Editor's letter

Dear Reader,

The world has always looked at India as a promising market, especially for beauty products. Thanks to social media, beauty trends are reaching Indian shores at lightening speed and for us to follow these trends, we need the right brands and products. With e-commerce being an economical option, global brands are setting out to woo the Indian customer every single day. This is more to do with awareness than growth, and it has opened up a plethora of opportunities for homegrown brands. As customers seek clean/green/sustainable beauty alternatives, think tanks in our country are churning out innovative product lines to cater to a hyper aware consumer. The same story extends to the salon industry as there is a steady demand for eco-friendly environ and sustainable products and practices. We are also witnessing a determined focus on the use of technology, artificial intelligence and augmented reality in the beauty sector. Thrown in this mix is the incredible talent that we see in the sphere of hair, make-up and nails, which is painting a positive picture of India’s beauty sector for the outside world.

We explore the talent aspect in this issue with a showcase of the looks that were sent as entries from India for the prestigious British Hairdressing Awards 2023. The technology and business aspect of India’s success story is evident in the interesting sessions that we witnessed at the Salon Management Congress 2023 – Delhi. And as is our forte, we are also talking trends – this time about upstyling – in our cover feature, with expert inputs and detailed trend analysis.

So, without much ado, turn over the page and read on!

Kanishka Ramchandani Consulting Editor