How new age beauty brands are breaking through the gender divide

Beauty and beauty products have always been associated with women, and men who are seen having an affinity towards beauty products are labelled with some really nasty names. Almost all campaigns by beauty products feature women, with the men playing the role of an admirer.

The gender divide couldn’t be any sharper when it comes to beauty brands. Some years back, when Shah Rukh Khan appeared in a Lux soap ad, it was heavily trolled. The beauty soap brand has traditionally been featuring only female actors in its ads over several decades. Boys/ men shown using ‘female’ beauty brands were ridiculed in ads featuring skincare products specifically for men.

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Not anymore.

Times, as they say, are changing. A new breed of beauty/ grooming brands is coming up that are not gender-specific. Millennial and GenZ consumers couldn’t be bothered much about gender divide in their grooming rituals. All they want are products that cater to their specific needs without the trappings of ‘for women only’ or ‘for men only’ segregations. These new age beauty brands are breaking stereotypes in this regard.

As Dipali Mathur Dayal, Co-Founder & CEO, Super Smelly, remarked, “The prejudice against fragrances is regressive. Even a parent picking up a fragrance for a boy will pick up something supposedly “manly”. Similarly, a girl choosing a musky fragrance may be frowned upon because her choices ought to be sweet, fruity and flowery. This is how the older generations have been wired and social dynamics influenced.”

She further said, “GenZ, who we are catering to, are not as sceptical about beauty and personal care products as the previous generations. They are more accepting of gender neutral views and fluid identities. We believe that the future of personal care and beauty is gender neutral and this generation reinforces that belief. The young people are more aware. It is an increasing trend that their basic premise for picking up a product is its efficacy, not which gender it is made for. So, we are not worried about our brand not working because our main target audience is so equal and open in their minds.”

There are several such new age brands available on store shelves in the skin and personal care category that believe in gender neutrality. Whether online or offline, it is the same generation that shops digitally and visits retail outlets.

Vishal Kaushik, Co-Founder and MD, Upakarma Ayurveda, India, said, “Upakarma Ayurveda’s entire product range, including our Ayurvedic beauty range, is gender neutral. We have always kept the look and feel of our products minimalistic and such that it exudes class. We are present in more than 10,000 stores pan-India and all our products are already doing great in the market.”

Super Smelly’s Mathur added here, “The brand comes from a personal space because I, as a concerned mother, launched it keeping my daughter and other children in mind. While raising my child, I don’t wish to impose strict gender guidelines, denying her a world of colour (pink and blue!), choices or experiences based on her gender. It is important for all young people to be able to express themselves authentically and make choices freely, untouched by social prejudices. We, as millennial parents, are aware what this generation is exposed to and are more inclined to raise our kids in a more equal and gender neutral way, where the boundaries are blurred perhaps someday to never exist.”

Creating awareness about such products, in a market where majority of the brands have been operating in this gender divide, requires great marketing skills to create awareness and a perception change among the consumers.

Elaborating on the marketing strategies, a spokesperson for Re’equil, a company providing cosmeceutical solutions for hair and skin, said, “We believe in spreading awareness about our brand ideology to our target audience. Re’equil offers effective and honest cosmeceutical products that help repair damaged skin and hair so that our customers feel confident. Our products deliver on what they claim. It is because of this, we have been accepted very well by the consumers that have helped us to grow a lot through word of mouth and referrals. Sampling, too, has played an important role in acquiring new customers.”

People are now shifting to more paraben and chemical free products, and buy them irrespective of the price, because what matters to them is that they should look appealing

The spokesperson for another new age beauty brand, Pilgrim, said, “Many legacy brands which have been in the market do not appeal to the millennial consumer. These brands often contain toxic chemicals like sulphates, mineral oil, parabens and so on. We have identified 20 such chemicals and would never use these in our formulations. We are seeing a very good traction for our products already and are not worried about competition.”