When the former Miss World Aishwarya Rai got married in Mumbai yesterday her hands were adorned with henna made from leaves specially plucked by female workers in Rajasthan.

On her face, however, the star wore L’Oréal cosmetics.

For L’Oréal, seeing one of its global spokesmodels married in a three-day, celebrity-packed extravaganza was the kind of advertising that money couldn’t buy. And yet, increasingly, Western cosmetics houses are preaching to the converted in India.

Spending per head on cosmetics and toiletries may have been just $3.60 in India last year, but that’s a 56 per cent increase on 1997, with much of the growth focused on colour make-up, according to Euromonitor International.

The most recent Merrill Lynch and Capgemini World Wealth Report showed that the number of high net worth individuals in India jumped by 19.5 per cent in 2005, one of the biggest rises anywhere.

High-earning women aged between 25 and 45 contributed a significant part of that increase.

These are ladies with a taste for Western luxury goods, and there are an estimated ten million of them, according to UK Trade and Investment (UK T&I) experts: “Thanks to TV and other advertising, as well as increased travel, this group looks for better products and is willing to pay a premium for international quality products with a recognised brand.”

The past two years have seen an explosion in household-name beauty groups setting up in India, and the market shows no sign of slowing this year.

The Body Shop, owned by L’Oréal, launched its first Indian store in Delhi in June 2006, and already has ten stores in seven cities.

Jonathan Price, the chain’s Asia-Pacific director, said that breaking into the Indian market requires excellent timing.

“Although the retail market is growing rapidly, it’s relatively undeveloped compared to Britain, particularly in terms of retail high streets, department stores and shopping centres.This means that you have to be prepared to react very quickly when retail sites become available.

Having the right franchise partner is crucial as they bring the knowledge to ensure the right site selection.”

Selling via franchisees is not the only way of cracking India. M.A.C, part of the Estée Lauder Company, is known as one of the best brands of make-up for non-white skin.

The company worked with Shoppers Stop, an Indian retail company, to open a stand-alone M.A.C store in Bombay in June 2006. Another will open this month in Bangalore and further stores are planned for Delhi.

Estée Lauder is launching its designer fragrances division in India and also plans to open a Clinique shop in Delhi.

Beauty “service stations” are another recent innovation used by foreign companies — effectively beauty sales in which companies draw customers off the street and educate them on the products.

Chanel, meanwhile, has gone for concessions in high-end retail malls to sell its fragrances and beauty products.

According to Marielou Phillips, many customers are familiar with Chanel from visits overseas, so little tweaking of the range is required for Indian women.

“The colours chosen for the Indian market are all part of the same international collection,” she said, “but Chanel India chooses to emphasise the brighter shades to satisfy client demand.”

In Asia, however, Chanel does sell a skin-whitening product that is not available in Europe.

L’Oréal has been a pioneer in the Indian beauty market, having arrived in 1990 and worked its way up to the number two position.

The French company now has 550 workers across India and a factory in Pune, as well as a hairdressing academy.

Its cheaper product ranges, such as Garnier, have been popular for some time, but last year the group started introducing luxury brands such as Shu Uemera and Lancôme.

Unlike Chanel, L’Oréal tailors products to local markets. For instance, the susceptibility of Indian skin to age spots and sun marks has helped sales of the anti-marks cream Garnier Skin Natural Light.

Also, L’Oréal takes potential water shortages into account by making sure its shower products generate less foam.

Last year L’Oréal’s sales in India rose by more than 40 per cent.

But UK T&I gave warning that there are some barriers to growth in the Indian market. The cost of importing products is very high: the average import tariff on cosmetics is 34.4 per cent, but can rise to 65 per cent after other taxes.

“Certain high-end products just don’t sell in India because the final price to bring it into India is too high for consumers to pay.”

Foreign brands constitute about 20 per cent of the Indian cosmetics market.

Mass market, low-cost and high-volume products still dominate sales, and it will take some time to shift attitudes on what is an appropriate cost for cosmetics and toiletries.

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