The make-up reality: East India eyes it, faces it, nails it
India accounted for over a third of all cosmetics sold in India in FY24, despite having less than a quarter of the country's households, with companies saying the region is a hotspot for most of its launches and product innovation. Global consumer researcher Kantar said in its latest report that more than 186 million pieces of cosmetics — including lipsticks, nail polish and eyeliners — were sold in the past year in top 10 Indian cities.
«Average makeup usage per person is higher in the east; women in the region like wearing makeup more than any other part of the country. For us, usage is significantly higher in the north too,» said Samir K Modi, managing director, Modi Enterprises, which sells Colorbar brand. «Unlike other markets, where people tend to stick to fewer shades, the eastern region consumes a lot of different shades, even darker ones generally not sold much elsewhere.»
Within cosmetics, lip products are the biggest, with 65 million units sold annually, generating close to Rs 1,700 crore revenue in FY24. Face and lip cosmetics together generate close to Rs 2,900 crore, or about 70% of industry value. While 47 million nail cosmetics are purchased annually, their relatively lower cost means they generate about Rs 350 crore. Eye products are the smallest colour cosmetic segment in the country by number of units — sold at 34 million.
«East is the biggest across all cosmetic sectors — lip, face, nail and eye — and south zone is the only market other than east that has a penetration of over 50% for the
