The Hindu Business Line : It's unfair to say only women want to be fair

FAIRNESS cream has always had a good market in India, but the impression that the advertisements give you of its users is that of a shy bride who wins her husband-to-be over with a miraculous five-second transformation from a dusky complexioned plain-Jane to a stunningly fair goddess.

Not so in reality. "Category data seem to suggest that 30 per cent of all fairness cream users are men," says Mr Soumik Chakrobarthy, Group Product Manager, CavinKare, the promoters of Fairever fairness cream.

No wonder then that Emami Ltd, the Rs 320-crore personal beauty-care products company, has launched Fair & Handsome, a fairness cream exclusively for men.

Mr Naresh Vansali, Senior Vice-President, Emami Group, says "Our product for men will surpass our female product in no time at all." He said that the fairness cream market is about Rs 1,000 crore in size, and since about 30 per cent of the users are men the market for the product was naturally lucrative. He said that the usage of fairness cream is predominant in the South, and particularly in Andhra Pradesh. Correspondingly, Fair & Handsome was launched first in Andhra earlier in June and would reach other centres in a phased manner.

But how is it different from the female product? The male skin is tougher and harder than female skin, and requires different ingredients for proper treatment, according to Mr Vansali. "The research and development of this product began two and a half years ago, and went through different levels, through ayurveda experts and clinical trials," he added.

Has there been a recent increase in appearance consciousness among men? "It is not a recent trend," says Mr Vansali, "Men have always been using deodorant, talcum powders and after shave - those are toiletries as well, are they not?" But others are not so sure. Mr Chakrobarthy says, "With exposure to Western influence, and the changing lifestyles, Indian men are also focusing on looking good, and they have increasingly been using cosmetics more and more."

Ms Priti Chaudhary, Clinic Manager of one of Kaya Skin Clinic's centres in Chennai, says that there has been a healthy trend as far as their male customers are concerned. "Lots of men come for all kinds of enhancements, such as softening their beards, softening their earlobes, getting rid of acne and acne scars, as well as for problem solutions like laser hair reduction." Ms Chaudhary says that men form about half of the customer base at the clinic she manages.

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