In conversation with Shahnaz Husain on beauty, memory, and meaning

Shahnaz Husain’s reputation precedes her. The businesswoman, recognisable to most Indians by her iconic red mane—“dyed with henna grown on my farm, brown coffee, and lime juice,” she divulges, obviously not a gatekeeper—is known for pioneering Ayurveda and herbal beauty across the globe. In 1996, she became the first woman in 104 years to receive the World’s Greatest Entrepreneur Award from US magazine Success. In India, she was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006 for her contribution to the fields of trade and industry. In 2010, US President Barack Obama invited her to the World Summit on Entrepreneurship. In 2017, ‘Shahnaz Husain: Creating Emerging Markets’ became a subject of study at Harvard Business School. The list of achievements is endless. All this to say: As I wait for her to answer my call, I am prepared to speak with a formidable leader, a daunting figure, and a force to be reckoned with. But the woman who answers the phone is much more than that.

At 80, Husain is warm, sincere, and ruminative, fondly sharing stories from her childhood and effortlessly reciting poetry she wrote as a young girl. “I was 13 or 14 when I got the first prize in an international poetry competition,” she reveals. “Do you know how much it was? Five hundred rupees.” Laughing, she adds, “Then I had to open a bank account because my father said it wasn’t safe to keep so much money in the house.” Husain’s father—Justice Nasir Ullah Beg, former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court—frequently comes up in conversation. In the past, Husain has credited her entrepreneurial success to him, disclosing that he lent her ₹35,000 to open her first herbal clinic, back when she was still making each product by hand in her kitchen. Now, she acknowledges, she is grateful to him for both her financial and emotional progress. “In my life, there’s only one person I truly looked up to. I worshipped my father,” she says, growing sombre.

At the age of 14, Husain got married. At 16, she became a mother. “My father suffered from severe guilt because he got me married early,” the businesswoman remembers, adding that he swore to help her finish her education post marriage. In the years that followed, she completed her training in beauty techniques across several countries, including France, Germany, the UK and most notably, Denmark, where an expert helped her master hair treatments for those suffering from alopecia. Upon returning to India, Husain recalls, she proudly showed her father all the diplomas she had accumulated. “I put them on the table and said, “Daddy, are you happy now?” He said, ‘Yes, baby’ but I could tell that something was worrying him. Finally, he said, ‘You’re doing so well, but this world is very temporary. What are you doing for your permanent world?’”

The question of legacy is something Husain finds herself contemplating often. Her father’s remark about her permanent world is what initially sparked the idea of supporting The Blind Relief Association, Delhi, where she spends most of her time, money, and energy. As she narrates stories of the students she has become close with (how they’re slowly learning to put on make-up, how she’s planning a wedding party for one of them who she has known since he was a child), it becomes clear that this is what she is most passionate about. “It doesn’t matter how long you live but what you do with that time. Did you spend your life pleasing yourself or serving others?” she questions. “You may be successful in the eyes of the world but you can’t forget your duty to the people around you.” Legacy, Husain believes, is emotional more than anything else: Several times, she reminds me—and herself—that her financial success, awards, and accolades hardly matter as much as the work she does on ground. Her ChemoLine range—which she claims she mostly ends up donating to cancer hospitals instead of selling—includes beauty and skincare products designed to help alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy. Her beauty training institute for the Delhi Blind School empowers the visually impaired to be financially independent.

To Husain, financial independence is utterly crucial, especially for women. “It is the one advice I always give women. To empower themselves with a skill so that zindagi mein aagey jaakar kabhi aapko kisi ke saamne haath na phailane pade [one never has to ask for favours],” she seamlessly switches between English and Hindi, “Become self-sufficient. Do not rely on a man for money.” She also encourages women to reassess their relationships if their partners don’t allow them to work. “If you want to do something, no one in the world has the right to tell you not to do it. Aadmi kab itne important ho gaye [When did men become so important]?” she demands, “The problem with men is they become insecure when a woman goes out alone and earns money. They fear they’ll be nothing. They don’t like that non-dependence.”

In her own marriages, Husain has continued to work tirelessly, building a vast empire and an undisputed reputation as the queen of herbal beauty. Five decades later, without advertising or a single celebrity ambassador, her products—from Shamoist to Shaclear and the iconic Shaeyes kajal—remain cult classics that customers swear by. Their packaging also remains nostalgic: An image of a young Husain gazing dreamily into the distance. Amidst her gentleness on the phone, there are glimpses of the meticulousness with which the entrepreneur runs her eponymous brand. When I miss a question, she points it out immediately, admitting, “I had noted them all down.” Most answers are accompanied by, “I’ll send you a picture on WhatsApp.” At one point, she laughs, “Don’t write anything about me unless you have proof.”

The beauty market, Husain confesses, has changed drastically since she started out. “When I began my journey, the focus was on holistic skin and hair care,” she explains, “It has shifted dramatically towards procedures like hair transplants and Botox. Because of technology becoming advanced, people want to achieve a flawless beauty look within hours.” Yet a major reason for the Shahnaz Husain Group of Companies’ continued success is Husain’s own unwavering belief in the power of Ayurveda: The “organic” before organic was a buzzword. “There was a point when the world had no chemicals, but it always had herbs. Chemicals are man-made,” she says, impassioned. “You can find the solution to every issue in plants. What I’m selling is India’s 5,000-year-old civilisation in a jar.”

After witnessing all the success in the world, signing autographs for crushing crowds, and travelling in and out of four countries a day, Husain is content with the life she has lived. Wistfully, she tells me about a golden-yellow Amaltas tree she saw in bloom from her bedroom. “Through the glass window, I could see these bright yellow flowers. I told my husband, ‘let’s go have tea on the verandah’ because the flowers looked so lovely,” she shares, “Then I got a call saying the Japanese delegation was downstairs, so I had to urgently leave. I forgot about the yellow flowers. The next time I noticed them, I realised it had already been a year.” Husain is determined not to let time slip by her anymore. She reserves it for the things that are most important to her: Family, nature, and giving back to the world. “There is nothing in the world that I want and don’t have,” she finishes. “So what am I struggling for?”

All images: Jacky Nayak

This article first appeared in the August-September 2025 issue of Harper's Bazaar India 

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