Makeup is an experience, it's all about the fun purchase - Shivangi - Disguise Cosmetics
By Rachit Juneja
Feb. 2, 2023
1. Introduction And Background
As one of the founders of Disguise cosmetics, I, Shivangi, along with my partner Lakshay, come from a background in research in the beauty industry. We met while working at a multinational company, L'Oreal, and noticed a lack of Indian brands in the makeup space. We wanted to create a safe, vegan, and cruelty-free brand that was specifically catered to the Indian market. We started small, self-funded and with only one product and wanted to test the waters before expanding our range. Our mission is to not harm any living being in any way, and we want to ensure that our brand is cruelty-free, not just in terms of not testing on animals.
2. How did you decide on that one product to start with?
We decided to launch our brand with lipsticks. Lipsticks allowed us to play with a wide range of colours and we wanted to create a curated shade range that would work on most Indian skin tones. We worked hard to ensure that the shades had the right undertones and were a little more warmer to suit the Indian skin tone. We believed that lipsticks were the right product to launch our brand.
3. How was your journey of finding the first hundred customers like?
We launched our lipsticks at Lil Flea, an event where we booked two weekends. We got a small batch of lipsticks made for the first weekend and we were sold out. Our first hundred customers came from Lil Flea, and the next weekend we got a new batch made and we did equally well. This gave us a lot of confidence as we were product people who had never gone out and sold a single product. It was an exciting and great feeling for us to have people try our product, love it and come back to tell their friends. Our customers were our biggest cheerleaders and this was the reason why we felt lucky and quite successful to start off with.
4. What do your current responsibilities at Disguise look like?
As one of the founders of disguise cosmetics, I am responsible for product development, working with subcontractors to get the products out there, and also look after the social media in terms of content, along with some help from team members. I am someone who loves makeup, colours, painting, and every aspect of creativity that goes with makeup. Being a small team, everyone pitches in and helps out with different tasks as needed.
5. Key highlights of the product
Customers, I believe, are more intuitive than we give them credit for. Packaging is important to us; we have a bright mint colour packaging that is unique in the makeup category, where black, gold, or silver are more common. This packaging is more recognisable, and we have always strived to ensure that our packaging is of high quality because makeup is an experience, and it is all about the fun purchase that you make, and many customers have returned to tell us how much they appreciate the packaging. To make the purchasing experience as enjoyable as possible, we want to ensure that our packaging is not only visually appealing but also of high quality.
6. How would you describe a typical Disguise customer?
We have a lot of customers who are conscious of their food and lifestyle choices. We are a vegan and cruelty-free brand, and we place a high value on safety. We chose the safest ingredient available, whether natural or synthetic, rather than being natural or synthetic. Our products are popular among animal lovers. Our target audience is someone who is interested in beauty and is willing to ask us more questions. Our typical consumer is between the ages of 25 and 35 and prefers to support smaller and local business brands.
7. What are the key channels to reach the customer?
We've determined that events are the best way to engage with our customers. We will continue to participate in a variety of events and weekend events because they allow us to have these conversations, meet our customers, and receive feedback and reviews. It also aids us in product development by allowing us to see what works and what doesn't and make the necessary changes. It is critical that we continue to listen and improve because no one gets it right the first time. We are constantly striving to improve and change our products and brand.
8. Core message you try to communicate through influencer and content marketing?
Influencer marketing, in my opinion, can be a very effective way of communicating the product experience to potential customers. Authenticity is the most important aspect of this type of communication. Influencers must be able to discuss their true experience with the product, both the good and the bad, without sensationalising it in order to gain more followers or please the brand. Authenticity is essential in this type of communication because it provides potential customers with a realistic picture of what to expect from the product. This is especially important in the cosmetics industry because customers want products that will suit their skin type, lifestyle, and preferences.
9. Any particular influencer whose content you as a consumer enjoy watching?
As a beauty influencer, I find Komal Basith quite interesting. I also follow influencers like Masoom Minawala and Rohina. Rohina for her pretty design aesthetics and interesting ideas, and Komal for her detailed descriptions of her experiences. I like reading about their opinions, but I don't necessarily take their opinions as my own. These are a few influencers that I follow and enjoy watching.
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