Tollywood's biggest star bets nine months of personal formulation work to position Unhype as India's most honest skincare brand for young consumers.
India’s skincare market, valued at USD 2.72 billion in 2025, is projected to reach USD 5.1 billion by 2032 — growing at a CAGR of approximately 9 percent.
Actor Vijay Deverakonda has entered this category as Co-Founder and Co-Builder of Unhype — a deliberate departure from the conventional celebrity brand association model.
The brand’s founding philosophy is direct: “No BS. Only what works.” — an antidote to overclaiming, over-complication, and exaggerated pricing that define much of Indian skincare.
Unhype targets consumers aged 18–30, with formulations developed specifically for Indian skin types, climate conditions, and daily routines — unisex by design and accessible by intent.
At launch, two VD Signature Routines are available: the Acne Safe routine for oily and acne-prone skin, and the Brightening routine targeting tan and dullness.
Both routines follow three steps — face wash, moisturiser, and sunscreen — with formulations independently certified through third-party laboratories and next-generation UV filters.
What sets Unhype apart is a nine-month development period: Deverakonda personally evaluated every formulation version on his own skin before the brand was announced publicly.
The brand controls its R&D and manufacturing infrastructure end to end — enabling direct quality oversight and formulation speed that outsourced production models rarely deliver.
India’s men’s grooming segment is expected to nearly double to USD 4 billion by 2028 — a fast-expanding audience that Unhype’s unisex positioning addresses directly.
Market consolidation is accelerating.
Hindustan Unilever’s INR 2,955 crore acquisition of Minimalist signals deep institutional confidence in science-led, digitally native skincare brands at scale.
Nykaa’s INR 265 crore expanded stake in Dot & Key mirrors the same conviction — established beauty platforms are acquiring equity in new-age D2C skincare brands at pace.
The top five players — HUL, Himalaya, L’Oréal India, Emami, and Lotus Herbals — command approximately 50% of the organised market, leaving considerable space for differentiated challengers.
Katrina Kaif’s Kay Beauty, generating INR 200 crore in revenue, confirms that co-creator equity models deliver more sustained brand credibility than traditional one-time celebrity endorsements.
Consumer fatigue remains real: complicated routines, ingredient overclaiming, and pricing that consistently outpaces results continue to leave young Indian consumers underserved and unconvinced.
Unhype launches online-first at unhype.in — pre-booking opens September 11, product shipments begin September 21, anchored by the campaign hashtag #Unhyped.
Editor’s Note
India’s skincare aisle has never lacked for products. What it has lacked is honesty — and that is a gap that brands cannot simply price their way out of.
Celebrity co-creation in beauty is maturing fast.
The early experiments have produced a clear template: involvement in formulation builds more enduring equity than involvement in campaigns.
Young Indian consumers are not anti-brand — they are anti-noise. Brands that treat them as informed adults consistently earn more trust than those that don’t.
If nine months of personal testing means what it should, Unhype has the positioning, the product, and the timing to make a genuine mark on the category.
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