We tried to find 5 real Indian D2C skincare brands. Here's exactly what worked - and what didn't.
A lead asked us a fair question on WhatsApp: "If I search for Indian D2C skincare brands, what exact information will I receive for each lead? Can you show a real example?"
So instead of describing the AI Lead Finder System in marketing language, we ran it live - start to finish, on real brands - and wrote down everything that happened, including the parts that didn't work.
What is the AI Lead Finder System actually trying to do?
It's a Notion-based workflow that helps you find real, qualified business leads across four channels - Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Maps, and WhatsApp groups - using free tools and AI prompts. It is not automated software. You run the process; the workspace tells you exactly how.
This post documents one full run of that process, targeting Indian D2C skincare brands.
Step 1: Stop guessing brand names - use a directory
Our first instinct was to guess Instagram handles for well-known skincare brands. That wasted time immediately - we tried @foxtale.in and got nothing, then @justherbs.in and got nothing. Both were wrong.
The fix, which is built into the workspace's lead-finding method, is to start from a curated D2C brand directory instead of guessing. We used a public Indian D2C brand directory filtered to the Beauty & Personal Care category and instantly had a clean, verified list of 300+ real brands - including the five we wanted to test: Foxtale, Dr Sheth's, Mamaearth, Plum, and Aqualogica.
Time taken: under 5 minutes. Result: zero wrong guesses, because every name on the list is a confirmed real brand.
Step 2: Pull social proof for each brand
With the correct brand names confirmed, we found the actual Instagram handles (@foxtaleskin, not @foxtale.in) and ran each one through a lead-enrichment tool that reads public Instagram business profiles.
Here's what came back, exactly as returned:
Brand
Followers
Verified
Website
Foxtale
564,422
Yes
foxtale.in
Dr Sheth's
344,074
Yes
drsheths.com
Mamaearth
1,564,654
Yes
mamaearth.in
Aqualogica
295,327
Yes
aqualogica.in
Just Herbs
287,191
Yes
Beauty/cosmetic category
This part worked perfectly, every single time, across all five brands. Brand name, website, follower count, verified status, and sometimes business category - these came through reliably without exception.
Step 3: Try to get phone numbers and addresses
This is where the honest limitation showed up. We searched local business listings for each brand by name.
"Foxtale skincare" - zero results. Foxtale is an online-only brand with no public storefront, so it simply doesn't exist in local business directories under that search.
"Mamaearth store" in Mumbai - three real results, each with a working phone number and full street address:
- Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla - +91 99302 44935
- Infinity Mall, Malad West - +91 22 4601 3579
- Inorbit Mall, Vashi - +91 86520 91221
The pattern is consistent and worth understanding clearly: local business search only surfaces phone numbers and addresses for brands that have a physical retail or office presence. Mamaearth has mall kiosks, so it appears. Foxtale, Dr Sheth's, Aqualogica, and Just Herbs are pure e-commerce brands - they don't.
What about email addresses?
Across all five brands, in every method tested, email addresses did not come through automatically. Not from Instagram, not from the local business search.
The one method that did work was checking each brand's own website. Foxtale, for example, lists a customer care email and phone number directly on their site's contact page. This step has to be done manually, brand by brand - there's no shortcut for it yet.
The honest summary
What we wanted
What we got
Brand names
5 of 5 - fully reliable
Website + social proof
5 of 5 - fully reliable
Phone + address
1 of 5 - only brands with physical stores
0 of 5 automatically - manual website check required
Total time for all five brands, start to finish: under 15 minutes.
So is this worth using?
If you need to quickly build a verified list of real brands in a category, with solid social proof attached, this process does that well and does it fast. If you need guaranteed email and phone for every brand regardless of whether they have a physical location, this process alone will not get you there - you'll need to pair it with a manual website check for the brands that matter most to you.
We'd rather tell you that plainly than have you find out after buying. The AI Lead Finder System teaches this exact three-step method, plus the same approach for LinkedIn, WhatsApp groups, and Google search - so you can repeat this for any niche, not just skincare.
Want to see this run on your specific niche? Message us on WhatsApp and we'll walk through it together before you buy.