Evolution of women makes Indian market very interactive: NudeStix founder

Jenny Frankel, President and Founder of Canada-based cosmetic brand NudeStix, which has forayed into India under global retail partner Sephora, feels the reason why many international brands are coming to India is because of the sheer size of the economy and the modernization of women in the country, which makes the market interactive for different brands.

"I think you know an obvious reason is the sheer size of the economy and I think the sheer modernization of the women here in India," Frankel told IANS over an e-mail from Mumbai when asked about the reason for launching the brand in India.

"The modern-day women here in India are in absolute love with beauty. She is empowered, she is a career woman, she has money to spend on herself to feel good every single day. So, I really do feel it is just the way how the modern-day woman is evolving here in India, and it makes the market very interactive for brands that have products which we feel Indian women would love," she added.

Founded by Jenny along with her daughters Ally and Taylor Frankel, who are Chief Inspiration Officers for the brand, NudeStix was born out of the need for easy to use make-up products which accentuate women's finest features. The range comprises make up products enriched with vitamins, anti-oxidants and moisturizers for everyday wear.

Talking about the resurgence of nude and organic trends in the country's cosmetic industry, Jenny said: "I think as I spend time here in India and I look at women here, I see they are rushing to work, or picking up kids from school or driving, or at the back of a taxi, or in the bus or walking in the mall.

"When you look at any Indian woman, she actually has a very western approach to beauty. The western approach to beauty is actually 'less is more beauty' as opposed to the other regions such as the Middle East where a little more is the approach.

"So I actually find that Indian women are following the behaviour you see in New York and North America, which is really about natural looking tones, less is more and I think even that from a wellness perspective is going in that direction."

Women, she said want to eat healthier, use less preservatives in food and in make-up, have less fragrance and less synthetic chemicals that might be harmful.

But why India now is a part of the brand's expansion plans?

"We are a Canadian brand based in Toronto, which has a large Indian population. Toronto, I think, is one of the multi-cultural cities in the world.

"So when we originally developed NudeStix, we actually developed nudes in natural tones for all skin tones based on our Toronto population. This was really interesting because when it was time for us to think about launching the brand outside of Canada and going global, we already had nudes that actually worked for all skin tones and then it was a matter of us thinking about the global NudeStix girl and we truly believe that she is global and that was a big vision for us.

"The modern-day (Indian) woman is doing what every other woman in the world is doing. So, we knew that it was really important for us to be present in India and we were actually approached by Sephora, India," Jenny added.

NudeStix is currently available across 30 countries exclusively to Sephora.

"When Sephora India approached us saying we think that the Indian woman would absolutely love NudeStix because she is modern, and she is busy, she loves multi-tasking and she is on the go, we were like 'Yes, we have the products, we have the colours, let's do it'."

(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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