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Sunday, September 10, 2006

Now who's the fairer sex?.

Sushmita Bose, New Delhi, July 2

Tall, Dark and handsome? Well, not any more. The Indian Male has been trying to whitewash himself – chup chupke. A country-wide study conducted by Media Research Users Council (MRUC) reveals that 30 percent of our men use women's fairness creams. And usage is higher in the southern states: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Now it's time for them to crawl out of the dark closet and "Be Fair, Be Handsome, No more chup chupke" as the Indian cosmetics counter sees its first-ever fairness cream for men – fair & handsome (F&H). The Product has been launched by the Rs 320-crore FMCG company Emami, that already has a fairness cream – Naturally FAir.

"F&H is being marketed in Andhra," says Mohan Goenka, director, Emami. "Soon we will move into the other southern states, before rolling out nationally." Andhra is the company's launchpad as the fairness creams market there is worth Rs. 80 crore – that's almost 10 percent of the Rs. 820-crore category market in India.

The formulation used for F&H is stronger because, research reveals, men's skinds are three times more exposed to the sun than women's five times more exposed to pollution and doubly more exposed to stress.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

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