The ‘holy grail’: Hemp a ‘must-have’ ingredient for beauty brands – Lotus Herbals MD

Lotus Herbals owns a range of brands including Lotus Botanicals, Lotus Organic+, and SoulTree.

Most recently, the company announced the launch of a hemp-based skin care range for Lotus Organic+, which includes a serum, cleanser, facial oil, moisturiser and night cream.

The Hemp Youth Glow range was developed to tap into the increasing demand for clean and ethical products, which the company believes is key to accelerating its growth.

“Hemp is revolutionising clean, green and ethical beauty and lifestyle. Its popularity can be attributed to increased awareness, and eco-friendly alternatives… and increased consumption due to health benefits,”​ said Nitin Passi, chairman and managing director of Lotus Herbals.

“As an eco-conscious brand, Lotus Organics+ stands on such ethos. Our momentum to launch a hemp range was propelled by its beauty benefits coupled with increasing global popularity and sustainability associated with the ingredient.”​

According to Passi, hemp is currently an “unexplored ingredient in India”. ​However, the

the resurgence of therapeutic, beauty and spiritual knowledge from ancient Indian scriptures has helped to boost its awareness.

“Consumers are also increasingly becoming more receptive to the idea of using hemp and detaching the plant from its psychotropic properties… The demand for hemp products has shot up tremendously in the last year and this trend is here to stay for many more years,”​ added Passi.

He told CosmeticsDesign-Asia ​that he expects demand for hemp cosmetics to increase in India.

“Hemp is slowly becoming the holy grail ingredient in skin care. Every major skin care brand must-have hemp range to enrich their existing portfolio.”​

He elaborated that his belief stems from the ingredient’s topical capabilities as well as its versatility.

“Hemp oil is rich in antioxidants vitamins and has potent anti-inflammatory properties. It is non-comedogenic and moisturises, soothes, and heals the skin as nothing can. The ingredient's versatility is such that it can be used to design every skin and hair care product ​from hair oil to moisturisers – the innovation formats are infinite.”​

As the benefits of hemp in beauty are not very well known, the company will be working to spread awareness with several campaigns.

“We intend to popularise this range through various educational campaigns and marketing initiatives on social media handles, websites, and marketplaces. Youthful Glow as a functional pay-off is an unexplored territory in the niche urban consumer. We want to claim the space as thought leaders through our Youth Glow Hemp Range,” ​said Passi.

Moving forward, Lotus Organics is set for a “​tremendously optimistic year”,​ said Passi, as the company has set a target to grow the business by 32% to 35%.

“We have an impressive line-up of products for 2022. We plan to expand our product portfolio across categories and strategically introduce niche innovative product formats. Consumers can expect a lot of organic goodness coming their way to enhance their beauty routines and regimes.”​