As India’s fastest-growing beauty brand, Kay Beauty, launches in the UK, founder and leading Indian actress Katrina Kaif speaks to our beauty director to discuss South Asian representation and how her time on screen inspires her beauty innovations.
When Hindi cinema icon Katrina Kaif launched Kay Beauty in 2019 with Indian beauty giant Nykaa, her mission was clear: to create makeup that blended glamour with usability and inclusivity, representing the diverse needs of South Asian women and beyond.
Fast forward to 2025, and that vision is going global.
Kay Beauty has now arrived in the UK, exclusively at Space NK as part of the retailer’s commitment to diversifying its makeup offering. The launch marks not only a milestone for Kaif as a founder, but also a significant step for South Asian beauty representation in the international market.
To celebrate the launch, Kaif sat down with us to discuss the story behind the brand’s success. From foundations designed for diverse complexions to kohl eyeliners inspired by her culture’s love of expressive eyes, get your shopping list at the ready…
From screen to makeup bag
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Kaif is, of course, one of Bollywood’s biggest stars. But for her, the leap into beauty entrepreneurship felt inevitable, rooted in the lessons she learned on set: “My makeup journey and acting career have gone hand-in-hand,” she reflects. “Cinema has definitely shaped the way I look at beauty, style and performance. For me, makeup has always been transformative, whether it’s about creating a character for film or stage, or even makeup for red carpets. You walk into the makeup van and step out transformed.”
Perhaps surprisingly to Western readers, while the traditional image of a Bollywood actress might be one of dramatic, bold makeup looks, according to Kaif, her biggest lesson during her film career has been about versatility.
“The vibrant colour stories we have in India – shown in our movies, songs, dances, weddings and festivities such as Holi – is such a huge part of our culture, and also such a big source of makeup inspiration,” says Kaif. “But our makeup is actually very versatile, and the makeup that I’ve worn throughout my films has included a lot of extremely natural makeup too. For many years, I always wore the lightest liquid base and that was still enough for most of the roles I was doing. Then, when I needed to, I could step it up. That’s where you would see the more traditional kohl underlined, smoky eyes, which play up the contours of the eyes and bring out the expressiveness of your performance on stage and screen.”
Her years under the watchful camera lens have also taught her the technical demands of makeup, with tips and tricks gleaned from the best makeup artists in the business.
“My acting experiences have really taught me not only what I want from my makeup, but what works for me in terms of colours and pigments, and what to avoid,” Kaif continues. “In India, it can be super hot and humid so I need products that can cope. I also work all over the world so the products have to work in multiple environments. What is really crucial to me is that products are long-lasting and high performing.”
The unique needs of South Asian women
Yet, despite this access to makeup knowledge through her film career, Kaif could also see a massive lack of products designed specifically with South Asian skin in mind. “As the face of many international clients throughout my career, I have often felt that the beauty industry can feel a little bit intimidating and not truly, really representative of the diversity of beauty that I was seeing around me,” she reveals.
That’s what led her to launch her own brand, Kay Beauty, in 2019. She’s not looked back since.
“When launching Kay Beauty I knew what I expected from my makeup products and thought that should be available to everyone,” Kaif explains. “I wanted the brand to be accessible for all South Asian women and beyond. For example, South Asian women, myself included, often have darker circles under their eyes, so I focused on providing the right pigments and effective coverage in our concealers, but still with a natural, everyday quality. I wanted solutions to cover hyperpigmentation without heaviness, so we needed foundation not just in the right shade but with the right undertones so products were not detectable on the skin. And, when we were creating lipsticks, I wanted them tested on a wide variety of skin tones so that your colouring could be reflected in finding your perfect one.”
“I would say it is about an elevated but everyday makeup look – the sort that is my go-to when I am not on set,” Kaif continues. Caring for the skin was just as integral. “I’ve always had super sensitive skin, so it was really important that the products were hydrating and gentle. That’s why I included skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid and avocado butter. To me that just made sense – your skin should be cared for while you wear your makeup.”
