Vilvah, The Sustainable Beauty Brand In India

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Bengaluru: The word “Sustainable” is the new fad post COVID 19 pandemic. Not just food and clothing but also beauty. It took me sometime to understand what exactly Sustainable Beauty is, but then it is very simple. When a product is natural and organic, non-toxic, cruelty-free, palm oil-free, and with zero waste principle it is said to get into the category of Sustainable Beauty.

Sustainable beauty is a branch of skincare that includes eco-friendly beauty products. In other words, sustainable beauty consists of products that rely on nature’s healing powers to work magic on your face. One such brand recently caught my attention is Vilvah, a sustainable beauty brand, which makes skincare goodies with the freshest ingredients and high performance formulation. Their main ingredient is milk and specially Goat milk. Goat milk beauty products are not so frequent in the market. One of the reason could be the lack of information about the same. I met Kruthika Kumaran, Founder, Vilvah, to understand more about their latest Goat milk product range for The Balcony Stories. Below are the excerpts…

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I would call myself an Accidental Entrepreneur as I have not planned for this journey. I am a housewife turned Entrepreneur!! I got married at 21 soon after finishing my Engineering degree. Since then for 10 years, I have been a homemaker without prior work experience or business exposure.

Tell us about Vilvah.
My mother had sensitive skin and suffered from skin problems for more than a decade. The products she used on her skin made it even worse. My late mother is the reason for my path to creating my own natural soaps. It was her wish for me to use safe products that inspired me to learn and do what I do today. My mother passed away in 2016 and I started Vilvah in 2017. After completing my diploma in natural cosmetology, I started experimenting with Goat Milk soaps since I come from an agricultural background and my daughter had eczema, a condition with dry skin. After many experiments, we perfected a recipe which we originally created for our family and that is what we sell to our customers. We started out with 2 or 3 goats on our farm and now there are countless herds of goats from whom fresh goat milk is obtained and different goat milk products are made. Even though we have introduced different skincare products over time, the classic Goat milk soap will always remain close to my heart.

Why did you want to start a cosmetic brand and why Vilvah?

My dream began with my late Mother who suffered from skin problems and had sensitive skin. She always wanted me to learn how to make handmade soaps and after she passed away, I experimented with lots of ingredients. My daughter who was 6 year old at that time also had Eczema(Dry skin condition). I started curating products for her skin and since I am from an agricultural background, I started experimenting different formulations with Goat Milk. It worked wonders on her skin and since then, No turning back.

We are headquartered at Coimbatore, close to our farm and procure some of the ingredients from our own farm.

We are going to turn 6 this March and are happy about our organic progress. I have been in the business for the past 6 years and there are challenges in each stage. I love good challenges and that makes the work interesting. Right from everyday business challenges to overcoming my own insecurities and fear, it’s a work in progress. Juggling between work and family is a huge part of the challenge especially for a woman Entrepreneur.

What is with the name Vilvah?

One year later after my mother’s demise, in 2017, we launched Vilvah Retail store, named soon after our own farm. The name arises from the vilva (usually, bilva) leaf utilized to worship Lord Shiva. She wished for a name that remained loyal to Indian roots, and thus, Vilvah was born.

You have recently started a Goat milk skincare range. What was the inspiration?

Since I am from an agricultural background, We are raised along with cattle in the farm. So, it occurs to me that I should use Goat Milk in our soaps. Goat Milk is known to have skin conditioning properties and it’s great for hair too. Fat globules present in goat milk nourishes the scalp and hair strands and promotes moisture. Goat Milk is rich in nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Goat milk has alpha-hydroxy acids that soften the skin by removing dead skin cells.

There have been debates about the good and bads of goat milk for skin. What is your opinion?

Goats milk has a Ph level very close to that of the human skin. It is naturally enriched with lactic acid which may assist in the breakdown of dead skin cells caused by sensitive skin conditions. It is also high in natural vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins, higher levels than those found in cow’s milk. It contains Caprylic Acid, a form of alpha-hydroxy acid, which aids in cellular renewal. These gentle acids naturally exfoliate the skin, removing dirt and dead skin cells, leaving behind beautiful healthy new skin. Goat milk is an excellent complexion booster and promotes youthful looking skin. Cleopatra was known to bathe in goat milk!

How did you discover the skincare benefits of goat milk?

Initially, when I started, I formulated all the products. I did a diploma course in cosmetology and I made all the products. Later, We hired Cosmetic scientists on board and we built our R&D team. Innovation is very important in any business and investing in the right R&D is of utmost importance for us. We will launch a product only after strict clinical trials and check a lot of factors like packaging compatibility test, stability test and clinical trials for the efficacy of the product.

The response has been tremendous from the beginning and customers shared rave reviews on our products since it is made with fresh and safe ingredients, Most importantly it worked very well on Indian skin.

What’s your approach to developing products for Vilvah?

Vilvah is an all-natural skincare brand, which makes skincare goodies with the freshest ingredients available. They bring you the right mix of agricultural produce, carrier oils, butter and essential oils to nourish the skin by embracing the simple yet effective properties of the ingredients. The product is obtained in its purest form, without any harsh chemicals, additives, synthetic oils or perfumes and this is the very basis of Vilvah Store. Their painstaking effort to source out the finest raw materials reflects in their products. They believe in farm-to-face and all their ingredients are 100% farmed and sourced locally.

How tough or easy is marketing a skincare brand, specially the goat milk products?

We have definitely created a niche in establishing Vilvah as one of the first goat milk infused skincare and hair care brand. The journey has been very interesting and we ensured our visuals and brand identity via social media, brand campaigns, PR activities and communication is strongly centred around goat milk. We have been fortunate to establish a name for Vilvah in this space.

Where do you see Vilvah in the next 5 years?
Making Vilvah the most trustworthy Global brand!! Our future is focused on MILK as our star ingredient and we are having plans to launch innovative products in the Milk range. Although we are a Digital First brand, We would like to build an Omnichannel network available in retail and Online. We have an annual run rate of 30Cr and all the products are manufactured in-house in our Coimbatore facility. We are available on our website and we have 3 retail stores at present – 2 in Chennai and 1 in Coimbatore. Our products are available in marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and Nykaa.

Are you planning any new range of products?

Milk is our USP. Our signature ingredient is MILK. Our Goat Milk shampoo remained our bestseller for the past 5 years and now we have introduced a vegan Milk Range which is well received by our consumers. We would like to be the biggest Milk based Skin and Hair Care brand in the world.