Somewhere along the way, skincare stopped being about understanding your skin and became about fixing everything that was supposedly wrong with it.
In India, this shift has been particularly visible. We’ve been sold fairness as an aspiration, “glow” as a measure of healthy skin, pores as something to erase, pigmentation as a flaw, and ageing as something to fight. Add miracle ingredients, overnight results and dramatic before-and-after transformations, and skincare starts to feel less like care and more like correction.
The problem isn’t wanting better skin. It’s the idea that our skin is never good enough as it is.
Years of exaggerated claims have also changed how consumers perceive products. More ingredients must mean a better formula. Stronger means more effective. Tingling means it’s working. Ten steps must be better than three. And if something doesn’t deliver dramatic results in seven days, it must not be working.
But skin doesn’t work on marketing timelines.
The result is a category where consumers are often overwhelmed, over-promised to and encouraged to constantly add more.
It’s time to change the conversation.
Skincare should help you understand what your skin needs, not convince you that there is always something wrong with it. It should be transparent about what an ingredient can—and cannot do. It should prioritise evidence over excitement and efficacy over exaggerated promises.
