Gimme SUGAR! – With Beauty Entrepreneur Vineeta Singh
Move over Kylie Jenner, Huda Kattan, Anastasia Soare! I had the chance to meet and have a no-holds-barred conversation cum mentoring session with IIT-M, IIM-A alum, India’s beauty maven and self-made $billionaire in the making, Vineeta Singh, Founder and CEO of Fab Bag and Sugar Cosmetics today at NSRCEL IIM-B. These are the kind of inspiring sessions I truly look forward to. The Women Startup Program (WSP) 2018 is designed by NSRCEL to take us or should I say power the Top 100 women entrepreneurs handpicked this year to accelerate our start-up journeys.
Vineeta has had a most stellar entrepreneurial journey that started at the age of 23, fresh out of IIM-A. She says she has no regrets refusing lucrative job offers back then and was always intent on pursuing her entrepreneurial dreams inspite of having doctor parents. When asked what inspired her, pat came the reply – Prof.Sunil Handa’s course ‘Laboratory Of Entrepreneurial Motivation’ (LEM) at IIM-A. #Ditto
From wanting to start a lingerie business that was a non-starter despite winning several start-up competitions, to co-founding and running a B2B background verification services company for 5 years, to boot-strapping online beauty subscription company Fab Bag, to launching her very own makeup line Sugar Cosmetics, Vineeta is not done yet.
As creator of some of the most sought-after cosmetic game-changers in the industry (including the Smudge Me Not Liquid Lipstick – 10 Drop Dead Red which sold 42,000 units upon launch), it’s no wonder she is considered royalty in the Indian beauty sphere.
The Delhi-born cosmetics guru paved her own path through eclectic beginnings studying both tech and management. With an opposing love for both business and aesthetics and an inclination to provide truly luxurious beauty products and experience to every Indian woman, Sugar Cosmetics was born. Brazen Raisin, Drop Dead Red, Plum Yum, Brink Of Pink, Tan Fan, Suave Mauve, Rust Lust, Wine and Shine are only some of the cult and classic lip shade names Vineeta has personally conceptualised.
“I emphasise on the importance of good design – the cutesy names for shades vs. boring numbers, the slick branding, unique eye-catching illustrations, clean kiosk design, because I want to give Indian women the same experience one can have shopping abroad, truly luxurious products with the crème de la crème of quality ingredients. Makeup that’s high on style and higher on performance.”
Through Fab Bag, Vineeta knows firsthand what products work and don’t , she also recognized the demand for affordable, high-quality, attractively packaged, trendy and long-wearing make-up products. “I quickly realized that I need to create my own products, to align with the new, sassy, Instagramming Indian woman who closely follows international beauty trends.”
The social media buzz has grown quickly and Sugar has now expanded to over 100+ retail stores including at Lifestyle.
Thank you for your time and sharing your amazing story Vineeta. Here’s wishing you many more sweet successes!
I’m getting myself some Sugar and you should too! Thanks for reading.
