Shahnaz Husain: The Uncrowned Queen Of Cosmetic Industry

There is hardly a person in India who doesn’t know the name of Shahnaz Husain. Often hailed as the ‘Queen of Beauty Care’, she has inspired several women in the world with her noteworthy work. Her potions are sold through 1,50,000 stores (approx.) in India. This is the kind of impact Shahnaz Husain has created in the cosmetic industry. Adding to that, Shahnaz Herbals is the only brand that produces skin care products without animal testing.

Having said that, let’s discuss that how this motivational figure climbed the ladder of success despite coming from a conservative background.

Early struggles

Born on November 5, 1944, Shahnaz Husain hails from a conventional family background. She is the daughter of late Nasirullah Beg, former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. Interestingly, almost all of the men in Shahnaz’s family were either Justices or Senior politicians. Owing to a good reputation of her family, she got the opportunity to complete her schooling from an Irish Convent School where she developed an interest in English Literature.

But before her educational graph could improve, Shahnaz got engaged at just an age of 14 and was subsequently married at 16. However, she always knew that she is not meant to be just an ordinary housewife and the urge of doing something big is what kept her going at that time. Thus, she began studying cosmetology.

Moving to Tehran

When Shahnaz was 27, a fortunate event happened to her in the form of her husband getting posted in Tehran. In order to pursue the higher education in beauty sector, Shahnaz needed a lot of money and for that she had to do a job. But the irony was that she couldn’t speak Persian and finding an employment turned to be a big challenge for her. After immense efforts, Shahnaz finally got an opportunity to work as a Beauty Editor in Iran Tribune. She used to write 10,000 words per week when the target was for just 500 words. Gradually, her confidence began to rise as an employee and so did her income.

Jumping on Entrepreneurial wagon

While Shahnaz was in Tehran, she dealt with peculiar skin disorders and realised that most of these problems were mainly due to the use of chemical-based cosmetics. That’s when she decided to take up the task and fix this issue. Hence, she began a clinic of her own with herbal products. After 2 years of specialization in cosmetology and trichology, Shahnaz decided to return to her homeland in 1977.

Soon after coming back to India, she first set up her herbal clinic at her home in Delhi by borrowing some money from her father. As she was confident of introducing a whole new concept of “care and cure” along with the formulation of Ayurvedic products, Shahnaz launched her own company under the name of Shahnaz Herbals Inc.

Beating all the odds, not only did Shahnaz Husain enter the world of cosmetics, but she did so without adapting any marketing agenda. All she did was hung a banner outside her clinic, which mentioned her qualifications and services offered. Surprisingly, the no-advertisement policy worked well for Shahnaz as people started showing faith in her services.

Today, Shahnaz Husain’s products are considered to be the most trusted ones in the Indian Herbal Cosmetics Industry. The Group has more than 400 clinics, spas, schools, shops, as well as Ayurvedic formulations for skin, hair, body and health care and around 1,50,000 stores in 138 countries.