When Deepika Padukone took fellow actor Shah Rukh Khan through a skin care routine in a recent video, it was a promotion for her brand 82°E. The routine not only brought to the fore her easy relationship with Khan, but also took viewers through her list of products for 82°E, positioned as a brand that simplifies skin care.

Padukone is not alone in the world of celebrity beauty brands. Stars such as Katrina Kaif, Karan Johar, Sonakshi Sinha and Priyanka Chopra have all launched their beauty labels in recent years and are tasting success. The trend mirrors the phenomenon in the West where celebrity beauty brands, especially in the US, are big. Indians are making waves there too.

Take another label, Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty, which was launched in 2019 in partnership with Nykaa and is among its key brands today. Adwaita Nayar, CEO, Nykaa Fashion, said on an analysts’ call last month that the brand was among the most successful on the platform with an annual revenue run rate of `150 crore within four years of launch. “It is definitely one of the most successful celebrity beauty brands in the country. We are really excited about it,” Nayar had said. The brand is not only available online, but has ventured offline into Nykaa beauty stores and general trade.

Driven by social media, a huge fan base and willing partners, celebrities see the foray into the beauty business as a natural extension to their on-screen and off-screen personalities, explain experts and retailers.

“Overall, the creator economy is picking up steam. The digital boom has led to the creation of online communities. For a celebrity or social media influencer, who’ve a large base of followers, the question is how do you monetise your fan base? How do you give more to the community? The shift from advertising to commerce is a natural progression for a celebrity,” says Vijay Subramaniam, co-founder and group CEO of Collective Artists’ Network, a talent management firm, which has Padukone on its roster among other celebrities.

For some, the marriage of glamour and commerce is just right. Take for instance, the Pout range of lipsticks curated by producer-director Karan Johar in partnership with The Good Glamm Group, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) company. Retailer Shoppers Stop will distribute Pout in 83 department stores at a premium price (Rs 799 per shade) and positioning.

But that is one part. The second part, explains Sukhleen Aneja, CEO of Good Brands Co, The Good Glamm Group, is the company’s association with Johar.

“Karan is synonymous with creating trends in Bollywood. He has created this entire trend in India with pouting through powerful female characters in his films such as Poo in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Shanaya in Student of the Year, and more recently, with Rani in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Who better than him to create a line of trend-setting lipsticks where women can express themselves,” Aneja said about the thinking behind the launch.

Shoppers Stop expects the collection to click well with Johar’s fan base as well as with a wider set of women who are looking for interesting lipstick shades.

For actor Sonakshi Sinha, the need to tap into the growing trend of nail art led her to launch Soezi (pronounced so easy) along with entrepreneur Srishti Raai last year. Available on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, Soezi targets millennials and Gen Z audiences with a wide range of press-on nails. Sinha recently took Soezi to countries such as the Seychelles, which has a vibrant nail art market, with plans to tap more international locations in the future.

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