When business is skin deep

Ankit Virmani, Director, Esskay Beauty Resources, has always endeavoured to bring cutting-edge technology to the professional beauty industry in india. Priyanka Parshurami finds out how he is trying to elevate skin services with the addition of Skinora to Esskay’s repertoire.

What is Skinora? How is it different from existing skincare brands?

Skinora is a skincare brand by Esskay Beauty Resources that takes a different approach to skincare. We have created the brand with a vision not just to sell products but to empower people to achieve great skin by focusing on state-of-the-art ingredients and cutting-edge technology.

There are multiple distinguishing features that set Skinora apart from other skincare brands, in terms of customer orientation, strategy, and brand ideology. We are laser-focused in our formulations, which are curated in France, and we work on specific requirements, so our skincare is minimal yet effective. Our ingredient selection is well-researched to suit Indian skin types. We are vegan and allergen-, sulphate- and paraben-free. Our manufacturing facilities adhere to top safety and product traceability standards.

What inspired you to launch a vegan skincare brand?

We have an experience of 20+ years in the professional beauty industry across hair and skin. Our company has already marketed a plethora of customer-favourite products from coveted skincare brands. This helped us develop a comprehensive understanding of the skincare market. We noticed an increasing demand for quality skincare products that meet the needs of consumers in India. This paved the way for an opportunity to bring a homegrown brand that focuses on innovative, sustainable and high-quality beauty products. Skinora is our effort to introduce the Indian market to global standards in skincare and beauty.

How are you educating the salons about Skinora?

We have with us Dolly Bhatia as the National Education Manager. She has an elaborate experience, spanning more than two decades, in the aesthetics industry and is currently at the helm of all our training and artists’ onboarding efforts at Skinora.

We also have our new, in-house, state-of-the-art Skinora education academy where we educate professionals from our partner spas and salons about the benefits of our products and provide application training, too. Moreover, we also conduct educational seminars across the country to directly interact with the target customers to educate them about our product range. We are also rolling out in-house skill development courses, organising internal seminars and promoting brand education through digital channels such as YouTube.

What are your plans for Skinora over the next five years?

We are planning to foray into the premium skincare segment and expand our existing categories as well as adding new ones. In the long run, we will be incorporating new ingredients and updating our technology as per contemporary global trends. The process would include collaborations with experts in the field to innovate newer solutions that solve pertinent skincare problems. We are primarily eyeing the Indian subcontinent for the first stage of brand expansion geography-wise. Thereafter, we will make the brand global.channels such as YouTube. PBHJ