Free the curls: India’s Arata sets sights on curly hair care market in India and beyond

While hair care is a huge market in India, Arata believes innovation has stalled in recent years as the focus shifted to skin care and colour cosmetics.

“​We see 2022 to 2025 as the era of hair care,”​ said Dhruv Bhasin who founded the company with Dhruv Madhok.

Arata recently launched a line of hair care products for curly hair. The founders decided to develop the eight-piece range to counter the long-held beauty standard of sleek and straight hair in many societies in the Asia region.

“​The core philosophy behind our curl range development was to reinforce that the definition of beautiful isn’t confined to straight hair and to make the curly haired community feel empowered, heard, and understood,” ​said Bhasin.

Madhok added: “​We set out to showcase what curly hair was capable of morphing into when given the chance, instead of dooming them to the flat-iron fate.”​

Ingredients that feature in this lineup included shea butter, murumuru butter, fenugreek oil and grape seed oil. According to the firm, the products work for all-season “all-season curl definition and moisture retention”.​

Along with the launch, the company announced Indian actor Taapsee Pannu as the celebrity ambassador of the range.

“Not many Indian personal care brands have catered specifically to the needs of the curly-haired community. ​Around 60% of the world’s population has either curly or wavy hair and the lack of any Indian celebrity endorsements for this community is surprising​,” ​said Madhok.

“We were delighted to have Taapsee Pannu on board as Arata’s CurlFriend… We love how authentic she is and how she embraces her curls in their true form, hence the collaboration just made sense.”​

This mirrors trends in North America and Europe which have seen more acceptance for natural hair​ as more people have started to embrace inclusivity and diversity in recent years.

“In recent years, retailers have seen a spike in product inquiries for curly hair management. This awareness has been generated in part by the curly girl and guy community that has accepted and embraced their natural hair pattern and encourages others to do the same,”​  Bhasin told CosmeticsDesign-Asia.

He added that the company was eyeing the potential for the range beyond its home market.

“This year our focus is going to be on establishing ourselves as the hair care experts in the Asian markets… We also see immense potential [for our curly hair range in the wider Asia region due to the diversity and similar hair patterns that exist there.”​

In addition to hair care, the company's product development pipeline will include an expansion in the oral care, body care, and face care categories as it works towards its ambition of being a ‘one-stop-shop’ for beauty consumers.