INSTEP Magzine

Beauty can be more than skin deep
When Mehrbano Sethi decided to develop a cosmetics range specific to the Pakistani woman's skin, she also wanted it to be a highly conscientous venture. With Luscious, she has managed to strike the ideal balance between beauty, brains and that too with a conscience!

By Aamna Haider Isani

I wanted to create a cosmetic brand that catered to our Pakistani skin," says Mehrbano Sethi, founder of Luscious Cosmetics. "I wanted a brand that made world class products specific to Pakistani skin- not white, black or yellow skin."

It isn't everyday that a woman known best for her regular appearances on the social pages of glossies suddenly goes underground to redirect her creative energy from parties to serious product development. But that is exactly what Mehrbano did. With a mission in mind and the determination to succeed, she plunged into this idea that she had, and she insisted it wasn't "just another whim". And after a very short span of a couple of months - Luscious launched this May - her brand has managed to accomplish everything she claimed it would.

It isn't an over-night venture, she reminds me as we settle down in the extremely peaceful haven of her home in Lahore. Luscious required four years of research and development before it was released into the market and she proudly adds that Pakistani women have taken to it like a duck takes to water. It may not have been an overnight venture as far as manufacturing goes, but the success of Luscious was almost an overnight story. At the blink of an eyelid, display counters of the brand appeared in all important departmental stores in the big cities- Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. And thanks to the on-line shopping service, just as much stock was being shipped out in doorstep deliveries. Even women in far flung areas like Haripur Hazara and Toba Tek Singh and were ordering. Mehrbano thanks Pakistan's postal service for their efficiency and affordability. 25 per cent of Luscious sales are online sales and without Pakistan Post, these deliveries would not have been a feasible option.

With the beautiful face of fashion model Iman staring out from Luscious promos, the brand was a cinch to succeed. And it did. From a face that appeared on the social pages, Mehrbano became an enterprise that made sure her brand was advertised in all the major glossies.

So what exaclty was different about Luscious? Obsessesive to the extent of being paranoid, Mehrbano wanted an A-class product that had a conscience. It wasn't easy, she recalls, as the two were quite a bit of an oxymoron in the corporate world.

"There were and are so many loopholes in the global cosmetics industry," she says after having traveled to numerous beauty trade fairs in France, America and even Dubai. "Cosmetic companies have so many ways of fooling the consumer- it isn't even funny. Beeswax is the ideal base component for any lipstick but manufacturers are substituting it with beef fat. It doesn't provide the same quality. Not only is beef fat an unhygenic option if not pasteurized properly, but cheap lipsticks that use it end up having an oily residue and an unpleasant acidic smell. I wanted none of that.

"Then another popular ingrediant in creams is Lanolin, a sheep-skin grease which is used world wide. Products like 'Oil of Ulay' are literally derived from Lanolin, which again, if not processed properly can cause severe skin allergies. Other than skin reactions, my market is sensitive to halal and non-halal products. I decided there would be no animal products in my cosmetics."

It was a painstaking process but after years of hit and trial, Mehrbano got it right. She put together a R&D (research and development) team in America where she had decided to outsource her manufacturing. So far Pakistani cosmetic companies like Swiss Miss or Medora were manufacturing in the country or in China or other unspecified areas of the Far East. Like MAC Cosmetics, Luscious began outsourcing from units that were highly reputable in America. Her R&D team began research on how the Pakistani woman's skin varied from the rest of the world and what it needed. Mehrbano was researching Pakistani skin tones and types, something no one in the world had done before.

"I wanted to develop a product that not only was at par with any major brand of the world, but was made exclusively with the Pakistani women in mind," she says. "That means that it would suit her brown skin, which is highly susceptible to blemishes and pigmentation, and it would be affordable for the average woman."

The fact that Pakistani women have 'combination skin' went into the research. Undertones of skin colour were studied. So was the fact that the ever-popular 'sheer' lipsticks would not work here - our lips were far too textured to carry sheer gloss and because of the simple fact that our skin is oilier due to the climate (lipstick doesn't stay) Luscious came up with a range that actually did stay on the lips instead of washing off after the first sip of water one took.

"Luscious lipsticks flew off the racks but I say that my best product so far is either thefoundation or the whitening base. My base actually has an SPF (Sun Protecting Factor) that saves the skin from burning. Our (Pakistani) skin does not tan naturally - it either burns or blemishes and my creams protect against that."

So far, Luscious has launched a limited yet specific range of lipsticks and gloss, eye shadows and mascara, blushers, foundations and pressed powders and the infamous whitening base. But Mehrbano is already extremely excited about the upcoming whitening range which compels one to ask, 'what is it about Asians and skin w2hitening?'

"Asia has an ancient obsession with whitening but whitening products in the market are extremely misleading. One, whiteners cannot be natural sun blocks. A whitener actually weakens the skin's defenses to lighten the colour and when applied under the sun, it makes skin more prone to burning. My whitener will be recommended for use between 1 and 5 am, when the skin naturally rejuvenates and is at its strongest. Two, a whitener is neither a skin bleach nor a sun block. It is a product that evens out the complexion while keeping the skin actively hydrated and healthy but most whiteners available are surface level enhancers and lose their effect when washed off."

Mehrbano's ten year plan does sound promising. Luscious has launched with a determination to reach out to the Pakistani market and beyond - Mehrbano says she wants it to grow to become the Lakme of Pakistan - and it selling in Dubai as well. Cosmetic giants world over have targeted European skins, African skins and brands like Shiseido have even targeted the yellow skins. This is the first time a Pakistani brand has been developed in America with the sole purpose of Pakistani skin. With the amount of dedication and hard work going into it, it just might go further.