How Masaba Gupta's LoveChild aims to focus on self-care

Thatrsquos my game facerdquo says Masaba Gupta sitting across her desktop screen for a video interview with midday She is talking about the joysparking ritual of applying lip colour before driving out into the world ldquoThe process of slicking on a coat buys us some time to face the world it is intimate but at the same time the most public experiencerdquoGuptarsquos foray into fashion as a designer in 2014 was just the beginning ldquoI tend to get easily boredrdquo the 32yearold entrepreneur admits with a laugh ldquoAnd so Irsquom always on the lookout for new challengesrdquo Her ambitions have seen her poised to reinvent herself as an actor in web shows Masaba Masaba and Modern Love Mumbai and now as a force behind a new beauty cosmetic and personal care brand called LoveChildYesterday she unveiled the vegan parabenfree range with the tagline lsquoFor the Queen in Yoursquo for her 16 million social media followers The first drop of products includes a range of lipsticks nailpaints face mists intimate wipes and antianxiety oils ldquoWe are not just a brand offering a lipstick that comes in different shades and lasts 24 hours or one thatrsquos good for the environment We also want people to understand that lifestyle changes are as important The larger idea is to provide a holistic approach to nutrition fitness and wellness mdash every facet of selfcare mdash via our blog and podcasts I canrsquot wait itrsquos excitingrdquo Gupta saysDid we mention the beauty campaign also features upandcoming actor Zahan Kapoor and South Indian model BharathThe launch of a beauty brand comes eight months after Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited ABFRL announced a strategic partnership with ldquogennext focusedrdquo designer Masaba Gupta to build a presence in the beauty and personal care segment This possibly makes her the youngest if not the first Indian designer to launch a standalone beauty brand but Gupta insists that it has not been without overcoming multiple roadblocks ldquoAfter being told a flat no all my life LoveChild feels like a personal victoryrdquo she explains recalling the first time she approached a big corporate to invest in her beauty line It was 2015 when Kylie Jenner had launched her Lip Kits and Gupta thought to herself lsquoWhy canrsquot India have its own beauty brandrsquo ldquoI donrsquot think corporate companies have faith in a designer to launch a beauty brandrdquo she sharesDisheartened but not defeated Gupta decided to take on the responsibility of raising capital on her own in 2019 A few months into developing the product thankfully the ABFRL group investment came along by way of entering into a ldquobinding term sheet to acquire 51 per cent stake in the House of Masabardquo She hopes to introduce a new product range over the period of next three years ldquoYear one will include everything from lipsticks eye kajal fragrances to foundations and concealers followed by bath and body products and finally delve deeper into wellness and skin products like serumsrdquo But her first plan of action is to take LoveChild to the Caribbean because of her fatherrsquos origins ldquoItrsquos my longstanding dream Thatrsquos what I want to do first the rest of the world will have it afterrdquo reveals Gupta who also stars in the online campaign wearing an African headwraplsquoEmbracive cosmowellnessrsquoldquoWersquove become somewhat inured to a certain lsquotypersquo of beauty starring in a certain type of campaign I was adamant that our campaign photographs didnrsquot follow the usual trope of featuring six women with six different skin types and saying lsquoHey we are inclusiversquo I also didnrsquot want our cast of 11 models to wear products that didnrsquot belong to our brand which is typically the case when cosmetic companies shoot their campaigns At every step we thought of how inclusivity looks like today and for me itrsquos about celebrating your natural skin and the ease of picking a shade or texture of lipstick or nail paint by a mother and a daughter Irsquod actually say that this idea of a target group has to be totally abolished from every designer brand in the country because the first question we are asked is target group kya haiItrsquos only loveldquoLast week when I commented on actor Ranveer Singhrsquos naked picture on social media I got trolled and called out for being a lsquomottirsquo a lsquokalursquo despite the fact that I have lost 10 kg and my skin has cleared up People still see me for my looks and for the fact that I am the daughter of an unwed actormother I remember reading an article that celebrated me as the entrepreneur of the year where the opening line read lsquoMasaba Gupta the love child of Vivian and Neenarsquo The fact that I am a designer wasnrsquot mentioned for the first few paragraphs No matter what I do or how successful I am people will continue to view me as a lsquolove childrsquo Itrsquos why I decided to call my brand Lovechild because I am finally able to own it the identity now lsquoHey man it is what it isrsquordquoLog on to Lovechildin House of Masaba stores and select estoresCost Starts at Rs 600 for bullet lipsticks Rs 900 for liquid lipsticks nailpaints at Rs 225 face mists at Rs 450 intimate wipes at Rs 100 and lavender antianxiety oil at Rs 550