Shahnaz Husain is the founder, chairperson & managing director of The Shahnaz Husain Group in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. She has received international acclaim for pioneering the

Herbal A herbal is a book containing the names and descriptions of plants, usually with information on their medicinal, tonic, culinary, toxic, hallucinatory, aromatic, or magical powers, and the legends associated with them.Arber, p. 14. A herbal ...

beauty care movement and taking the Indian herbal heritage of

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repor ...

worldwide. In 2006, she was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

, the fourth highest civilian award, by the Government of India for her contribution to the fields of trade and industry. She was invited by

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

to speak on her success story of establishing an international brand without commercial advertising and has also become a Harvard Case Study which is included in its curriculum. She has also lectured to students at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

and

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

. Shahnaz has also represented India at President Barack Obama’s World Summit for Entrepreneurs. In 1996, she won Success Magazine's "World's Greatest Woman Entrepreneur" award. She has walked the red carpet at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

and has spoken at both the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

and

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in the British Parliament.

Personal life

Born Shahnaz Beg, she is the daughter of Justice Nasir Ullah Beg, a former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court and Sayeeda Begum, who was the daughter of the commander-in-chief of the Hyderabad army. Her grandfather, Justice Samiullah Beg, was a prominent politician of the United Province who later served as Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court. Her uncle, Mirza Hameedullah Beg, was a former

Chief Justice of India The chief justice of India ( IAST: ) is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Judiciary. The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation ...

. Shahnaz studied at

St. Mary's Convent Inter College, Prayagraj St. Mary's Convent Inter College, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a girls school run by the Sisters of the Congregation of Jesus in collaboration with a lay staff members. It was founded in 1866 by Mother Mary Ward for the educatio ...

. She was married at an early age to Nasir Husain with whom she has two children. She studied

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

while Nasir Husain was posted in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. She then completed her training in cosmetic therapy and cosmetology from leading institutions of the West, such as Helena Rubinstein, Schwarzkopf, Christine Valmy, Lancome and Lean of Copenhagen. She returned to India and started Women's World in New Delhi at her home. The then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, frequently visited her. Nasir died in 1999 of cardiac arrest. Their son, Sameer Husain who was a rapper allegedly committed suicide in Patna in 2008 and their daughter Nelofar Currimbhoy is taking her legacy forward. Nelofar is also the author of Shahnaz Husain's biography "Flame".

About The Shahnaz Husain Group

Adopting the concept of Herbal Care and Cure, Shahnaz opened her first herbal clinic in 1971 and over the next few years formed The Shahnaz Husain Group. She formulated therapeutic products for specific skin and hair problems, as well as premium ranges for skin care, such as 24 Carat Gold, Oxygen, Diamond, Pearl, Plant Stem Cells and Platinum Range. The company also sells its products online at http://shahnaz.in. The Shahnaz Husain Group has over 400 franchise ventures across the world covering over 138 'without animal testing' countries. The first franchise clinic opened in Calcutta in 1979. Within a year, there were 80 Shahnaz Herbal franchise clinics in India. The first foreign Shahnaz Herbal franchise clinic was opened in London in 1982. The group also operates its premium Ayurveda Salon and Spa treatment center in New Delhi to offer a line of proprietary treatments for Skin, Hair and Body.

Corporate social responsibility

Shahnaz has tied up with Government skill development projects in beauty and wellness. Her beauty academy has trained and certified over 40,000 under-privileged women, distributing tool kits for home-based business

Awards

Shahnaz Husain has received several international and national awards for her contribution in the beauty industry:

Publications / further reading

1. Shahnaz Husain Beauty Book (https://www.amazon.in/Shahnaz-Husains-Beauty-Book-Husain/dp/8122200605) 2. Flame Book (http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/my-mothers-story/article3359825.ece)

References

External links

* Shahnaz Husain Official Online Store (https://www.shahnaz.in) * Shahnaz Husain’s Beauty Blog (https://www.shahnaz.in/index.php/beauty_blog) {{DEFAULTSORT:Husain, Shahnaz Indian businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry Living people La Martinière College, Lucknow alumni Businesswomen from Uttar Pradesh Businesspeople from Lucknow 20th-century Indian businesswomen 20th-century Indian businesspeople 21st-century Indian businesswomen 21st-century Indian businesspeople 1931 births