India, Oct. 17 -- Ten years after its India entry, Swedish fashion brand H&M launched its range of beauty products in the country this month which, it said, are trendy and affordable. At the premium end, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Companies plans to increase investments here and launch mini packs of its prestige and luxury brands like Bobbi Brown, M.A.C, Too Faced, Clinique and Estee Lauder, to widen reach. In September, fashion e-tailer Myntra partnered with Sugar Cosmetics to launch skincare and makeup brand Molten Beauty targeted at the GenZ consumers driving 44% of India's $20 billion beauty and personal care (BPC) category. The action in the BPC category in India is palpable with traditional FMCG companies acquiring specialist skin and hair care start-ups, global brands expanding presence and scores of others riding the quick-commerce wave to push sales. "The BPC category in India is in the midst of a remarkable transformation, propelled by the large and rapidly growing base of young consumers, their exposure to viral global and local beauty trends and the willingness to experiment with new formats," said Deepak Joshi, senior director, beauty and personal care at Myntra. The shift has been accelerated by continuous innovation from both international and homegrown brands bringing relevant, high-quality products at accessible price points, he said. "The need for instant gratification, resulting in the rise of faster delivery models, has also made beauty more seamlessly accessible and integrated into daily routines," Joshi added. Radhika Ghai, founder of Kindlife, a beauty platform offering curated Korean, Japanese, and international beauty brands attributes this boom to rising disposable incomes, stronger retail and quick-commerce access. "But, most importantly, it's a mindset shift. Beauty is no longer vanity; it's wellness. People are investing in feeling good, not just looking good," Ghai said. GenZ consumers are prioritizing skin health while embracing beauty as a means of self-expression, Myntra's Joshi said, adding that Molten Beauty fills in the white space at the intersection of skincare and makeup. The BPC category is expected to touch $45 billion by 2030, up from $24 billion in 2024, according to a study by Datum Intelligence and Kindlife. Assiduus Global, an AI-powered e-commerce middleware company that drives e-tailers like Amazon and Flipkart, reported that the BPC category recorded 44% growth in marketplace sales this festive season over the same period last year. Somdutta Singh, founder, Assiduus Global, said that the increasing revenues of online marketplaces from their BPC verticals and data from Assiduus Global indicates that "beauty and personal care is not seeing just a festival spike but that the category is on a longer-term upward curve." The Datum-Kindlife study also noted that skincare will continue to grow with tier-2 and tier-3 cities contributing over half of incremental growth. Yet India's per capita spend on beauty is under $20 a year, compared to hundreds of dollars in the US, Korea, or Japan. "That's what makes this market exciting. We're not following the traditional path of department-store beauty; we've gone straight to digital discovery and ingredient-based routines. The next 100 million beauty consumers in India will likely come from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and they'll come online first," said Kindlife's Ghai. For beauty products, physical retail is good for discovery -- testing shades, feeling textures and experiencing brands. Online is about convenience, education, and trust, Ghai said. "For Kindlife, we see online as the discovery engine and quick-commerce the last-mile impulse driver," she added. Assiduus' Singh said in BPC category, discounts (especially time-bound ones) help trigger demand while sharper ad targeting ensures visibility. "Influencer and social media buzz lend credibility and discovery. Quick commerce and stronger logistics reduce friction in purchase. Finally, an expanded product range, especially niche and premium SKUs, gives buyers more reasons to explore and adopt new brands," she said. But Ghai thinks "speed-to-vanity" stands out in BPC. "Beauty has become a 30-minute purchase. People are discovering a serum on Instagram and adding it to cart on Blinkit within minutes. That instant gratification has made beauty more impulsive, dynamic -- and frankly, more fun," she said....