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Beauty is serious business
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The queen of herbal cosmetics has entered the mass market with a low priced fairness cream
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BEAUTY RECIPES FROM KITCHEN SHELF Shahnaz Husain makes another economic move Photo: Bijoy Ghosh
It was the phenomenal success, definitely. But there had to be more to it than just that. The tempestuous hair, and flamboyant clothing, perhaps?
Ten seconds since her first word, however, it was easy to guess what it really was that made her so inerasable from memory — her unabashed pleasure in being Shahnaz Husain.
"There are a million multinational cosmetic giants out there," she said, "You know why none of them can match up to me? Because there is only one Shahnaz Husain." She's created one of the biggest ayurvedic cosmetics company in India, but it is still the woman that overshadows the brand. "I've never had to advertise," she said. "It was a decision I made when I started my cosmetics company 35 years ago. Why must I pay others to do a job I can do a thousand times better?"
She obviously enjoyed her achievements with every muscle in her body: "I might have said the same things a million times, hai na?" she laughed, "I don't like to talk about my struggles, because it might show that I was weak at some point of time. Which is totally impossible, of course. Shahnaz Husain knows no struggle." It is all a product of grit and determination, she said, "Mine alone."
Decades ago, she was the woman who taught us quick do-it-yourself makeovers on DD's `Shahnaz Husain on the Kitchen Shelf'. Today, she's an award-winning leader of herbal beauty care and the Ayurvedic Ambassador for 2004. Coming from a conservative Muslim family of Chief Justices, and Nizams, business wasn't an option Shahnaz considered at all. But when she went to Denmark to "randomly do a course on cosmetics", she was horrified to know the side effects chemical cosmetics could have.
"I hadn't studied Ayurveda, but I knew it existed. And that herbs could only cure; they wouldn't hurt us." Her eyes wide, she reeled off cases where traces of mercury were found in a woman's blood stream, and how it was pinned down to a chemical-based cream she'd used on her face. "Most Kajal is also 30 per cent lead, you know... and so many of our women use it," she said.
But with her premium quality herbal products, was she really reaching out to all those women who used "cheap kajal"? "Darling, I never planned to be upmarket. Initially, there was no excise duty on Ayurveda. So for 15 years, I revelled in happiness because I could sell things for Rs. 10. But excise has caught up with me. Besides, even the herbs are rarer and thus, costlier."
Although she already makes an upmarket fairness cream, Shahnaz has now entered the mass market with one at a medium-range price. It is, what she called, "An intelligent economic move because the fairness products market in India is Rs.2,200 crores."
Then quickly, "Oh, I know what you press people will ask now: Madam, by promoting fairness, are you saying dark skin is bad?" she said, "It is not about whitening the skin; it's about diffusing melanin and protecting stressed skin from the harsh sun's rays. My product is different. I'm not reinforcing a colour complex; I'm only catering to a large demand." But couldn't she afford not to do so? "Maybe. But everyone is entitled to have fair skin, don't you think? It boosts self-belief." Coming from someone whose unflinching self-assurance comes from 35 years of hard work, this seemed like an all too simple route to self-respect.
ROHINI MOHAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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