Not Just Skin Deep: un:fltrd Hosts India's First Large-Scale Shade Matching Workshop Built on Real Skin, Real Data, Real People

· Not a Launch. A Lab: un:fltrd Crowdsources Real Data with 150 Women to Co-Create India's Most Inclusive Foundation Yet

· 150+ Indian women. 400+ swatches. 1 mission: foundations that actually match.

India, Mumbai | 29 July 2025: In a first for Indian beauty, next-gen brand un:fltrd hosted a one-of-a-kind shade matching workshop in Mumbai, bringing together over 150 women across age groups, skin tones, and undertones not for a campaign shoot, but to co-create their debut product: a foundation made for Indian skin from the ground up.

With its upcoming launch in August 2025, un:fltrd is setting a radically different precedent for product development in the Indian beauty space, one where formulation starts with community input, not a global shade chart. The workshop was built as a data-backed, empathy-led event designed to decode the undertones, preferences, and pain points of Indian consumers long underserved by standard 12-shade "universal" launches.

"This was us bringing the lab to the brown girls. We were testing real people's real struggles with skin tones, undertones and frustrations around foundations and finding their shade match," said Ghazal Gupta, 23-year-old founder and CEO of un:fltrd. "I've always been the girl who never found her foundation. I didn't want to launch until I could say: we built this together."

The workshop had over 50+ foundation shades, and over 6 colour correctors so each participant could swatch multiple shade iterations to find their match. They also shared feedback on shade gaps, product texture, finish, and application: which all acted as real-time data to refine the final formulations of un:fltrd's upcoming Almost ReadyTM Cushion Foundation.

While the global beauty market has embraced inclusive branding, research shows that only 12% of Indian consumers feel that foundations currently available in India adequately match their skin tone (Mintel, 2024). Despite the country's immense skin tone diversity, brands often import shade ranges designed for Western markets leaving millions to "make it work" through mixing, layering, or skipping base makeup altogether.

"We had to do something like this because how else would we know true Indian skin tones? Or how would we truly claim we're made for Indian skin?" Ghazal adds. "This event wasn't a launch stunt, we did not even have a product to sell at the moment, it was pre-launch R&D, out in the open. Real women, real undertones, real numbers and absolutely real data. We are not a brand building a community, we are a brand being built by a community, and that makes all the difference!"

The workshop marked a major deviation from the legacy model of closed-door product labs and one-size-fits-all solutions. It also reflects a wider shift in how Indian Gen Z consumers now one of the largest beauty-buying cohorts engage with brands. According to a 2025 Kantar study, Gen Z values "collaboration over perfection", and trusts brands that "build in public" with transparency and feedback loops.

Set to debut in August, un:fltrd's first product drop is already gaining quiet momentum not from ads or influencers, but from the women who helped create it.

Because when Indian skin is finally the starting point not the afterthought makeup becomes more than wearable. It becomes personal.

About the brand

un:fltrd is not just another beauty brand, it's a rebellion against outdated industry standards, built from the ground up for Indian skin. Created by 23-year-old founder Ghazal Gupta, un:fltrd exists to serve the nuanced, undertone-rich complexities of brown skin not as an afterthought, but as the starting point.

Set to launch in August 2025 with its debut Almost ReadyTM Cushion Foundation, un:fltrd stands apart in how it approaches product development: publicly, collaboratively, and unapologetically. The brand's first move wasn't a campaign or a product drop, it was a community experiment. Before launch, un:fltrd hosted a 150+ person shade matching workshop in Mumbai, inviting real women to test, swatch, and decode their undertones. The data gathered from this event now powers the brand's formulations, making it one of the few Indian beauty startups that literally builds with its community.

At the core of un:fltrd is a refusal to rely on global shade charts or cookie-cutter formulations. Instead, the brand is creating a shade system that reflects real Indian skin its tones, textures, and truths. Every product is tested on real people, and every insight, complaint, or wish is folded into the brand's R&D process.

With a tagline of "just like: you", un:fltrd is as much about feeling seen as it is about wearing makeup. It's for the brown girls who have always had to mix two shades, settle for "close enough," or skip foundation altogether. Through radical listening, honest storytelling, and meaningful shade innovation, un:fltrd is redefining what inclusivity actually looks like and feels like in Indian beauty.

un:fltrd is not a brand building a community, it's a brand being built by the community, and that makes all the difference.

- un:fltrd
- Blossom CHS, Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai, India - 400059
- Email: rakeshmahto2112@gmail.com

un:fltrd is a new Indian beauty brand created by 23-year-old founder Ghazal Gupta. It focuses on making products specifically for Indian skin tones, starting with its debut product-the Almost ReadyTM Cushion Foundation-set to launch in August 2025.

This release was published on openPR.