Nat Habit's Fresh Perspective on Henna - An Innovation story

#Innovation is cutting through an existing market to meet customer needs in exciting and new ways. Innovation is also about finding unique, sustainable and long-term solutions to odd existing problems that plague this market. ?

Here is a story of how we tried to solve both these problems, and gladly emerged victorious, thanks to our customers!

The Form Factor

With 20% of the $13.5 Bn #Beauty and #PersonalCare Industry taken up by the hair colour market, and a stark shift of consumer demands moving towards ‘#Natural’ products, #Henna consumption as a hair colour has seen surprising spike in the recent past. Traditionally in the beauty Industry, Henna as a hair colour has been available in powder form. Women loved the effect it had, but it had multiple inconveniences for busy women of today: Soaking the henna a night prior, and ensuring just the right amount of water in the product, was all but a hassle.

Conversations with Consumers and product development experts were valuable. We listened. We learned about some barriers to this traditional product: ?

1. The Lawsone Dye in the henna, responsible for the stain, gets activated after 8 hours of it coming in contact with water. This means that the only form factor that worked in the market was in Powder Form
2. Traditionally, consumers soaked henna powder in water overnight, sometimes even in tea water to make a paste to apply the next morning. This was a cumbersome process since it entailed planning a day in advance and use of cast iron pots over kitchen counters.
3. Once the Paste is prepared, traditionally it had to be used within the same day as the paste would tend to get spoilt if left as is.

Overcoming these challenges, Natural Henna was launched into the Indian Market for the first time with a new form-factor ?– Pre-mixed Ready-to-Apply Paste.

Here is what was different in our Ready-to-Apply Henna Paste:

• ?Comes in Ready-to-Apply paste form in a pouch
• Ulta-filtered Rajasthani Henna with High Lawsone content
• Soaked in Black Tea & infused overnight with #Ayurvedic Herbs good for hair health
• Prepared daily Fresh in our Ayurvedic Kitchens
• Contains #NoChemical and #NoPreservatives - with a short shelf life of 45 days

The packaging to support short shelf life

The next challenge was to preserve the Henna’s quality and freshness for long, given that chemical preservatives was a strict no-no in its formulation inline with our brand’s Vision of Fresh, Pre and Natural. ?

With packaging experts UFLEX Group , we developed a special high-barrier packaging format that prevents degradation and preserves the natural properties of the Henna. UFlex’s flexible packaging business division created a unique stand-up, centre-seal pouch with a side gusset.

This pouch provides ultra-high barrier against moisture, gases, UV rays, and assures protection to the natural ingredients of the henna paste. It extends the shelf life of the product by preventing it from oxidative degeneration and delays bacterial growth, thus preventing it from contamination. The unique lacquer coat also provides a very organic feel that resonates with the brand positioning. ?

Since the Launch of our Ready-to-Apply Henna Paste in August 2021, we have seen a growth of 10x in the numbers this product was giving us. It also gained Amazon's Choice by 亚马逊 within a span of 3 months. This product also has one of the highest repeat rate on our Nat Habit website.

However, we feel that the two biggest validations of our innovation are : (1) The multiple positive reviews we get from our customers every day and (2) Multiple competition brands have launched similar products with a very similar form factor and packaging – Both supporting the high demand and acceptance of our Ready-to-Apply Henna Paste.