Among the latest brands are Freshia, Enricher, Dekar and New Look. These companies have also been expanding their product ranges in their bid to woo customers away from foreign names.

The domestic brands offer a wide array of cosmetics including body and skin care products, sunscreen lotions, face washes, hair care products and nail polish, among others.  

Dekar, which has been manufacturing a wide range of beauty products for the last five years, said they had been witnessing a significant growth in sales due to their marketing and promotional activities and quality products. “Domestic cosmetics are now ready to compete with imported products,” said Kumar Dhungana, sales manager of the company. He added sales of locally manufactured cosmetics were encouraging all over the country. “We have been witnessing a massive rise in annual growth,” he said, adding that sales were more encouraging in the districts outside the Kathmandu valley.

Recently, the company enlarged their product range with the launch of new face washes, sun block creams, hair treatment products and facial creams. Dekar offers 30 varieties of cosmetics in the market. “Nepali products are competitive in terms of price too,” he said. A 100 gm pack of Dekar sunscreen lotion is priced at Rs 170, while a 50 ml pack of its face wash costs Rs 80.

Similarly, another prominent domestic cosmetics manufacturer Freshia International plans to launch Papaya perfume, sun block cream, cleansing milk, soap and shampoo in new packs. The company made its entrance three years ago. It plans to add sun block cream SPF 25, SPF 40, hair treatment cream, face cleaner and nail polish remover to its product range. “A few years ago, the number of domestic beauty products was almost nil, now they account for about 5 percent of the total sales,” said Hemant Niraula, managing director of Freshia, adding Freshia achieved 20 percent growth last year.

Prompted by swelling demand for make-up products, domestic players have been spending aggressively on marketing and promotional activities besides expanding their dealership network.

Nepal Herbal Industries recently roped in actress Nisha Adhikari as its brand ambassador. The company manufactures New Look cosmetics including spring moisturiser, threading cream, mineral cocktail toner, cleansing milk, face moisturiser, rose water, enamel remover, hair straightener, hair cream, anti-pollution face wash and spa facial treatment products.

Another cosmetics brand Enricher has been promoting its products as 100 percent Nepal’s herbal. It manufactures a wide range of beauty products ranging from facial kits to nail polish.

Traders said that people were becoming loyal to domestic brands with the availability of Nepali products in the market. “Some customers only ask for Nepali cosmetics these days,” said Pushpa Adhikari, proprietor of Dalima Cosmetics and Collection located at Maitidevi.

“Although my shop mostly stocks imported products, sales of the domestic brands available in my shop have been good.”