Below the belt: India’s BRAVE Essentials eyeing underserved men’s intimate hygiene category

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand launched in March with a range of skin care, hair care, grooming as well as intimate hygiene products.

The brand has launched with one scrub and one spray for the male genital area which can help with issues such as odour, itching and dryness.

Speaking to CosmeticsDesign-Asia​, co-founder and COO Saahil Nayar said the men’s intimate hygiene market in India has been overlooked even though there have been an increasing number of male-focused personal care brands in the market in recent years.

“It’s still a taboo topic, like how women’s intimate hygiene used to be. To be honest, this category is not a money-spinner, but we do see a need and issues like itching or fungus infections are common.”​

With factors like the Internet and social media, male consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about personal care.

The company is optimistic that taboos surrounding groin care will break eventually and lead to demand for intimate male grooming products.

Nayar cited that consumer technology company Philips has had success with its male body trimmers, leading him to have optimism the category is set for growth.

Brave new world

BRAVE Essentials was developed by IDAM House Of Brands, the parent company of Ayurveda beauty brand Bella Vita Organic.

It believes its latest brand has the potential to hit the one million mark in its first year.

BRAVE Essentials was developed for male consumers aged 17 to 40 and its products are available from INR199 (U$2.60) and above to make it accessible.

Additionally, the firm has taken care to design “simple”​ products, said Nayar.

“A woman will know what a pea-sized amount is, but I don’t think men will. So, we designed our eye cream to dispense just the right amount. We just want our products to be simple enough to use. We also developed a two-in-one shampoo and conditioner because from our research men don’t tend to use conditioner.”​

Nayar said that since Bella Vita Organic launched in 2018, it has built up a good reputation with consumers and believes this will carry over to its new brand.

“Consumers are not sure about what brands they can trust. We already have a great track record with Bella Vita Organic and BRAVE Essentials can benefit from that.”​

Furthermore, he believes the brand is different from competitors because of its focus on skin care while other players focus heavily on beard care and skin care is seen as secondary.

“We’ve made sure in our visuals not to have to models that are clean-shaven or just a bit of stubble. We want the focus to be on the skin,” ​said Nayar.

BRAVE Essentials is currently available on its DTC website as well as top e-commerce platforms including Amazon and Flipkart.  The company will make the brand available offline as well starting from April.

Moving forward, the firm is looking to invest U$1m in research and development as well as marketing this year.