Lakmé’s spat with Honasa co-founder deepens

After dismissing digital-first sunscreen brands, Lakmé found itself under fire—thanks to a cheeky Honasa billboard—for lagging in in-vivo testing. The HUL-owned brand hit back on social media, claiming it’s been testing its sunscreens in vivo for the past 10 years.

“Some brands, currently on online bestseller lists, are claiming to be in-vivo tested; however, their in-market sunscreen product samples deliver SPF 20 against a claim of SPF 50,” read Lakme’s Instagram post. In-vivo here means the sunscreen has been tested on live human skin as opposed to an in-lab dish or a computer simulation.

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After Lakme’s original dig, Honasa’s billboard next to the HUL brand read, “Hey Lakme, congratulations on finally getting SPF 50 in-vivo tested. Welcome to the Derma Co. standard.”

Honasa co-founder Ghazal Alagh wrote on LinkedIn: “Indian FMCG has lacked good competition for a long time leading to large traditional brands becoming complacent. We take pride in the fact that we have been challenging these norms and waking up these brands time and again.”

“Happy to see traditional brands follow again & even blatantly copy products from name to packaging. We will keep innovating and showing the way.”