Profiting from pollution: Beauty brands making moolah as air quality worsens

With pollution levels rising across Indian cities, beauty care brands are having a field day. Products specially designed to “combat pollution and its damaging effects” are flooding the wellness market off late. This marks a noticeable shift from skin lightening/whitening and tightening products that swept through the sector a while ago, playing on the obsession with fairness and “youthful appearance”.

As per the World Health Organisation global air pollution data, 14 out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world are in India, and this list includes New Delhi.

“In India, fairness or whitening products were once the craze, but the changing environment has forced people to think differently. Many people now seek products that take care of their skin or repair the effects of pollution. 

Research in various fields has shown that pollution can cause age spots or hyperpigmentation of the skin. Thus, these days, the anti-pollution wave is driving the skincare market and brands are launching products because there is a demand for it,” says Doyoul Lee, country head, Innisfree India.

According to Natasha Sharma, consultant doctor, Kama Ayurveda, the needs of the beauty market change with the changing needs of the consumers. “Today’s consumer is aware, highly evolved, intelligent and extremely discerning, looking for products that are safe and kind to the skin.”

Brands have thus introduced pollution combating lotions, creams, cleansers and other products from ingredients as exotic as Jeju calamus, baicalin and perlite.

“Jeju calamus is an Asiatic aquatic plant collected from the South Korean island of Jeju. It has absorption properties and it absorbs pollutants such as fine dust and heavy metal. Calamus is known as a plant carrying purifying properties, besides its skin soothing and antioxidant benefits,” says Lee.

Anuj Mishra, educational manager, Kiehl’s India, says ingredients carrying antioxidant properties are the most common ingredients in pollution control products. “Baicalin, besides being an antioxidant, carries anti-inflammatory properties as well. Perlite is a natural mineral derived from volcanic rock and it gently sloughs away excess grime and grease along with dead skin cells.”

There also exist organically grown ingredients like noni extract, licorice extract and camellia japonica flower extract that neutralise the free radicals that are present in the environment, says Gautam Dhar, executive director and CEO, Divine Organics.

According to Sharma, indigenous Indian herbs such as neem, tulsi and turmeric are also well-known pollution combatants, with neem purifying the skin and eradicating toxins; and turmeric detoxifying the skin with its anti-inflammatory, blood purifying and anti-ageing properties.

The wellness and beauty care market in India, as per KPMG, was estimated at Rs.80, 370 crore in FY 2017-18. It has been growing at a compounded annual rate of 18%.

Mishra says health experts have long stressed the effect and impact of pollution on our overall health and the major role it plays in premature ageing. “At first, only a few brands launched targeted anti-pollution products. But now, as the market develops, we are seeing more brands introducing products specifically designed to protect skin from pollution.”

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CLEAN AND CLEAR SKIN
-18%  Compounded annual rate the segment has been growing at  
-Rs 80,370 cr  Wellness and beauty care market in India, as per KPMG  
-Brands have introduced pollution combating lotions, creams, cleansers and other products from ingredients as exotic as Jeju calamus, baicalin and perlite

Source: DNA Money