Ladies, we have reason to rejoice. We pay a lot less for lipsticks and, um, breast augmentation than our counterparts across the world. Not just that, we're also the second cheapest market for beauty products and cosmetic procedures globally. Vietnam beat us to the top spot, unfortunately. The cost of beauty is shockingly high in Venezuela, the most expensive beauty market in the world.
Linio.com, a Mexican e-commerce portal compared beauty prices in 50 countries across products and services such as mani-pedis, Brazilian waxes, perfumes, lipsticks, anti-ageing creams, Botox, and rhinoplasty. According to the beauty price index, breast augmentation in India, at $1,650 (₹1.1 lakh, approx), is the cheapest in the world. In China, following close on our heels, it costs $1,800. Swiss women are doomed to pay the most in the world if they want bigger breasts — almost six times more than us, at a pricey $10,434 (₹6.8 lakh approx).
We're also paying the least in the world for our lipsticks at $14.36 (₹930 approx), almost 80 times less than the women in Venezuela, where they cost an outrageous $1,110. Imagine paying close to ₹71,000 for a lipstick! The exorbitant prices are due to Venezuela's current economic crisis, the worst in its history, with a wildly fluctuating exchange rate and 400 percent inflation rate.
And, it's not just the ladies, Indian men have it good too. We're paying relatively little for men's haircuts and eyebrow waxes, at $2.72 (₹176 approx) and $2.32 (₹150 approx) respectively, just a few cents behind Egypt where it costs $2.49 and $1.83, the cheapest in the world.
It's not all good news though. The next time you're tempted to discard your half-used bottle of perfume or jar of foundation, you might want to reconsider. The cost of foundation is surprisingly high in India — $45.80 (₹3,000 approx) landing us at the 41st spot, our highest in the index. We're also paying $86.83 (₹5,623 approx) for a 50ml bottle of perfume, far more than the cheapest country in this segment, the USA, at $48.55.
ipop