‘Luxury Ayurveda beauty’: Forest Essentials sets sight on becoming ‘global leader’ as interest rockets
The brand was founded in 2000 and considers itself a pioneer of the luxury ayurvedic beauty segment.
“Today it has become the quintessential Indian Beauty Brand where secrets of ancient beauty rituals for skin and hair care have been brought to life through pain-staking research and made available to modern day customers,” said Tara Antony, senior manager, digital marketing & e-commerce at Forest Essentials.
In the wake of COVID-19, the company observed a boost in demand for its products, which span from facial to hair care.
“When we resumed sales first in India and later even internationally, it became clear the demand for skin care products is very much there, in fact, higher than before. People are spending more time now taking care of their skin and hair,” said Antony.
She added that skin care solutions and beauty rituals were becoming the “new essentials” in the post-outbreak landscape.
“At-home pampering is expected to thrive going forward as people want to take care of themselves, relax, and feel beautiful from the comfort of their house. This demand is majorly driven by growing awareness about personal hygiene and grooming and these extraordinary times have only acted as a catalyst in bringing about this shift.”
The company believes it has carved out a comfortable place in the market and is well-placed to fulfil the needs of consumers moving forward.
“In the post-COVID-19 world, more consumers will become particular about the quality of the personal and skin care products they are buying. This would further boost the demand for natural and high-quality beauty products which have a high trust and credibility value, which has been a huge factor in people turning at this time to Forest Essentials.”
Furthermore, the company is expecting demand for its products to accelerate given the prominence of the clean beauty trend.
“The most fundamental Ayurvedic standard for pure, fresh and natural is that if you cannot eat it, do not use it on your skin. In that sense, Ayurveda has pioneered the idea of clean beauty and that is, according to Forest Essentials, what makes Ayurveda the choicest and most relevant cosmetology in the modern age,” said Antony.
Leader of the pack
With these trends coming into play, Antony told CosmeticsDesign-Asia that the company would be pressing forward with its global expansion plans.
Currently, the firm services over 120 countries via its e-commerce platform and its sales have been doubling each year over the last three years.
Antony said this was “representative of the growing global interest in Ayurveda”.
On the back of this interest, the company eventually hopes to secure its place on the international stage
“In line with the company’s vision to be the global leader in luxurious Ayurveda based on traditional Indian formulations for holistic beauty, we have been extremely clear in eventually taking the brand global and making it the first Indian company to succeed in a prestige skincare positioning,” said Antony.
The firm’s plans strategic alliance with beauty conglomerate the Estée Lauder Companies, which acquired a minority stake in Forest Essentials in 2008.
“We are actively looking at International expansion in 2020/21 with our partner, [Estée Lauder], using their global distribution, creative resources and operational expertise and are identifying locations as we speak.”
