- Indian brands receive 47.3% of brand-named makeup recommendations in the researched discussions.
- International brands receive 51.8%, with the remainder not classified by origin.
- Recommendations indicate stated advocacy; they do not establish sales, penetration or market share.
Indian makeup brands receive 47.3% of brand-named recommendations in Relvo’s India cosmetics research (n=514), compared with 51.8% for international brands, snapshot dated 3 October 2026. Both groups are prominent in the sampled advice. The figures do not identify a market-share winner.
How to read the numbers: Shares describe selected buying decisions or opinions, with the base shown. Positive-opinion charts include positive and negative opinions only. Separate evidence sets may share underlying accounts and differ in buyer and product mix. Small bases are indicative; bases below 10 are reported directionally.
A recommendation says that someone put a brand forward in a particular conversation. It does not show how much was spent, which product was finally bought or whether the recipient followed the advice. It can also reflect a specific product or budget rather than a judgement about the whole brand.
The India cosmetics market research separates recommendations from warnings and other decisions. That allows a brand to examine the context in which it is advocated, instead of treating every mention as equivalent support.
For product teams, origin is only the starting comparison. What was the recommendation intended to help with? A buyer asking for a shade match may need different evidence from someone asking for a lower-cost option. Comparing brands without the reason can hide why a particular choice was proposed.
Relvo’s consumer behavior research captures what selected buyers recommend in their own accounts. The discussion is heavily English-language and concentrated in a few sources. It cannot establish how Indian and international brands perform across the full population or retail market. It does provide a basis for examining what makes a recommendation useful.
Questions about the research
Is 47.3% Indian brands’ share of cosmetics sales? No. It is their share of brand-named recommendations in the researched buyer discussions. It does not measure sales or spending.
Is this based on sales data? No. It uses coded buyer accounts and opinions. It is not purchase data and not a representative survey.
Related research: The India Cosmetics Market Report, 2026 on NBW Brain examines buyer decisions, product experiences and behavioural patterns, with evidence available through its Market Brain.
Methodology
Source: Relvo cosmetics research, snapshot dated 3 October 2026. Selected India-focused makeup discussions and recent product reviews cover October 2025–October 2026. Records were checked for category and geography, coded to a fixed codebook and reviewed for coding reliability. The discussion evidence is heavily English-language and concentrated in a few sources. Reviews cover selected products and recent experiences; they are not a random sample of purchases. Positive-opinion shares exclude mixed and neutral opinions. Each percentage refers to the event or opinion set named alongside it. Evidence layers may share accounts and are not independent samples. Bases of 10–29 are indicative; bases below 10 are reported directionally. Findings are self-reported, not sales data or a representative survey.
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