3 years of Kay Beauty: Katrina Kaif talks about the journey so far, formulations, future plans and more

It has been three years since actor and entrepreneur Katrina Kaif launched Kay Beauty. Today, the brand has a presence in 1,600 cities in the country.

CNBC-TV18 spoke to Kaif, who is also the beauty brand's co-founder, about its journey so far, the formulations, and more.

Kay Beauty was launched in 2019 and like most businesses, it faced a bunch of unexpected challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic which hit the country in March 2020. "Kudos to Falguni Nayar and her entire team — my partners at Nykaa — who were able to constantly think on the go, be flexible, make quick changes. And all this on Zoom. The journey beyond that has been wonderful," Kaif said.

She added that the biggest achievement for her is the feedback she has received on the products' formulation. "Our formulation is what we worked on tirelessly for years before the launch," she said.

The actor said that it was important for her and her team that the brand be absolutely cruelty-free. "I think when it comes to our formulation, we really excelled because our team, who created the products, they liased with some of the best manufacturers in the world and they had that knowledge and access. They had the knowledge and expertise of what suited Indian women," she said.

Kaif added that each of the Kay Beauty products have either one or more 'kare' ingredient. It could be either chamomile, manuka honey or marula oil, etc. "It means that whatever you are putting on your skin, apart from looking amazing its also caring for your skin," she said.

Kay Beauty completed its full make-up range a few months ago. "We are going to roll out our master 'klass' soon, either before or around Diwali. It is basically how I use the entire make-up range," she said.

At present, there is an aggressive plan on the stores that are being added to, which are opening up.

On being asked if she would be willing to dabble in other ventures, she said there are one or two avenues, that she is as passionate about as beauty, that she would be interested in. However, she didn't name them.

"I would never invest in something which isn't to me as passionate as beauty is. Otherwise I feel, what am I adding? If it is not something I have knowledge, experience or voice I can add in this domain, then I feel like I'd rather stay away, even if there is a financial benefit. In that regard, I would say there are maybe one to two domains that maybe I can very much see myself venturing into," she said.