The Hindu Business Line : All for that perfect skin!

From a one-product-fits-all category, skin-care has metamorphosed to cater to a market that can provide solutions to all kinds of skin types. Here's a look at what's on offer in this segment.

If you are one of those rare mortals blessed with a perfect skin, you probably wash your face with soap at night and wake up the next morning, glowing.

If you are Michael Jackson, you can peel off your god-given skin in successive layers with the help of expensive surgeons, turning your pigmentation from black to white.

The rest of us just have to go through life, dealing with the skin we were given. The good news for this segment is that skin-care has metamorphosed from a one-product-fits-all to a market which can provide solutions to all skin types. Dermatologists say that there is nothing such as `normal' skin: you can have varying degrees of dryness, oiliness, patchiness or blotchiness, depending on the climatic conditions, emotional temperature and your genes. To make matters more complicated, your skin type can change as you age.

The skin-care market has exploded in the past four or five years. The days of the ubiquitous Nivea and Ponds creams (one size, one packaging for decades) are long gone: any self-respecting general store will offer at least 10 brands in skincare, starting from the basic cold creams and to high-end moisturisers and sunscreens, and anti-ageing and anti-wrinkle regimens. In addition, there are new products available from direct sellers, which compare favourably with what you get in your supermarket.

For this column, I chose recently launched products from two direct-sellers — Modicare and Amway, and two ranges you can pick off the shelves — Dead Sea products, and Vichy. For someone who has never really bothered going beyond the soap-and-water nightly routine, the last few weeks have been fairly strenuous with phased trials of face washes, scrubs, cleansers, toners, moisturisers, `age defiance' and `time control' creams, the last offered to me by a hesitant salesperson, thinking it would cause offence!

First, the Fruit Of The Earth range from Modicare, which the company claims is unique in the way it combines traditional Ayurvedic wisdom with the principles of Aromatherapy, sourcing `exotic herbs' from abroad, and combining them with natural fragrances. The skin care range comprises a cleansing gel (active ingredients: apricot and tea tree; Rs 65 for 50 ml), a fairness gel (aloe vera; Rs 59 for 50 ml), scrubs (papaya and apricot, and neem and basil for problem skin; both Rs 95 for 50 ml), an under eye gel (aloe vera and almond oil; Rs 70 for 15 ml) and a cream for acne prone skin (neem and rosemary; Rs 65 for 50 ml).

The apricot and tea tree gel has a pleasing fragrance, and it is light on the skin, and slides off easily when you wash it off, unlike some scrubs which are uncomfortably heavy.

On the whole, The Fruit Of The Earth products are well-packaged (the colours are all distinctive, and soothing to the eye), nice to use, and are very attractively priced.

Says Samir Modi, Managing Director, Modicare, who tests all his products himself, and is an `avid user of all my creams': "I am constantly thinking, what is the cheapest I can sell my products at. We aim at delivering international quality products with high performance ingredients, at prices that work for the middle classes."

Several of the products are gel-based, in keeping with international trends. "That's because gels are absorbed faster than creams and lotions," says Modi, who points out that his research and development facilities are on par with the best in the world, and that his products compare `very favourably' with the best of the West and India: Mac, Estee Lauder, Lancome, Bobbi Brown, Bath and Body Works, Aveda, Shahnaz, Blossom Kochar's aroma line, and Biotique.

Next, the Artistry range from Amway, which is among the world's top five largest selling prestige brands of skin care and colour cosmetic, according to their latest figures of global retail sales. (Amway pegs the Indian cosmetics market at Rs 1,700 crore, of which Rs 1,200 crore accrues from the skin care segment, which is expected to grow to Rs 2,300 crore in three years).

The range of the Artistry products: an advanced might cream, an under-eye serum, an Alpha Hydroxy serum, and a cleanser-toner-moisturiser range (launched here only last month), all priced between Rs 999 and Rs 1,999.

Jesse Leverett, senior scientist at Amway, says that the USP of their highly-priced products is their "scientifically researched advanced delivery systems, which give you the required anti-oxidants, and sunscreen protection". He believes that an SPF (sun protection factor) of 15 combined with UV (ultra violet) protection, which the Artistry range has, is more than enough for the Indian skin tones.

The chamomile in their cleanser-toner-moisturiser gives the range (for dry skin) a nice barely-there fragrance, and a pretty pale pink colour: again, it is easy on the skin, and leaves it feeling wonderfully refreshed.

Available exclusively at Lifespring stores are the Dead Sea mineral care products, (the active ingredients come from the famed Dead Sea, known for their curative effects), with a range of creams, oils, masks, gels (all price between Rs 445 and Rs 895), bath salts and soaps (Rs 185 to Rs 395), and the `hydra micro-peeling' mask (Rs 545), which leaves the face squeaky clean, after a two-minute rub-and-wash off.

Vichy takes it name from the French town, with its famous thermal spa waters, rich in minerals and trace elements. Since its launch, the store person says, its products, particularly its intensive whitening creams have sold really well. The day and night creams and moisturisers come between Rs 750 and Rs 950. There is a unique spa water spray (Rs 390), which leaves your face both hydrated and soothed after you squirt a few times.

Response can be sent to life@thehindu.co.in

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