New Delhi, Oct. 5 -- Mumbai: In the early 2000s, when L'Oreal began rolling out hair colour at mass price points of Rs.100 per sachet, ads for its premium European brands were a regular fixture on television, particularly English language channels. Mass priced hair colour Garnier became famous with actress Simone Singh's ad, convincing her mother to give it a try. Later, superstar Aishwarya Rai delivered the memorable "five problems, one solution" for L'Oreal Paris' total repair shampoo.

These ads belong to an era where premiumization meant upgrading to the latest foreign brand.

But Jacques Lebel, who took over as L'Oreal's India managing director a year ago, is now navigating a new reality.

India's beauty and personal care market has ...