Lakmé Cosmetics
Lakmé is an Indian beauty brand owned by Hindustan Unilever, known for colour cosmetics, skincare, haircare, beauty salons and its association with Lakmé Fashion Week.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Lakmé Cosmetics is an Indian beauty and personal-care brand owned by Hindustan Unilever Limited. It was established in 1952 as a subsidiary of Tata Oil Mills, during a period when India was seeking to develop domestic manufacturing and conserve foreign exchange. The brand’s creation is commonly linked to a concern attributed to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru: Indian consumers, particularly women purchasing imported beauty products, were spending scarce foreign currency on cosmetics. Nehru is reported to have encouraged industrialist J. R. D. Tata to develop a locally made alternative. Tata Oil Mills subsequently created Lakmé as an Indian cosmetics business. The name Lakmé was drawn from the French opera Lakmé. The opera’s title refers to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess associated with beauty and prosperity, and the name gave the brand a distinctive connection between Indian cultural imagery and an internationally styled beauty identity. Simone Tata joined the business as a director and later became its chairperson, playing an important role in the development of the company and its public profile. Lakmé’s principal business has historically been colour cosmetics and adjacent beauty care. Its portfolio includes products such as lipsticks, eyeliners and skincare creams, with the wider range extending across makeup and personal-care categories. The brand has positioned itself as an accessible, recognisably Indian beauty label with a strong connection to fashion, celebrity and contemporary women’s grooming. Its visibility has been supported by advertising, celebrity ambassadors and its long-running connection with the Indian fashion industry. A major ownership transition occurred in 1998, when the Tata group sold its stake in Lakmé to Hindustan Unilever for ₹200 crore. The transaction brought the brand into the Unilever consumer-goods system while preserving Lakmé as a distinct consumer-facing identity in India. Under Hindustan Unilever, Lakmé has operated as one of the company’s prominent beauty brands and has benefited from broader distribution, product development and retail capabilities. Lakmé also expanded beyond packaged cosmetics. Through Lakmé Lever, it operates beauty salons in India; the reference material records 485 salons as of 2021. In December 2018, the brand launched an e-commerce platform, giving customers a direct online purchasing channel in addition to traditional retail and salon-linked distribution. These activities broadened Lakmé from a cosmetics label into a more comprehensive beauty ecosystem encompassing products, services and fashion-related experiences. The brand is the title sponsor of Lakmé Fashion Week, a twice-yearly fashion event held in Mumbai. This association has connected Lakmé with Indian designers, runway presentation and fashion media, reinforcing its positioning at the intersection of cosmetics, style and popular culture. Lakmé has also used well-known Indian actresses and entertainers as ambassadors, including Shraddha Kapoor, Kajol Devgn, Kareena Kapoor and Ananya Pandey at different points. Its recognition has been reflected in Indian brand-trust rankings: it was listed at number 104 in the 2012 Brand Trust Report, number 71 in 2013, number 36 in 2014 and number 27 in the 2022 edition. These rankings are survey-based reputation indicators rather than financial or market-share measures. Lakmé remains an active Indian beauty brand with a business spanning makeup, skincare, salons, digital commerce and fashion sponsorship. Its history combines state-era industrial policy, Tata entrepreneurship, Unilever ownership and sustained cultural visibility in India’s beauty and fashion markets.
