Ask any woman from your mother’s generation about Shahnaz Husain, and there are high chances that she’ll recall the first time she bought one of her creams which was a small luxury that made her feel confident and seen.
That’s the power of Shahnaz Husain, the woman who not only brought India’s ancient science of Ayurveda to the global stage but also redefined beauty for Indian women.
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As reported by India Today, Husain married very young, at an early age of 15, right after completing Class 7. By the time she was a mother, she realised that she wanted more than just comfort, she wanted independence. “I had two options: to be a good housewife and stay home, or to work and be independent. I chose the latter,” she recalls.
Her journey wasn’t easy. Rejected once for a teaching job in Tehran for not being “qualified,” she decided to educate herself. The money she earned writing beauty columns for The Iran Tribune funded her studies in London, Germany, Denmark, and the US. She trained under global beauty pioneers like Rubinstein and Schwarzkopf, becoming one of India’s most qualified cosmetologists.
The woman who made ayurveda modern
For Husain, financial independence meant empowerment. "I must be independent because there may come a time when I need money and can't get it. My money should be mine", she says which is a mantra that shaped her life and business philosophy.
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Returning to India, she built the Shahnaz Husain Group, a brand rooted in natural beauty long before “clean skincare” became a trend. Her belief in Ayurveda’s purity where she said, “I have never used chemicals on my skin or hair”, found global acclaim, with her products later stocked at Harrods, Selfridges, and Galeries Lafayette. Even Princess Diana was among her clients, she proudly notes.
Through fame and fortune, Husain’s philosophy has remained simple that beauty begins with balance and “You can’t feed the body and starve the soul.”
