The Metrosexual: He spends more on personal grooming

Men seeking facials. Women desiring silicone implants or a liposuction. Or people who want to look good and feel fit. This industry can help them all

If you want to know how beauty conscious the average Indian has become, just ask Dr Rekha Seth. In 1985, when the dermatologist-cum-beauty expert and currently President of The Cosmetology Society (India) test-launched a US-made anti-ageing cream, Retin, not a soul she knew wanted to try it. Today, her 3,000-sq ft Iz Beauty Clinic in Vile Parle, Mumbai, gets a steady stream of clients. And you'd be gravely mistaken if you thought they were there for some silly anti-ageing cream. Instead, they come for everything from simple facials to microdermabrasion to Botox shots-the works. The surprise: A good 30 per cent of Dr Seth's clientele-that includes filmstar Saif Ali Khan, the Dhoots of Videocon, even some of the Birla clan-are men. Points out Seth: "Men actually end up spending more than women, as they are more decisive and know exactly what they want."

Blame it on what you will-satellite television, MNC work culture, marketing push, or simply growing prosperity- fact is, the Indian metrosexual male (and the female) is here to stay. That could be anybody-corporate executive, bureaucrat, housewife, college student, or salesman. But they have one thing in common: they want to feel good and they want to look good. Or, as we decided to call it, seeking "freedom from genes". It's about wanting to look fairer, slimmer, and younger. It's about banishing that wrinkle on your forehead. It's also about getting that deal or promotion you've set your heart on. But most of all, it is about being with it.

Mirror, Mirror...

Although no audited figures are yet available, the beauty salon business in India is estimated to rack up Rs 800- 1,000 crore a year, with a big chunk of it going to the unorganised sector. Throw in the Rs 1,600 crore physical fitness industry and the Rs 3,500 crore cosmetics business, and you are talking about a Rs 6,000 crore-a-year-and-growing look-good industry. The takings at organised salons in the metros alone, Blossom Kochhar of the eponymous beauty chain reckons, doubles every two years. Which is why FMCG companies like CavinKare, Lakme Lever, L'Oreal, Marico, and Wella have been opening exclusive salons and clinics, while individuals like Ambika Pillai and Vandana Luthra are drawing up plans to expand their businesses.

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Luthra's Delhi-based VLCC, one of the largest players in the slimming business, grew from 22 centres in 2001 to 52 centres now and has a presence across the country. The chain, which once flirted with the idea of listing on the stockmarket, expects revenues to jump from Rs 60 crore last year to Rs 100 crore this year. Pillai, an upmarket hair stylist based in Delhi, plans to open a training department, which will in turn enable her to expand into other cities such as Ludhiana and Jalandhar over the next two years.

What's driving the growth? A mass market for beauty and fitness. Luthra, for example, says that her customers include wives of "autorickshaw wallahs". The makeover is visible even in a conservative city like Chennai, where a clutch of serious-monied beauty salons has come up in the past few years. CavinKare, a fast-growing consumer products company in Chennai, launched two brands of salons last year-Limelite and Salon Green Trends-with the former having special aroma labs, oxygen bars, and hair stylists trained by Javed Habib. Limelite already boasts 2,000 regular members. Says S. Jagdish, Head (Retail), Trends in Vogue, a CavinKare division that owns the salons: "We have seen a heightened awareness among men and women in the age group of 19 to 40 years."

Looking good doesn't come cheap, though. While in Delhi and Mumbai a standard beauty package (comprising facial, manicure, and hair colouring) costs between Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000, Chennai is a bit cheaper. But if you are planning a trip to Limelite in Chennai's Nungambakkam, a posh neighbourhood, be prepared to shell out serious money. An oxygen facial can set you back by Rs 2,500 and streaking and perming hair, by Rs 3,000. Think thrifty southerners will baulk at such rates? Think again. "There is no second chance to make a good first impression, and I always like to look my best," says Sridevi Chimala, wife of Sashi Chimala, part-owner of coffee chain Qwiky's.

