Beauty product companies have discovered a major market in Punjab

Chandigarh, April 3 (ANI): A growing number of global cosmetics and skin care companies are expanding their product lines in the Punjab to capitalise on the growth of urban areas in the State.

Indian skin is being coddled like never before global brands - Maybelline, Miners, Clarins, Revlon and others are some of the popular names introducing high-end, technologically advanced skincare products.oreign brands, presently, constitute about 20 per cent of the Indian cosmetic market. But foreign share has been increasing as of urban Indian women basic skincare has not remained basic anymore. Sophisticated formulations are finding their way into their lives.

Currently, anti-ageing category is the fastest growing segment. One can notice that a retail revolution is taking place in the cosmetics sector. Currently worth 950 million dollars, it is set to touch 1.4 billion dollars by 2010.

"They are trendy; the latest colours are there. There are different shades. I don't want to put the same shade that my mother puts. I want to have something totally different, something jazzy, something which I see probably on the Hollywood movie. I want to put the same share, which I get from the international ranges," said Pallavi Mishra, a beauty products enthusiast in Chandigarh.

The rapidly increasing number of women in white-collar jobs and their growing taste for sophistication has propelled India to become one of the fastest growing markets for cosmetics in the world.

The growth is also largely being driven by an ever-expanding middle class, which is rapidly evolving due to the expansion of service-oriented industries.

In the quest for quality products at competitive prices, Indian has been sourcing a number of cosmetics from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

And, the leaders of global cosmetic industry are already making India a springboard for higher returns.

France has been the traditional supplier with imports increasing over 170 per cent in the last five years to 19.39 million dollars.

Imports from the U.S. and the UK have also recorded a significant growth.

"It' been a great response. The consumers have started to adopt the brand really well. It is for the first time that they have an international brand. And the pricing is also at the right level. The growth has been fantastic and phenomenal. To give you an idea, in our second year, we grew 55 per cent over the first year. Now the brand is well- known and we have been able to hold our market," said Alexis Szabo, Regional Director of M.A.C. (Middle East, India and Africa).

Indian and international cosmetic companies are also targeting the 'untapped' market for their products - men.

With an increasing number of Indian men thronging saloons for variety of beauty treatments such as manicures, pedicures and getting facials among other beauty enhancing techniques, cosmetic products sales are going through the roof.

"Earlier, only women used the beauty products, now men are very much using these products. You can see men's clinic and dermatologist clinic for them. Hair remover, permanent laser and all that and they are more conscious about the facial and you find them in the beauty parlor now. So the market size is increasing," said Arvinder Singh, Business Manager, Ebony in Chandigarh.

Indian retail groups, with their strategy to offer quality goods to consumers are bringing foreign brands into the Indian market.

The trend is expected to gain strength, as direct selling companies are also finding India a lucrative market.

For instance, the Toronto-based M.A.C. Cosmetics, an Estee Lauder brand, has set up its exclusive stores in the Indian metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

Oriflame, which now sells locally manufactured products in the country, has focused on quality and price, giving the middle class Indian women a better deal to get the cosmetic she wants. By Sunil Sharma (ANI)