Page 204 - Vogue - India (January 2020)

beauty
rebels with
THE WARRIOR: KAVITA KHOSA,
FOUNDER OF PUREARTH
THE MISSION: ETHICAL SOURCING
When Khosa, a Pune-based corporate lawyer turned social entrepreneur
founded Purearth in 2012, she was determined to create a beauty brand
with a mission she could stand behind. It was going to be “100 per cent
sustainable, biodegradable, circular, coral reef safe, compostable, and
made with natural ingredients that cause no environmental concerns.”
Cut to the present, this performance-driven skincare brand offers creams,
mists, washes and elixirs made with organic ingredients bottled in their
purest form, all done by hand. “Our sea buckthorn berries are sourced
from Ladakh and the organic raw honey comes from the local beekeepers
of the Bhimashankar Valley,” says Khosa, who also focuses on paying a fair-
trade wage to support local businesses. And putting it all together is just as
important as the final product: “We support biodynamic, Vedic and organic
farming methods, working directly with women-run certified organic farms
and women’s self-help groups to support livelihood programmes.” These
women are a vital part of every step in the manufacturing process—they
forage flowers, herbs and berries for the brand’s cold-pressed oils and
hand-cut soaps, and pick non-timber forest produce.
WE LOVE: MITTI RAW HONEY MASQUE,
WILD SEABERRY SUPERCRITICAL OIL
Purearth works with
women-run organic
farms to help social
sustainability
Its no-plastic pledge
extends from craft
to shipping
204 VOGUE INDIA JANUARY 2020 www.vogue.in
SPOTLIGHT
a cause
On a farm in Chhattisgarh, in
a studio in Toronto, a lab in
Pune and on a kitchen table in
Amsterdam, four Indian women
are proving that while it isn’t
easy being green, it’s definitely
worth it. By Avanti Dalal
Sarisha’s Moon
Dust Powder Clay
and Herb Mask
THE WARRIOR: JACQUELINE JOHAL,
FOUNDER OF SARISHA
THE MISSION: UPCYCLING
Alluring and thoughtful packaging makes
discarding it a difficult task. That is exactly what
Johal thought as she designed lightweight glass
bottles to house her serums, masks and oils. Excess
packaging is so firmly embedded in today’s beauty
supply chain that limiting its use and ubiquity
is an uphill climb. Even when the packaging is
clean and efficient, there’s a lot of it out there.
Enter, upcycling. “We offer a sustainable refill
programme for repeat customers, where they can
keep their original packaging, and we offer a refill
in a glass vial for them to add to it,” states Toronto-
based Johal. “The beauty of this programme is
that the glass vials can then be reused for various
things. For example, once the product is over, we
suggest cleaning and using these vials to carry
condiments in your lunch bag or storing daily
medicines and vitamins. They can be reused more
often than a dropper bottle,” she says.
WE LOVE: GREEN GODDESS GLOW OIL,
B1: NOURISHING HAIR SERUM