Beauty brands are now awakening to the body positivity movement and joining the cause by being more conscious and mindful of what they put into their products and how they want to present their brand to the millennials. Hindustan Unilever and Johnson & Johnson recently abandoned “Fairness Label” to rid India of its colour prejudice. New-age startups like Super Smelly, WOW, Mamaearth are also joining this movement against colourism and are bringing toxin free, natural and organic products to the mainstream market.
Super Smelly
Gen Z and Millennial are now key driving factors of this industry and are influencing household brand purchase decisions, seeing this as a huge opportunity, Super Smelly, India’s only 100% toxin-free & natural personal care brand for GenZ is promoting the concept of healthy skin (being super naturally) over fair skin and has a range of zany products like deodorants, moisturizer, face packs, face washes, lip balms, etc.
Super Smelly is the entrepreneurial brainchild of Dipali Mathur Dayal. Mother to an active growing up daughter, Dipali was on the perpetual quest to find safe personal care products for her tween and in the absence of safe options in India, she was obligated to use either ineffective baby care products or brands meant for adults. This was when she along with her friend, Milan Sharma (Co-Founder NKPL), set off on the journey of formulating India’s only Gen Z-focused brand of natural and toxin-free personal care solutions.
Aiming to be a reliable companion to every young adult in the most crucial and formative years of their lives, Super Smelly comes with an interesting product range which contains natural ingredients like witch hazel, tea tree oil, ginseng and aloe-vera. Super Smelly, being a digitally first startup, is available online on all major platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa and Big Basket. The brand currently also retails its range across over 250 retail outlets in Delhi NCR.
WOW
On the other hand, Women of Worth (WOW), has been driving the ‘Dark Is Beautiful’ campaign since 2009 and believes that brand has decided to stop selling its whitening products. With a product range in nutritional supplements, skin care, hair care, and kids products, WOW claims to deliver innovative formulations that are inspired by nature and traditional ayurvedic secrets blended with herbs in health and beauty essentials.
Arvind Sokke and Ashwin Sokke, Manish Chowdhary, and Karan Chowdhary started off with the skincare and lifestyle industry; Today, their company Fit&Glow is a $50 million (Rs 350 crore) business and its brand, Wow, is a national and global hit.
Their Apple cider vinegar shampoo, WowSkin Science Aloe Vera Gel and Onion Black Seed Oil are the most popular products and major sellers.
Wow Skin Science Products are completely free from Harmful Sulphates, Silicones & Parabens and are dermatologically tested. They are available online on Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, myntra, purple.com
Mamaearth
Founded in 2016 by husband-wife duo, Varun and Ghazal Alagh, Mamaearth claims to be Asia’s first Made-safe certified brand that offers 100 percent toxin-free and natural skin care, hair care and baby care products. When Varun and Ghazal were expecting their first child (the couple were in India at the time), they realized that all the baby care products they came across contained harmful toxins, and they couldn’t find any safer alternatives. That is when the idea of Mamaearth was born. Varun and Ghazal decided to find a solution to the problem faced by many Indian parents. Mamaearth became Asia’s 1st Brand to offer “MadeSafe” certified products,
India’s first bamboo based baby wipes, easy tummy roll on with hing and fennel for colic and digestion relief, and 100% natural plant-based toothpaste for children between 0-10 years. It also has a range of skin and hair care products around popular natural ingredients like onion, ubtan, tea tree, vitamin C, argan, coco, and charcoal
Mamaearth, recycles their plastic and is certified as “cruelty-free” by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Mamaearth products can be found in medical stores. One can also find it online with better offers.
Thank you Tasneem. This article is very helpful for a sensitive skin type person like me who is constantly on a hunt for such products.