Book Excerpt: Flame - The Inspiring Life of My Mother Shahnaz Husain by Nelofar Currimbhoy

An exclusive excerpt from Flame: The Inspiring Life of My Mother Shahnaz Husain by Nelofar Currimbhoy (Aleph Book Company, 2025).

When the Future Came She Was Already There

There was complete silence in the pure white room; with the lights shining on her face, she looked into the lens with the nonchalance of a pro. ‘Shahnaz, how is your company going to face up to the innumerable multinational brands that are coming to India?’

My mother smiled at the young lady who had asked the question. ‘I don’t have to face them. They are coming to my country, they will have to face me.’

Over the years, the company had seen changes in trade policies and market upheavals but none as significant as the coming of economic liberalization. By now the impact was being felt strongly. India had opened its doors to the world and as international companies came in, a steady stream of glamorous models walked off television screens and into the somewhat tentative Indian psyche. No one was quite sure what would work in this unexposed and untried market. While brands jostled with each other for space in the Indian market, Shahnaz Herbals carefully distanced itself from the chaos.

Personally, I was in favour of riding the wave. I tried several times to convince my mother to consider the offers of tie-ups that were pouring in from multinational companies and felt that it was essential to flow with the changing business environment but she was unbending in her resolve. Her vision for the future had clarity and confidence. She felt that it was time to consolidate the brand rather than dilute its image by collaborating with a company that her customers were not familiar with. Perhaps my father’s absence made her feel particularly uncomfortable at the thought of creating new associations.

At a time when most domestic enterprises were concerned about their future and some succumbed to the influence of foreign investors, my mother was certain that Shahnaz Herbals would not be affected because we were a brand that dealt with treating skin and hair problems. Over the years she had created a niche for her products and clients who believed in them and in the Shahnaz Husain Promise.

In 1997, my mother appointed me the President of the company. I accepted the position like a blessing and have treated it as my life’s most sacred gift. The presidency of the company brought with it responsibilities and commitment but when you are born to a chosen one, you cannot walk away from your destiny.

I took my mother’s decision to consolidate the company as a challenge. The path of going it alone required invention and creativity. To keep pace with a dynamic market it was essential to develop new and revolutionary products. My personal forté and passion has always been product development; I thrive on the process of research and development, long discussions with chemists, smelling and feeling ingredients and choosing the most effective ones with which to create bestselling products. The distillation equipment fascinates me most of all. When you put in a fresh herb, root, leaf or flower and watch it being processed through the glass unit, until it is finally delivered as pure essence, you feel a sense of its purity and goodness. Shahnaz Herbals factories stock at least 150 different herbs and oils at any time. I feel it’s time we displayed them with our products, as I have done at the Shahnaz Husain Signature Store at the Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, Delhi. Customers are fascinated to actually see the herbs that go into a product they are applying on themselves.

On one of my trips to London I was scouting for ideas and visited innumerable bookshops to find new, untapped material on Ayurveda. Finally, it was in the basement of the London bookshop Foyle’s that I picked up an old copy of a classic on Ayurveda; bound in deep green, slightly damp and musty from being left untouched. It was like finding a gem, one that was waiting to be read by me. Going through its contents, I found a chapter on ‘swarana’—gold. As I read about the powerful, age-controlling properties of the timeless metal and its impact on skin rejuvenation, I sat up in excitement. I called up my mother and told her of my amazing discovery.

I returned to India and along with a team of Ayurvedic chemists plunged into the compelling journey of product development. The final result was hugely satisfying; the thought of a skin product made from pure gold created an instant stir in the market.

