From Resilience to Reinvention: How Harlin Sachdeva is Raising the Bar for Non-Toxic, High-Performance Makeup

Bengaluru: In a world where beauty and business move quickly, Harlin Sachdeva has built her brand on steady foundations: purpose, clarity, and an unshakeable resilience that only strengthens when things get tough. As the Founder & CEO of House Of Makeup, she is redefining beauty in India with non-toxic, non-comedogenic, high-performance formulations crafted for Indian skin.

Harlin’s first taste of entrepreneurship came from necessity. After losing her father at 17, she stepped in to support her family, launching a home-linen business with just ₹10,000. Within months, she had scaled it to a ₹3-lakh MRR venture — all while completing her education. That early hustle revealed what would become the hallmark of her career: sharp business instinct paired with quiet determination. She went on to complete an MBA in Marketing, not as an academic milestone but as someone already grounded in real-world experience.

Harlin began her professional journey in 2012 at FAB BAG, a beauty subscription service. At the time, India’s D2C beauty ecosystem was just taking shape — and Harlin played an instrumental role in helping FAB BAG evolve into the well-known Sugar Cosmetics (Vellvette Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd.). The experience offered a rapid education in brand building, consumer behaviour and product creation. She then joined Unilever, managing key lifestyle and beauty brands, including Lakmé’s digital portfolio, before being invited by Nykaa’s Founder & CEO, Falguni Nayar, to help launch Nykaa’s private-label makeup line. Each role sharpened her understanding of what Indian consumers wanted — and more importantly, what the market lacked.

That gap became her mission. In 2019, Harlin founded House Of Makeup to deliver clean, high-performance formulations tailored to Indian skin tones, undertones and, most importantly, skin concerns such as acne, pigmentation and sensitivity.

The brand gained early traction — until the pandemic brought retail to an abrupt halt. For many businesses, it was a breaking point; for Harlin, it became a turning point. She doubled down on digital, strengthened e-commerce operations and even secured pre-Series A funding during those uncertain months, thanks to strong customer loyalty and market validation.

In 2023, House Of Makeup relaunched with ten new product categories — a milestone that reflects not just customer loyalty, but Harlin’s conviction, clarity of vision, and uncompromising commitment to quality. The brand was also among the first in India to pioneer the skin tint category — a category it now leads.

Harlin’s leadership and impact within the beauty ecosystem have been widely recognised. She was recently honoured with the “Most Powerful Women in Business 2025” award, an initiative spearheaded by Nandish Communication.

Today, House Of Makeup stands for high-performance, non-toxic beauty, crafted with global standards and deep Indian market insight.

<p>The post From Resilience to Reinvention: How Harlin Sachdeva is Raising the Bar for Non-Toxic, High-Performance Makeup first appeared on Hello Entrepreneurs.</p>