History
Lakmé was created in 1952 within Tata Oil Mills, an Indian industrial company associated with the Tata group. Its origins reflected the economic priorities of early post-independence India. Beauty products were then imported in significant measure, and the use of foreign exchange for cosmetics was viewed as undesirable at a time when India was trying to build domestic manufacturing capacity. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is reported to have encouraged J. R. D. Tata to establish an Indian cosmetics business capable of serving local consumers. Tata Oil Mills responded by creating Lakmé. The brand’s name came from the French opera Lakmé. The opera’s title is connected to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess associated with beauty, and the choice gave the company an Indian cultural reference expressed through a French artistic form. This combination helped Lakmé establish a name that was both locally resonant and internationally styled. Simone Tata became a director of the company and later its chairperson. Her involvement was significant in the brand’s early corporate and public development. Lakmé initially developed around makeup and beauty products for the Indian market. Its best-known categories included lipsticks, eyeliners and skincare creams, later forming part of a broader colour-cosmetics and skincare assortment. Over time, the brand became a prominent name in Indian women’s beauty and grooming, supported by mass-market distribution, advertising and its links to cinema and fashion. Celebrity representation became an important part of its visibility, with actresses and entertainers serving as ambassadors at different times. In 1998, the Tata group sold its stake in Lakmé to Hindustan Unilever for a reported ₹200 crore. The change placed Lakmé within Hindustan Unilever, one of India’s largest fast-moving consumer-goods companies and part of the global Unilever group. The transaction marked the end of the brand’s Tata ownership while retaining Lakmé as a separate consumer brand. Unilever ownership provided access to larger-scale commercial, distribution and product-development capabilities. Lakmé subsequently expanded its business model beyond packaged cosmetics. The Lakmé Lever operation developed a network of branded beauty salons, linking the product brand to professional beauty services. The available reference material records 485 Lakmé salons in 2021. The brand also moved into direct digital commerce, launching an e-commerce platform in December 2018. These developments reflected the increasing importance of online purchasing and the growing integration of products, services and beauty advice in the consumer beauty sector. Lakmé’s fashion connection became one of its defining institutional associations. It serves as title sponsor of Lakmé Fashion Week, a twice-yearly event held in Mumbai. The event connects the brand with Indian designers, runway collections, fashion journalism and seasonal beauty trends. The sponsorship has helped Lakmé occupy a position not limited to everyday cosmetics: it also presents itself as a participant in India’s fashion and style culture. The brand’s reputation has been tracked in Indian trust rankings. It was listed at 104 in the 2012 Brand Trust Report, rose to 71 in 2013 and was ranked 36 in 2014. The 2022 report placed it at 27. These figures indicate changes in survey-based brand trust and should not be treated as measures of sales, profitability or market share. Lakmé is an active Hindustan Unilever beauty brand. Its historical development runs from a state-era objective of domestic cosmetics production, through Tata stewardship and the 1998 transfer to Hindustan Unilever, to a contemporary platform combining makeup, skincare, salons, e-commerce, celebrity marketing and fashion sponsorship.
- 2022
Brand Trust Report ranking
[1]Lakmé was ranked 27th among India’s most trusted brands in the Brand Trust Report 2022.
- 2021
Lakmé Lever salon network reported at 485 locations
[1]Reference material reported that Lakmé operated 485 beauty salons through Lakmé Lever.
- 2018
E-commerce platform launched
[1]Lakmé launched an online commerce platform in December.
- 1998
Ownership passes to Hindustan Unilever
[1]The Tata group sold its stake in Lakmé to Hindustan Unilever for a reported ₹200 crore.
- 1952
Lakmé is established in India
[1]Tata Oil Mills established Lakmé as an Indian cosmetics business in response to the demand for domestically manufactured beauty products.
Products and positioning
An Indian beauty brand combining accessible colour cosmetics and skincare with celebrity-led visibility, fashion association, salon services and increasingly digital retail. An India-focused beauty brand combining accessible everyday colour cosmetics and skincare with selected premium-oriented ranges, haircare and fragrances, celebrity-led visibility, fashion association, salon services and increasingly digital retail.
Makeup
Lakmé colour cosmetics
Lakmé’s core offering is a range of coloured cosmetics for facial and eye makeup. The category includes products such as lipsticks, eyeliners, foundations, concealers and kajal, and represents the brand’s longstanding role in India’s mass-market beauty sector. Its makeup identity is closely connected with fashion presentation, advertising and celebrity-led beauty communication.
