Godrej & Mamaearth’s Bet on Men: TKC on the Comeback of Men’s Cosmetics
December 18, 2025
The Indian personal care market is witnessing a decisive shift. What started as a niche trend in 2017 with strategic investments in brands like Beardo and The Man Company has now matured into a high-stakes battleground for India’s FMCG giants.
In a recent analysis by The Ken, Ankur Bisen, Senior Partner at The Knowledge Company, dissects the latest wave of acquisitions: Godrej Consumer Products buying Mucchstac for Rs 450 crore, and Honasa Consumer (Mamaearth)acquiring Reginald Men for Rs 195 crore.
Why are these giants suddenly spending hundreds of crores on men’s skincare brands? According to Ankur Bisen, it is a calculated move to fill a glaring gap in their portfolios.
“This is not a new spree. It’s part of FMCG’s plan to diversify their portfolios and to essentially establish men’s grooming as a category within their beauty & personal care (BPC) play.” — Ankur Bisen, Senior Partner, The Knowledge Company
For companies like Godrej (dominant in hair color) and Honasa (dominant in women’s skincare), acquiring established, profitable D2C brands offers a faster route to market than building a men’s vertical from scratch.
The article highlights a key difference between these acquisitions and earlier ones: Profitability. Unlike the cash-burning startups of the past, these new targets are highly profitable.
This financial discipline makes them attractive targets for “strategics” looking to boost their bottom line while acquiring new capabilities.
Despite the optimism, Ankur Bisen offers a word of caution regarding the scalability of these brands compared to their unisex or female-focused counterparts.
“It will take a lot of money and time to change how men behave culturally and socially.”
The challenge lies in consumer behavior: men largely view skincare as functional (sticking to a single product for years), whereas women are more experimental. This behavioral difference explains why men-focused brands often hit a revenue ceiling around the Rs 200 crore mark, while unisex brands scale much faster.
As digital adoption and Quick Commerce continue to democratize access to personal care, the “comeback” of men’s cosmetics is real. However, for these acquisitions to be truly transformative, brands will need to move men from functional usage to aspirational grooming, a cultural shift that is still a work in progress.
Read the full analysis in The Ken.
Ankur Bisen’s contribution to this discussion exemplifies TKC’s role as a trusted advisor to businesses navigating complex category shifts and M&A opportunities.
Whether it’s evaluating white spaces in BPC, analyzing D2C unit economics, or assessing acquisition targets, our insights are built on decades of experience and deep market data.
We work closely with clients to evaluate emerging categories through a multi-lens approach—consumer behaviour, infrastructure, margin potential, and operational scalability. As the retail ecosystem evolves rapidly, our role is to balance ambition with execution reality.
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