Shahnaz Hussain

She is one of the most prominent personalities of the corporate world. She is making a
constant effort to beautify the skin of people with her beauty products. She has been
continuously striving hard to slow down the aging process and nourish the skin of people
and thus make them look younger than their age. Well, we are talking about none other
than the ruler of the beauty world, Shahnaz Hussain. In this article, we will present you
with the biography of Shahnaz Hussain.

She comes from a royal Muslim family and her father was a very powerful man. She did
her schooling from the Irish convent. Since a very young age, she had an interest in
poetry and English literature. She grew up in a traditional family, but was privileged to
receive modern education. She got married, when she was only fifteen years old. The
next year after her marriage, she
became a mother.

When she went to Teheran along

with her husband, she developed a
keen interest in beauty treatments.
Eventually, she decided to study
the cosmetology course. She
wanted to be self independent and
so she began writing articles for
the Iran Tribune on varied
subjects. While pursuing studies,
she learnt about the harmful
effects of chemicals on human
body. She studied Ayurveda and
believed that it is the best
alternative to chemical cosmetics.

After leaving Teheran, she took an

extensive training in cosmetic
therapy for a long period of 10
years from the leading institutions of London, Paris, New York and Copenhagen. She
returned to India in the year 1977 and established her first beauty salon in her abode.
Unlike other salons, she did not use chemical cosmetics. Rather, she made use of
Ayurvedic products that are absolutely safe on the human body. She has ushered an era of
herbal cosmetics. The products launched by her Company head their way to leading
global stores such as Blooming Dales (New York), Harrods and Selfridges (London),
Seibu (Japan), Galleries Lafayette (Paris), and La Rinaeccente (Milan).

Her beauty products are very skin friendly and give a beautiful glowing look. She has not
only been able to tap the markets of India, but made her presence felt in international
market too. Now, her aim is to set her foothold in the space. People who go to space
usually suffer from skin problems. At present, Shahnaz Hussain is focusing her attention
on creating products that can prove to be beneficial for the astronauts. To know the
complete life history of Shahnaz Hussain, read on.

Her company Shahnaz Husain Herbals has witnessed tremendous growth throughout
these years. She has launched more than 400 different kinds of beauty products. In the
contemporary times, people are becoming more and more conscious about the way they
look. It is here that Shahnaz Hussain comes to play a major role by providing people with
products that can bring the glow back to their skin.

She has dominated the market from the USA to Asia. During 1990s, the average growth
rate of her company, which is based in New Delhi, was nearly 19.4%. In the year 2002,
her Company touched $100 million. Her works are real praiseworthy and have been
appreciated all over the world. She has received many awards such as "The Arch of
Europe Gold Star for Quality", "The 2000 Millennium Medal of Honor", "Rajiv Gandhi
Sadbhavana Award" and many more.
Shahnaz Husain`s journey as an entrepreneur is a great inspiration for all the young
entrepreneurs and startup ventures. Shahnaz Husain is one of the rare and few first
generation women entrepreneur, pioneer, visionary and an innovator, who introduced a
totally new concept of Ayurvedic Care and Cure worldwide. She created a brand with
universal appeal and application. Shahnaz Husain`s brand found place in the international
market for Ayurvedic beauty care. In a world ridden with environmental degradation,
Shahnaz Husain ventured into the world of nature and its healing powers, taking the
Indian herbal heritage of Ayurveda to every corner of the globe with a crusader’s zeal.

When Shahnaz Husain was in Chennai recently for an assignment, she was candid in her
utterance when questions were thrown to her. The pioneer of Ayurvedic beauty care has
achieved unprecedented international acclaim for her practical application of Ayurveda,
the ancient Indian system of herbal healing. Just when there was a worldwide “back to
nature” trend, Shahnaz Husain recaptured an ancient herbal system and made it relevant
to modern demands.

Ms Husain explained how a person can get younger day-by-day by maintaining his or her
health in a phased and fine-tuned manner. It was indeed not surprising seeing the ever
agile Shahnaz who adopted the principle of Ayurveda, based on an integrated system of
clinical treatments and product ranges, almost four decades ago. In fact, her career has
been a constant search for a better alternative. After all, she firmly believed that there is a
room for improvement.

