Minimalist spends one rupee in every three on marketing and still turned a profit under HUL

Minimalist built its name by printing the exact percentage of every active ingredient on the front of the bottle. That habit took it to ₹690 Cr in FY26, its first full year under Hindustan Unilever. It also put ₹235 Cr into marketing that year, about a third of everything it earned, and still finished in profit.

The harder question is what happens to an ingredient-first brand as it moves into HUL's much larger retail network, while Honasa's The Derma Co sells the same actives at similar prices. This report looks at where buyers still reward Minimalist's transparency and where they have started treating it like any other serum on the shelf.

• Which hero products earn their ad spend and which lean on discounts

• How The Derma Co competes for the same ingredient-savvy buyer

• What reviews say about results compared with what the label promises