Full glam-lovers never fear though – Kay Beauty has plenty of space for playfulness and colour too, not least due to the blendable, buildable nature of the products. “A part of South Asian culture I love is the playing up of our eyes – I think that is very deep rooted culturally,” Kaif reveals. “I feel it has a lot to do with dance culture here, because, for performance, you need your eyes to be very expressive. For me, that’s something that has become a must-do if I’m going out, and I love using kohl and eyeshadow pressed into the lash line.”
Breaking into the UK market: Kay Beauty in Space NK
It’s a strategy that has worked wonders. One Kay Beauty Crème Lipstick sells every minute in India and the brand was voted Best Beauty Brand in 2022 by Vogue India. Global domination is quickly coming some might predict, with the products available in the Middle East and now, finally, in the UK, courtesy of Space NK.
Importantly to Kaif, that’s a significant step forward not just for her own brand’s success, but for South Asian representation worldwide.
“The lens of what beauty looks like is widening and it’s such an incredible moment to be the first Indian-founded beauty brand to be exclusively launching onto the shelves of Space NK in the UK,” she explains. “The retailer is such a positive place for beauty lovers of all backgrounds to discover new products. It’s always been one of my personal favourite beauty playgrounds, so to now see Kay Beauty there is a very proud moment for us.”
Kaif also hopes that there’s something for everyone to love within Kay Beauty, regardless of your heritage or beauty needs. It’s also fairly bank balance friendly. The lipstick retails for £14, the kohls start from £6, and the foundation is yours for just £16.
“Seven per cent of the UK population is South Asian but the UK beauty consumer in general is incredibly discerning, so the launch is a really exciting opportunity for us to build on the community that we have built in India,” she explains. “I think that our shades, our textures and our formulas are something which is going to be extremely appealing for a large audience in the UK. I want customers to have that opportunity to actually look, try and feel the products in a physical retailer for themselves and to form their own opinions. Beauty really isn’t one size fits all and neither is Kay Beauty. And I think that we’re finding space for all kinds of expression.”
An ethos that’s more than celebrity
That personalised, experimental approach is neatly summarised in the brand’s “It’s Kay To Be You” ethos too, which is what Kaif calls the “emotional backbone of Kay Beauty”, designed to “empower people through makeup to be themselves.”
“I think for me there was this burning desire to build a community through Kay Beauty where everyone was represented. I wanted the makeup to feel a bit more celebratory, rather than it being an exclusive club where the system might not work for you. That’s been very important in our communication from day one. We wanted to celebrate different personalities from different walks of life, and build a community and environment that is uplifting for yourself and your self confidence.”
That’s also why, despite being one of India’s highest-grossing actresses, with over 80 million Instagram followers, Kaif is so keen to stress that Kay Beauty is about much more than her name.
“The word celebrity is not one that I even associated with myself, so I don’t associate it with my brand either,” reveals Kaif. “I am very clear that Kay Beauty is not just me, which is why I deliberately chose not to give it my name. My personal journey and experience has helped to bring Kay Beauty products to life, but I am so happy that we’re building a brand with a bigger identity than me. I think that’s why it has so quickly found such a loyal following here in India, because the focus is on innovation and helping people with their makeup goals.”
That’s also neatly showcased in the broader initiatives that Kaif has set up around Kay Beauty. For example, she is particularly passionate about the ‘Kreate with Kay’ programme, which is dedicated to empowering aspiring makeup artists by giving them the opportunity to train under industry experts.
As for the future, that’s an initiative she is determined to grow, and, it’s pretty clear to see that the entrepreneur has no plans to slow down just yet: “I would love to see Kay Beauty in more beauty markets around the world,” she says, In fact, “we are constantly working on new innovations, new textures and new formats for products. We are always questioning how we can improve the experience of people’s everyday makeup process, both by extending our ranges and even tweaking current products to improve the whole experience.”
We don’t know about you, but that certainly sounds very exciting for our beauty bags…
Kay Beauty: what to shop now
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Lead image credit: Kay Beauty
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