From Japan's Shiseido to France's L'Oreal, global cosmetics giants are doubling down on India, betting on the world's most populous nation as a key growth market for premium offerings while sales slow in developed economies. India's luxury beauty market is expected to quintuple to $4bn by 2035 from $800mn in 2023,
 

driven by its young, affluent, social-media savvy shoppers with rising disposable incomes, according to Kearney and luxury LuxAsia. Luxury beauty makes up just 4% of the $21-bn beauty and personal care market, compared with 8% to 24% across top Southeast Asian countries and 25% to 48% in developed markets including China and the US.

Estée Lauder is studying online sales patterns to identify the smaller cities to target, such as Siliguri in West Bengal state, partnering with designers such as Sabyasachi Mukherjee, and launching products such as kohl, an eyeliner Indians favour. It has also invested in Forest Essentials, a brand with herbal ingredients, and in a programme offering funding to domestic beauty start-ups. L'Oréal said it was investing more in India while South Korea's Amorepacific is trying to leverage the Korean beauty craze in India with products geared to the market. Shiseido brought its Nars brand to Indian beauty retailer Nykaa's website this year, and plans to step up growth of its brands in the subcontinent. Amazon, which has also  seeing a big boom in beauty demand in India, aims to identify emerging global trends and bring in more brands. Retailer Shoppers Stop, which also pioneers foreign labels, plans to open 15 to 20 beauty stores in each of the next three years to boost its revenue from the segment to a quarter from less than a fifth now, its beauty business.