Founded in 2019, FAE Beauty-short for Free and Equal-was built to challenge how beauty is created, marketed, and consumed in India. At a time when the industry leaned heavily on filtered visuals, limited shade ranges, and borrowed global formulas, FAE chose a radically different path: authenticity over aspiration.
The brand was founded by Karishma Kewalramani, who returned to India after studying in California and working as a makeup artist. What she noticed was a massive gap-Indian consumers across skin tones, genders, and identities were underserved. FAE was born to fill that white space with products made specifically for Indian skin, climate, and real-life routines.
From day one, FAE rejected Photoshop, embraced gender-neutral communication, and focused on hybrid makeup-skincare formulas developed through in-house R&D. Instead of selling single products, the brand sold looks, routines, and confidence-co-created with its community. This approach helped FAE build credibility, loyalty, and strong repeat purchase rates, growing nearly 20% year-on-year.
FAE’s visibility surged after its appearance on Shark Tank India, where it raised ₹1 crore from Aman Gupta and Namita Thapar. The brand later secured ₹17 crore from investors including Spring Marketing Capital and Titan Capital, fueling expansion across D2C, Nykaa, and quick commerce.
As FAE scaled, it paired its inclusive philosophy with operational intelligence-using smart checkout tech to reduce COD returns, speed up payments, and improve cash flow. Today, FAE Beauty proves that when authenticity is supported by systems, data, and discipline, inclusivity becomes not just a value-but a powerful competitive advantage.
Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUskUV5ErA_/?igsh=Njd0Y2xwbzR0OXRz