Skincare
Lakmé skincare
Skincare creams and related skincare products form an important adjacent category to Lakmé’s makeup business. The range allows the brand to address preparation, maintenance and daily beauty routines alongside colour cosmetics, and forms a major part of the brand's current direct-to-consumer assortment. Specific product names and launch dates are not established in the supplied reference material. Lakmé skincare products form a major part of the brand's current direct-to-consumer assortment. The portfolio is marketed alongside makeup and includes routine facial and personal-care products. Specific formulas, subcategories and launch dates are not established in the supplied reference.
Beauty services
Lakmé Lever salons
Lakmé Lever extends the brand into professional beauty services through branded salons. The salon business gives customers access to in-person beauty treatments and creates a service channel connected to Lakmé’s product and fashion positioning. The network was reported at 485 salons in 2021. Lakmé is also associated with a network of branded beauty salons in India. These salons extend the brand into professional services, including beauty and personal-care experiences. The supplied material does not establish the current number of locations or the detailed operating structure.
Makeup
Lakmé makeup
Lakmé's makeup assortment includes complexion products such as foundations, as well as lip and eye products including lipsticks and kajal. The range is intended for everyday beauty routines and broader cosmetic use in the Indian market. The official store presents makeup as a central product category.
Makeup and beauty
Lakmé Absolute
Lakmé Absolute is a named Lakmé product family associated with the brand's more performance-oriented or premium-facing beauty assortment. The supplied material identifies it as a flagship offering but does not document its complete range architecture or launch history.
Makeup
Lakmé 9 to 5
Lakmé 9 to 5 is a named makeup range associated with everyday and workday beauty use. It is identified in the existing brand material as one of Lakmé's flagship offerings, but the supplied sources do not specify the full product lineup or individual launch dates.
Skincare
Lakmé Perfect Radiance
Lakmé Perfect Radiance is a named skincare range associated with the brand's complexion and radiance-oriented positioning. It is listed as a flagship Lakmé offering. Detailed formulation information and launch chronology are not available in the supplied references.
Marketing campaigns
- Lakmé Fashion Week title sponsorship
India
Lakmé is the title sponsor of Lakmé Fashion Week, a twice-yearly fashion event held in Mumbai. The association places the brand alongside Indian designers, runway collections, fashion media and seasonal beauty trends, establishing a durable association between Lakmé, Indian fashion and beauty culture.
Outcome. The sponsorship established a durable association between Lakmé, Indian fashion and beauty culture.
Brand decisions
2018
Launch of direct e-commerceStrategyBackground
Beauty purchasing was increasingly moving toward online channels, in addition to physical retail and salons.
Action taken
Lakmé launched its own e-commerce platform in December.
Aftermath
The brand gained a direct digital sales channel; the supplied sources do not quantify its commercial results.
1998
Transfer of Tata ownership to Hindustan UnileverM&ABackground
Lakmé had been created and developed within the Tata group through Tata Oil Mills.
Action taken
The Tata group sold its stake in Lakmé to Hindustan Unilever in a transaction reported at ₹200 crore.
Aftermath
Lakmé became a Hindustan Unilever brand while continuing to operate under its established name in the Indian cosmetics market.
Reported transaction value. ₹200 crore (1998)
Recent events
- 2022
Lakmé ranking in the Brand Trust Report[1]
Other
Lakmé was reported as the 27th most trusted brand in India in the Brand Trust Report 2022.
- 2021
Lakmé operates hundreds of beauty salons[1]
Other
Lakmé Lever was reported to operate 485 beauty salons, reflecting the brand’s extension into service-based beauty retail.
- 2018
Lakmé launches an e-commerce platform[1]
Product launch
Lakmé introduced a direct online commerce platform in December, expanding its sales presence beyond physical retail and salons.
- 1998
Tata group sells Lakmé stake to Hindustan Unilever[1]
M&A
The Tata group sold its interest in Lakmé to Hindustan Unilever in a transaction reported at ₹200 crore, transferring ownership of the Indian cosmetics brand to the Unilever group.
Sources3 sources
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