Cosmetics India 2026

India's makeup market is worth about USD 1.9 billion on one estimate, about four-fifths of it at mass prices 1. Across 2,113 buying decisions that Indian buyers describe in public discussion and product reviews, the most common act is advice. In discussion, 54% of decisions are recommendations or questions, and only 2% of all decisions are a completed move away from a product or brand.

Five theses

How to read the numbers

• Shares name their object: "% of decisions", "% of buyer opinions", "% of brand-named recommendations". They are shares of coded evidence, never shares of buyers or of the market.
• Small sets of cases carry a label instead: strong signal (8 or more), recurring pattern (3 to 7) or illustrative case (1 or 2).
• Two kinds of evidence are kept apart where they differ: public discussion (people asking, advising and recounting) and product reviews (people who bought a specific product online: 35 products across lips, base and eyes and every price tier). Brand comparisons use discussion only, because the review sample was chosen by product. A third layer compares the same products reviewed on a marketplace and on a specialist beauty platform (Thesis 4).
• The evidence was collected to find moves, comparisons, scares and channels, so the mix of topics reflects that design.

Beauty and personal care in India was about USD 23 billion in FY25 and is projected at about USD 40 billion by FY30, growing about 12% a year 2. Makeup is a small part of it and no research house publishes a free, makeup-only figure. Mordor Intelligence puts India's cosmetics products market at USD 1.89 billion in 2025, rising to USD 3.50 billion by 2031, with lip products 36% of value, mass products 80% and online 31% 1. Honasa sizes lipstick alone at ₹3,500–4,000 crore, growing above 10% a year 3. Definitions differ between sources, so treat these figures as a range.

Quick commerce rose from about 2% to about 16% of online beauty and personal care between 2022 and 2025 4, and masstige and premium products take 59% of beauty spend there against 37% overall 5. Redseer's view is that makeup, which needs discovery, stays on beauty platforms 4; the mass makeup brands' own disclosures (Exhibit 25) suggest otherwise. Cities beyond the top tier went from 40% to 60% of beauty retail between FY20 and FY25 6, and Flipkart says Gen Z makes about 60% of its beauty purchases, with two in three beauty searches from outside the metros 7. At the top end, Nykaa expects premium makeup to roughly triple by 2030 6 and Kearney projects luxury colour cosmetics growing 18% a year to 2028 8.

Three Indian brands selling at mass and masstige prices, MARS, Swiss Beauty and RENEE, each report revenue of about ₹440 crore or more for the latest year and are growing fast, while SUGAR's revenue fell 20% in FY25. Their routes to market differ: Swiss Beauty sells about 94% through general trade, MARS reports 25–30% of its online sales through quick commerce, and SUGAR built exclusive stores and is reported to be closing many of them 9.

SUGAR raised ₹144.47 crore in September 2026 at a post-money valuation of about ₹550–600 crore, 75–80% below its November 2024 round 13. It is reported to be cutting from a peak of about 2,400 stores and counters to about 1,000–1,100 and its range from 850 to 250 products, to keep best-sellers in stock 9; the cut is not confirmed by the company. Lenders to the Good Glamm group, owner of MyGlamm, enforced their security in 2025 and began selling its brands 15. HUL reports that its skin care and colour cosmetics business grew in high single digits in April–June 2026 16.

Much of the mass tier is made abroad. Swiss Beauty's founders say 80–85% of its range is made outside India, in China, Taiwan, Germany, Italy and Korea 17, and China supplied about 41% of India's lip-makeup imports in FY25 ($25 million of $61.2 million) 18. Under the Cosmetics Rules a brand that does not own the plant must name the actual manufacturer or print "Made in" the country of origin 19. Buyers have noticed the overseas sourcing, which feeds the safety talk described under Thesis 2.

The best-known lipstick of each of 24 brands costs between ₹110 and ₹3,850 at list price, a 35-fold range. Foundation runs from ₹4.1 to ₹170 per ml, 42-fold. Kajal packs fall in a narrower band, with every brand's best-known kajal selling for between ₹100 and ₹450 (4.5-fold), though per gram the range is wider because pack sizes run from 0.25 to 1.7 g. The prestige brands' best-known eye products are mascaras rather than kajal.

Two Indian brands, SUGAR (₹949) and Kay Beauty (₹999), price their best-known lipsticks above Maybelline (₹699) and L'Oréal Paris (₹849). Every best-known lipstick under ₹300 is from a brand grouped here as Indian (Blue Heaven, Elle 18, Insight, SUGAR POP, MARS, RENEE), and above ₹2,000 every one is from an international prestige brand.

In the buyer evidence, saving money is the most stated need (32% of decisions that state one), and price and value is the second complaint about international brands (15% of their negative opinions). Kajal, priced as a commodity, also draws eye-reaction complaints (Thesis 2).

In discussion, buyers mostly recommend, ask and give first-wear verdicts. In reviews, they report buying and trying a specific product. Warnings to others are a larger share of decisions in reviews (8%) than in discussion (2%).

Lips lead the conversation, then base, then eyes. Face colour (blush, bronzer, highlighter) is a small share and nails barely appear.