A homegrown online beauty brand, Sugar Cosmetics, recently opened its second offline store in the country at Bengaluru’s Orion Mall. Launched in 2015, the brand aims to cater exclusively to Indian skin tones. CEO Vineeta Singh chats with us about the Bengaluru market, signature products and expansions plans.
After Kolkata, this is your second store in India. What was the reason for choosing Bengaluru?
Bengaluru is one of the key metros in India that has a huge base of make-up enthusiasts. These budding artists love to experiment with their looks and keep up with the global trends. We have been receiving a lot of appreciation from the city through stores like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop and Health & Glow across the city. With this stand-alone store, we are hoping for that love to double.
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What are some of your signature products?
The Smudge Me Not Liquid Lipstick that is a ‘one-coat wonder’ product for your lips - absolutely suits every skin tone and lasts all day. The Ace Of Face Foundation Stick that should be every woman’s go-to product as it is easy to use, has a creamy finish for smooth application and absolutely blendable (with a built-in brush!) which makes it feel like your second skin. The Matte As Hell Crayon Lipstick which is all a woman needs while on the go without having to worry about constant re-application. The lipstick has a creamy consistency with a soft texture that eventually settles into a silky matte finish. The Stroke of Genius Heavy-Duty Kohl which is a waterproof Kohl pencil with a soft creamy texture that can give you high-definition eyes with just a single swipe. The Arch Arrival Brow Definer that comes with a unique triangular-edged tip and has an attached spoolie at the other end for easy shaping and filling of brows on-the-go.
What sets Sugar apart from other brands?
Sugar Cosmetics was launched with the aim to provide bold and nonconformist beauty essentials to every Indian woman. There aren’t many brands that are focusing on keeping up with on-trend makeup products that are suited for the Indian complexion. However, through Sugar, we want to enable women to explore, crack the code and enjoy the matchless beauty products that are exclusively recommended for them by beauty experts and created for them to make them feel confident in their own skin.
As a homegrown brand, what were some of the biggest challenges in setting up and running Sugar?
We are working in a fast-paced and an ever-growing industry where multitudes of brands launch on a daily basis. Back in mid-2015, our biggest challenge was to set our niche in the Indian market through innovative and unique products. Apart from that, the increasing competition in the makeup industry, not just by Indian brands but also various international brands that are now easily available in the country was challenging. However, at this moment, we are just focusing on building our distribution to reach newer audiences across the country and providing them products that have already become cult-favourites among the millennials.
What new products are in the pipeline? And what are your expansion plans?
We have a line-up of some really exciting products that are underway, which include multiple lines of foundations, lip liners, a shade extension to the loved Arch Arrival Brow Definer just to name a few. This year has started off on a really good note with Sugar launching exclusive stores in the Kolkata and Bengaluru markets. Over the rest of the year, we have earmarked a budget for expanding both, our product line and our geographical distribution, bringing our much-loved ranges to the doorstep of all our fans.