automatically result positively on your face,” says Shahnaz.
“Beauty care should only help in accentuating the radiance on your skin and hair because the beauty lies in having good health inherently,” she further adds.
Indian men taking the center stage
Coming into the skincare and wellness game are Indian men, who traditionally have not been known to take care of their skin and hair as much as women. However, this impression has changed over the last couple of years.
Talking about this change, Shahnaz says, “Indian men are finally shedding some of the misplaced notions associated with personal grooming, skincare and beauty. After all, it’s only fair that men get to be lovely too.”
According to market research firm Nielsen, 177 new male grooming brands or variants were launched between April 2018 and March 2019.
The size of the branded male grooming segment has crossed the INR 5,000 crore mark in urban India.
While shaving and face care products continue to account for over 50% of the male grooming pie, new categories such as body care and hair care are also fueling the growth.
Shahnaz further talks about the role of social media behind this change.
She says, “Given the fact that life today is increasingly lived and experienced online, often through rose-tinted filters, men too are feeling the pressure to be selfie-ready 24/7.”
Shahnaz Husain Group have developed a range of products for men like Shamen, a complete skincare cream; ShaShave, an aftershave; Shamla Plus, a herbal scalp cleanser; travelling kit and deodorants, among others.
Shahnaz lists 5 key things for men to ensure their skin stays youthful
Impact of Covid-19 on the business
Hit by the Covid-19 slump, followed by social distancing and a nationwide lockdown, businesses are experiencing major impacts no matter how established they have been.
They are having to re-look at managing and operating their business including re-visitation of their business plan.
During such testing times, entrepreneurs like Shahnaz will have to adapt to a new set of rules and be mindful of the aspects to alleviate risks and to survive the slowdown caused by the impact of Covid-19.
“For my business there has been a marked shift towards online and digital sales. We have evolved new strategies to tap this space so that we can quickly start pulling up the company which had been hit by the pandemic and bring it to pre-Covid levels,” says Shahnaz.
DIY beauty tips from Shahnaz
While salons have now resumed operations after a long halt, people are still apprehensive to step out and rightly so. Hence, it is important more than ever to continue with DIY techniques at home for skincare among other things.
“I have always said that for a glowing and healthy skin one needs to be healthy from inside,” says Shahnaz. She would recommend the following DIY Tips for a glowing skin.
