Nykaa takes its beauty battle global to take on cosmetic giants

India’s largest beauty retailer FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd., which runs Nykaa, has taken its first big step into Western markets with a UK debut. The company on Thursday launched its in-house cosmetics label Kay Beauty, backed by Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif, at Space NK, the Ulta Beauty-owned luxury retailer.

The company already had a presence abroad in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through its omnichannel platform called Nysaa.

The move brings FSN into direct competition with global majors such as L’Oreal SA and Estee Lauder Cos Inc. in one of the world’s most competitive cosmetics markets. Kay Beauty will offer a mix of everyday products across skin tones and specialty items like kohl, which is widely used by South Asian consumers, Bloomberg quoted Nayar.


FSN has been testing international waters through the Middle East, opening its first Dubai outlet last year with UAE-based Apparel Group and setting up subsidiaries in Qatar and Oman.

Earlier this year in February, Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO of Nykaa, had underscored the company’s global ambition. “We do believe in global expansion and we believe our brands have the capability to travel internationally,” she had said in an interview with ET Now.

At home, FSN E-Commerce reported a consolidated net profit of ₹24 crore in the June quarter, up 79% from ₹14 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations grew 23% to ₹2,155 crore compared to ₹1,746 crore in Q1 FY25.

Nykaa has grown quickly as India’s first large-scale online beauty marketplace, helped by higher spending power and social media adoption among millennials and Gen Z. The domestic beauty and personal care sector is projected to rise to $34 billion by 2028 from $21 billion in 2023, according to a September report by Redseer Strategy Consultants and Nykaa.

Nayar said FSN aims to nearly triple gross merchandise value for its in-house brands to 60 billion rupees ($685 million) by March 2030, compared with about 21 billion rupees in the financial year ended March 2025. “We’d like to strive for profitability margins that some of the world’s best have of around mid-teens to early-twenties,” she told Bloomberg, without disclosing current margins.

Shares of FSN have surged nearly 40% this year, outpacing the Nifty 50 index’s 4% rise.

The company expects fresh launches to drive sales in India’s upcoming festive season, starting September, and is also investing in its fashion vertical, including plans to expand in-house lingerie, Bloomberg quoted Nayar as saying.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)