GOLD'S GYM Located at Mumbai's tony Napean Sea Road, Gold's Gym is frequented by 450 people every day, each spending an average of Rs 30,000 a year

If that means having to go under a surgeon's scalpel, so be it. When Dr Lakshyajit D. Dhami, a plastic, cosmetic, and micro-surgeon at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai started his career, his patients were mostly accident victims or people with congenital disfigurement. Over the last four years, though, Dhami has been treating an increasing number of healthy people who want to undo with the help of medical science what nature did. Liposuction (removal of excess fat), breast enhancement through silicon implants and facelifts are much in demand at Dhami's hospital. Says he: "People realise that they can actually change the way they look and feel."

Liposuction, despite its adverse effects, can take 20 kg of fat out of you in a matter of three hours. Already, half of Dhami's plastic surgeries are cosmetic, and he expects his business to grow five times in as many years. The business of cosmetic surgery itself, the doctor reckons, could quintuple in that period. In fact Hyderabad's Dr Puli Ravindra Reddy is already riding a boom. His Laser Medical Centre, set up in 1998, has more than doubled the number of cosmetic surgeries it does in a month to 20. Says Rakesh Pandey, CEO, Kaya Skin Clinic, a chain of beauty salons launched by Harish Mariwala's Marico Industries: "Everybody is looking to improve his appearance to increase his or her chances of success at work, besides personal satisfaction." No surprises then that half of Dhami's clients are executives, and most of Ravindra Reddy's too are "MNC types", aged between 22 and 26.

VANDANA LUTHRA Chairperson, VLCC Luthra's Delhi-based VLCC, which once flirted with the idea of listing on the stockmarket, expects revenues to jump from Rs 60 crore last year to Rs 100 crore this year

The Hunks

Great. You've gone ahead and gotten yourself a beautiful body. What about a flab-free, super-toned physique to go with it? Welcome, fitness centres. As salons and beauty clinics popped up in your neighbourhood, fitness centres have quietly been flexing their muscle into the market too. Like Gold's Gym.

Part of a 25-nation chain, Gold's Gym set up shop in Mumbai in November last year, but already is planning centres in Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad by the end of March 2004. Located at Mumbai's tony Napean Sea Road, the 14,000 sq ft gym attracts a hundred new members every month. Each spends an average of Rs 30,000 a year. With an investment of Rs 4 crore in equipment and around 30 trainers including nutritionists, dieticians and fitness counsellors, the gym is frequented by 450 people every day, including Sony TV's Sunil Lulla, choreographer Shiamak Davar, and business couple Avanti and Yash Birla. Says Leena Mogre, CEO, Gold's Gym: "It's not just about losing weight and staying fit. Most of our clients are fashion conscious and want to try out different clothes."

Reebok even has numbers to prove that Indians are more fitness conscious now than they were a decade ago. Consider this: In 1995, when Reebok, which had just arrived in the country, conducted a qualitative research in the age group of 15 to 35, only one out of 10 said they were engaged in some form of physical fitness. Today, that number stands at seven. Says Subhinder Singh Prem, Executive Director (Sales & Marketing), Reebok India Company: "The number of gyms that have mushroomed across the country is an indicator." The sportswear manufacturer itself has trained about 600 gym instructors in the last seven years who have gone on to set up fitness centres. Out of Reebok's Rs 150 crore in sales last year, a good 5 per cent came from the fitness equipment business. Delhi-based First Fitness Ventures, an associate of Reebok, which has a 4,000 sq ft gym in Vasant Vihar, is planning a 15,000 sq ft centre in Gurgaon to cash in on the fitness fad.

What may give beauty and fitness a bad name, though, is the mushrooming of quacks and untrained instructors alongside the genuine ones. At least in smaller towns, such shady outlets thrive. Even in Mumbai, there are an estimated one thousand beauty clinics, not all of whom are trained to the required standards. Says Pandey of Kaya Clinic: "This is a tough business and requires a very serious commitment to ensuring very high quality and safety standards."

In other words, hot wax or the hundred pound benchpress may be the easier part of the beauty and fitness business.

-additional reporting Kushan Mitra, Nitya Varadarajan, E. Kumar Sharma and Dipayan Baishya