Minimalist was the glow-up Hindustan Unilever's skincare line needed

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Apr 10, 2025

A major acquisition reshapes the Indian skincare scene as Hindustan Unilever snaps up Minimalist for nearly Rs 3000 crores. This rising star, launched in 2020, thrives on transparency and active ingredients, quickly reaching a remarkable 1000 crore rupee business within months. Its success challenges legacy brands that previously hid ingredient details, forcing them to rethink their strategies. With a profit from day one, Minimalist proves that consumers crave honesty and effectiveness in their skincare routines.

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ANECDOTE

Minimalist's Rapid Success

Minimalist, launched in 2020, achieved a 1000 crore rupee business within eight months and remained profitable from the start.
It disrupted the market by transparently naming active ingredients, unlike legacy brands that hid them.

INSIGHT

Highlighting Niacinamide

Niacinamide, present in foods and used in skincare, is a key ingredient in products like Pond's and Olay moisturizers.
Minimalist highlights this ingredient, naming its product after the chemical itself.

INSIGHT

Minimalist's Success Formula

Minimalist's success stems from offering high-quality products at low prices, coupled with transparent ingredient labeling.
This resonated with consumers at a time when the market was shifting away from solely natural ingredients.

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One of the largest deals to acquire a D2C brand took place in January this year. India’s largest manufacturer of consumer good, Hindustan Unilever acquired the skincare company Minimalist, a 90% shareholding for nearly Rs 3000 crores.

Homegrown startup beauty brands have been on a roll in India. Scores and scores of new age skincare brands have cropped up since the pandemic and all of them harp on the science of it. And their whole appeal is transparency. Transparency about the ingredients that go into each of their products.

Among all of them, Minimalist is the one that really stands out. It is an active ingredients based skincare company that sells things like niacinamide, retinol, Vit C, glycolic acid, and salicylic acid. It launched around the end of 2020, and within a span of eight months, it built a 1000 crore rupee business. What’s even more surprising that the brand has remained in the green, meaning profitable, from the very first month itself.

For years, legacy brands like, HUL, Ponds, and Loreal have been selling products with similar ingredient--the only difference being they either didn't launch them in India or the kept the names hidden away in tiny fonts at the back of the bottles.

It was Minimalist that came around and broke that mould.

And now, seeing the success of brands like Minimalist, legacy brands are rethinking their strategy.

Case in point: Hindustan Unilever

The company’s has been wanting to turn its beauty and well-being portfolio into a “high-growth" premium category for a while now and the acquisition of Minimalist is a big step in that direction.

But how did Minimalist manage something that a giant like HUL couldn't?

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**This episode was first published on January 27, 2025

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