Luscious Cosmetics celebrates five years in business

Their goal is to make women feel more confident and empowered.

KARACHI:

Luscious Cosmetics, a Pakistani make-up brand, was launched in the country when availability of high-quality brands was limited and awareness of the right skin products was low. Celebrating the brand’s five years in business, the woman behind the venture, Mehrbano Sethi, talks about her inspirations and the company’s goals.

What made you launch Luscious Cosmetics?

Initially, global beauty brands did not consider Pakistan as an important enough market to supply their products and as a result, good-quality beauty products were rather scarce. There were numerous issues in the market: expired cosmetic products being dumped in Pakistan, fake replicas of international brands and substandard products that customers were wary of. These issues are what ultimately encouraged me to start my own make-up brand.

Do women in Pakistan need to celebrate their beauty?  Do you feel being beautiful is only skin deep?

Of course they do! Why should the women of Pakistan be different from women in the rest of the world? Personal grooming and taking pride in one’s appearance has always been a part of our culture. The philosophy of Luscious, in regard to celebrating beauty, encompasses all aspects including the beauty within every woman. Our approach is to allow women to enhance their best features and feel confident and empowered.



Beauty and aging are two different things. Do you believe Luscious products do wonders to the skin?

I don’t think beauty and aging are different things — we can look beautiful at all stages of our lives. Although yes, one must keep changing their beauty products and routines to adapt to more age appropriate grooming and skin care. At Luscious, we strive to use only high-quality ingredients in all our products and currently, apart from our make-up range, we only make one skincare product — Luscious Whitening Base SPF 35. This multi-purpose sunscreen, moisturiser and make-up primer has been a bestseller across all age groups due to its complexion-brightening results.

Several make-up brands have been introduced in the market in the last five years. How is Luscious Cosmetics different?



Our products are specifically formulated for South Asian skin tones and climate. This is not just a marketing ploy, it is actually evident in the way our products and shades immediately click with customers. Once we proved that Pakistan has a huge market for high-quality beauty products, some international brands finally took notice and launched themselves here as well; we welcome healthy competition. As long as we make products with passion and engage our customers, we will always be different!

What has been the most challenging task for Luscious Cosmetics? Have you taken any steps to yield beauty tips and skincare techniques to the women of Pakistan?

We have developed our formulas specifically for South Asian skin — this is our brand value. Our mission has always been to provide affordable yet good quality products that meet international standards. And this in itself is a big challenge, which we tackle very happily. A significant step that I would like to mention, is that Luscious has always believed in setting trends when it comes to how beauty is perceived and valued. We are cruelty-free and do not test products on animals.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2012.

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