The suave and soft-spoken, Shahnaz’s study of Ayurveda, the Indian holistic system of
herbal healing, strengthened her faith in nature after finding that it could offer the
ideal answers to protective, preventive and even corrective cosmetic-care. What started
as a young women entrepreneur`s dream is today one of the biggest brand in the cosmetic
care space, the Shahnaz Husain Group. Shahnaz Husain is the CEO and the Brand
Ambassador of the group. Today, the group has a chain of over 400 franchise clinics,
shops, schools and spas worldwide, as well as ayurvedic formulations for skin, hair, body
and health care covering almost 138 coutries. Her journey, from one herbal clinic to a
worldwide chain, is one of unprecedented success. What started as a small business at
home at a time when internet was unheard of, went on to become one of the greatest
brands across the globe in the ayurvedic care segment.

The Group has also gone global with some of its other ventures like the
Shahnaz Husain Forever Beautiful lifestyle shops, Beauty Training Institutes, Ayurvedic
entres and Shahnaz Husain Ayurvedic Spas, all based on her franchise system. The
bubblingly enthusiastic lady recently extended her base in the UK, by opening two more
franchise salons in London, in Finchley and Middlesex, as well as a Shahnaz Ayurveda
Aesthetic Clinic on Harley Street. The Group’s international presence is gaining further
momentum. TESCO, the largest retailer of UK will sell Shahnaz Husain herbal products
across all its stores. According to Shahnaz Husain, “Our alliance with TESCO will help
to reach a larger section of society in the UK. We are expanding our footprints across the
globe. We will take Ayurveda and Brand India to more countries within a year,” she
asserts confidently.

The company is expanding rapidly and is entering Saudi Arabia, Israel, Myanmar and
Bangladesh, targeting revenue of Dollar 10 million from these countries during this year.
The Group also plans to tap the niche segment in the US, where there is an increasing
interest in alternative therapies. The Group also participated in COSMEXPO – 2009 at
Cairo, Egypt in March, 2009, where Shahnaz Husain was Chief Guest and Cosmoprof in
Italy, the biggest worldwide event in the beauty sector.

Born into a conservative family, the mild-mannered Shahnaz says, “I had to comply with
existing traditions and was married at a tender age of 15 and become a mother by the
time I was 16. I trained for ten years to keep abreast with the developments in cosmetic
therapy and cosmetic chemistry, at leading institutions of the West, like Helena
Rubinstein, Swarzkopf, Christine Valmy, Lancome and Lean of Copenhagen.” Adopting
the principle of “Care and Cure," she set up her own herbal clinic, at her residence, with
very little capital investment, formulating products for skin, hair and body care, based on
the ayurvedic system and developing clinical treatments for specific problems. Her
formulations and treatments have become breakthroughs in natural beauty care.

Shahnaz’s success, as she avers, in the international arena, in the face of great odds, is
itself phenomenal. Financial constraints and closed doors did not deter her from
achieving her cherished goal with flying colours.

Did fighting a lone battle in competing with the biggest brand names in the
international markets, where billions of dollars are spent on advertising and
packaging affected her confidence, morale and enthusiasm?

“I always have complete faith in my own abilities and with invincible belief in Ayurveda,
I allowed my products to speak for themselves”, she replied with a smile on her face,
adding “I sold a 5000-year old civilization in a jar.”

Some of Shahnaz`s greatest entrepreneurial achievement include Padma Shri Award -

First entrepreneur person from the beauty sphere to receive the coveted Award. Ms
Husain’s other international awards include the Arch of Europe International Gold
Star in Madrid, Spain, the Quality Excellence Award in Geneva, Cannes and
London, Golden America Award in New York, the Outstanding Woman
Entrepreneur Award in London, Woman of the Millennium Award in USA, Woman
of the Year Award from the Governor of California, USA and the WQC International
Star Award in Paris in November 2007 and Leonardo da Vinci Diamond Award by
International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, U.K.
Ms Husain’s innovations and spirit of enterprise are well matched. Never losing sight of
the basic nature principle and Ayurveda, her contribution to her field is unprecedented.
Through her career, regular columns and books, she has created an awareness of the
dangers of chemical treatments that has influenced minds and market demands. Her
career is a portrayal of how she has translated her ideas into reality, living life by her
values and unique philosophy. Her profound knowledge of natural care, her rare energy
and vitality, as well as her faith in her own abilities, make it a story of a woman who
dared to dream and succeeded beyond success. Indeed, Shahnaz Husain has become a
legend in her own lifetime, while her organization, Shahnaz Herbals, is a magnificent
expression of her dreams, hopes and aspirations.

Is it not the time for other entrepreneurs to emulate her in their chosen professi

on? “There is nothing which cannot be learnt or done,” concludes Shahnaz in her own
inimitable style, as she signs of for the day”