India's sunscreen market is suddenly too hot to handle—and it's not just the UV index that's rising. What was once a sleepy segment reserved for beach bags has turned into a ₹74 billion battleground, pitting old-money giants such as Hindustan Unilever against digital insurgents like Honasa Consumer, the maker of Mamaearth.And things just got personal. A courtroom drama erupted after HUL's cheeky "SPF Lie Detector" campaign implied that Honasa's SPF 50 sunscreen might not be as sun-safe as advertised. Honasa fired back with a lawsuit, and the Delhi High Court was not amused, nudging HUL to retreat. The legal sunscreen slapfest may be cooling, but the bigger heat lies elsewhere: trust, transparency, and the science of skincare are emerging as investor battlegrounds.
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