Being a treatment line, packaging had always been low priority at Shahnaz Herbals but the container of the 24-Carat Gold Skin Radiance Gel was unique in its design. Shaped like a transparent disc, it sat in the palm of one’s hand and radiated a sense of its inherent precious quality. It also carried a purity certification stamp that gave consumers added confidence of quality. Within weeks of its launch, the 24-Carat Gold range had increased the company’s sales by 20 percent. It was my first milestone in my mother’s company and I was thrilled at its phenomenal success. Today we are aware that the company’s ability to innovate has put it on the watch-list of international companies. La Prairie the well-known Swiss skin-care brand sells a pure gold radiance serum at $580, which is about thirty thousand rupees for a 30 ml. bottle. I feel it is commendable that R&D at Shahnaz Herbals is of international standards and its impact on global trends is possibly more far-reaching than most people would imagine.

Often a product is developed to cater to a need. The feedback from our centres showed that there was a persistent demand for a highly specialized fairness cream made from natural sources. I worked on developing a fairness cream with the idea of offering a natural option to women who were using chemical products. The Pearl Skin-Whitening cream was launched as a top-of-the-line fairness product and once again the response from users was enthusiastic. It was surprising that though ample literature existed to show that pearl powder slowed down the production of melanin and while it had been used in China for years, no major domestic or international company had explored its potential.

Though Ayurveda is primarily associated with plants, some of its most powerful formulations are found in rocks and minerals. Shahnaz Herbals is the only company that explored the mineral formulations in Ayurveda. The Diamond range was developed after seeing the amazing results and customer acceptance of the Gold range. Once again, this is an ancient formulation in which ‘bhasma’, the potent mineral ash that is produced when diamonds are fired, is used. The newest launch amongst the Premium products has been the Platinum range. Developed with nano technology to minimize the size of the particles and make them fine enough to penetrate the skin, it is a strong age-control formulation.

Amongst the important releases for the mass market this year is Shahnaz Herbals’ acne-control gel. Created especially for youngsters, it has been named ‘Oops’. Strong chemical formulations used on young skins may remove pimples quickly but they normally leave behind a nagging dark spot. Oops is an excellent product made from natural ingredients that are kind to the skin and tough on acne. It removes pimples and leaves the skin blemish-free.

The influence my mother has had on the Ayurvedic and cosmetic industry in India has been phenomenal; the inspirational effect that she has had on it, the path she has shown, has many keen followers. The company’s ability to invent, innovate and bring in new products has made it a trailblazer for imitators. When once asked about the many clones she has spawned, my mother replied, ‘The best compliment for any original is the copies.’

Research and development at Shahnaz Herbals continues even as I write. It is a process that must never and can never, stop. Imagination, the wealth of past knowledge, latest testing techniques and experience come together to create purely natural products that are not only effective but also unmatched by any others in the market.

Excerpted with permission from the author and publisher of Flame : The Inspiring Life of My Mother Shahnaz Husain by Nelofar Currimbhoy (Aleph Book Company, 2025).

About the Book

‘I don’t believe in destiny, you are what you will yourself to be.’—Shahnaz Husain

A fascinating page-turner that walks you through the compelling journey of a woman who created an iconic company starting off from the veranda of her home, Flame: The Inspiring Life of My Mother, Shahnaz Husain skilfully entwines the personal and professional life of one of the most enigmatic women of our times and will give those who read it the motivation to follow their dreams.

The author has recreated the incredible highs and the inevitable lows of her vivacious mother’s life. Shahnaz is seen here as never before in an engaging narrative that captures the courage and conviction of a woman determined to succeed against all odds, often challenging her destiny.

About the Author

With Flame on the bestseller list within a month of its release, Nelofar Currimbhoy’s vivid and evocative style of writing has earned her excellent reviews by readers, critics and the media. Her poetry collection—Eyes of the Healer—was made into a musical drama by Muzaffar Ali, Ananda: Eyes of the Healer, featuring Kabir Bedi as the narrator.

Nelofar has graduated from Lady Shri Ram College and went on to study Beauty Therapy at ITEC, London. She is currently the President of the Shahnaz Husain Group of Companies and a vital part of its growth. While she heads the national distribution network, her special interest lies in the research and development wing, where she revels in excavating ancient Ayurvedic formulations to be marketed to the world.

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