Boom time for beauty care

ROOPAK GOSWAMI

Guwahati, Sept. 29: The beauty care business is growing by leaps and bounds in the Northeast. New companies are entering the market every six months. “Companies are walking into the Northeast as opportunities are huge,” Anirban Das, who looks after the Northeast market for L’Oréal India Private Ltd, told The Telegraph. The region contributes 35-37 per cent of the company’s revenues, growing at five per cent annually. “The region contributes a lot to the company,” Das said. A few days ago, Nomarks Teens from the stable of Ozone Group was introduced in the Guwahati market. The company claims that it is a unique initiative, specially designed for teenagers and their never-ending skin-related woes. Ozone Group had entered the Northeast in 2001, when other companies held back fearing trouble, and has been doing good business since then. “Sixty per cent of out revenue comes from the Northeast and we value our relationship with the region,” Ozone Group of Companies chairman and managing director S.C. Sehgal said at a news conference a few days back. “The industrial policy of Assam is the best, as it offers lots of incentives,” he said. He said the beauty care business was growing very fast and would grow faster in times to come. Sehgal said the idea of an age-specific beauty care range came from the observation that women of every age have their own needs, wants and desires. “We at Ozone believe that they choose everything according to their age, be it clothes, accessories, hairstyle or lifestyle. But, when it comes to beauty care products, they are left with no options. We have taken a giant step towards progress — the natural and herbal way — by developing a beauty care range for the teens,” he added. The company, which has two manufacturing facilities in Guwahati, is setting up the Oscar Beauty Training Institute in the region. The institute, will provide training on a wide range of holistic and beauty treatments. “The classes will be held on product training, corporate grooming and etiquettes to train both amateurs and qualified professionals. This move would not only provide income generating techniques to aspiring individuals but also fuel the ambitions of budding women entrepreneurs,” Sehgal said. To start with, 50 women will be trained and there will be a constant upgrade of skills to keep them abreast of the latest trends in the world of beauty care. He said a career in beauty therapy could be very demanding but as a caring profession, it was always extremely rewarding, and added, “To establish a regular, loyal clientele, therapists have to be personal and sympathetic to their client’s needs.” Sehgal said the company had plans to start a herbal treatment resort — Holistic Health Village — in the region and added that it would be coming up at Jakhalabandha in a year’s time. But what is so special about the beauty care industry of the region that induces companies to come here? Anirban Das said hairdressers in the Northeast have inherent characteristics and qualities. “The latest trends of beauty in India comes from the Northeast, and consumers in the region are more concerned about clothing.” Even Sehgal admitted that women from Northeast were the best in the country. For Oriflame, the Northeast market is a big one, which has grown by 50 per cent and holds vast potential, given the region’s growing fashionable population. Guwahati has emerged as one of the biggest branches of the company in the country. Mary Kay, a leading brand of skin care and colour cosmetics, is also looking at expanding its activities in the region, including Dimapur, Kohima, Aizawl and Guwahati. Nagaland is a special target as the demand for its products there is growing. India’s renowned chain of skin care clinics, Kaya Skin Clinic, has also opened shop in Guwahati, which has been identified as a promising market in this untapped region. Company research by Kaya has shown that there is a high level of awareness in this region about the need to look good by using efficacious skin care services. EOM