STRAIGHT FROM THE PAGES OF JNSQ iPAD STYLE MAGAZINE……
Sweet almond oil, grape juice solution, carrot juice and aloe leaf juice. These are not ingredients for an abnormally healthy wheatgrass-infused smoothie, but for a rejuvenating eye cream called Almond Gotu Kola Grape from Skin Apotheke.
Ria Kaushal, founder of Skin Apotheke, sat down with JNSQ to tell us about her organic skin care line based on Ayurvedic principals from India.
“Holistic and Ayurvedic” is how Ria describes her life and her skincare line; these principles have been a part of her life since childhood. Ria inherited her craft of skin care from her grandparents. “My earliest memories are of sitting with him [her grandfather] and pounding herbs,” Ria said. “I remember using the fresh rose and jasmine petals from our garden on my skin and hair.” Her grandmother would concoct “skin care remedies based on traditional Indian recipes and ingredients,” she said. Ria’s biggest inspiration is her grandmother – “she gave me the ground work for my life.”
Ria has incorporated this ground work of her life – India, Ayurveda, and nature – into her skin products. “Ayurveda and Indian culture have had a very active participation in skin care for the last 5000 years,” she explained. Skin Apotheke has a holistic method to beauty. Ria believes that Ayurveda is an appropriate approach to skin because “Ayurveda’s diagnosis of skin is not just through the external look of it, but is a more in-depth analysis of eating, sleeping, habits, texture of hair, [and] food we eat,” she said. Skin can react to dryness or excessive oils. Ayurveda understands the differences between breakouts due to dryness and those due to oil. “This analysis gives me tremendous power to diagnose and recommend products according to particular skin type,” Ria said.
Just like her grandparents did, Ria gets her ingredients from India, further infusing her culture into her products. As Ria described, “By purchasing directly from the source, I am not only able to provide the best value and quality of ingredients available in the market, but I am also [able to] bring that 5,000 year-old knowledge and culture into my skin care products.”
Finally, Ria insists that her products are composed of natural ingredients. The chemicals in mainstream products caused her to suffer from seizures for two years. She was frustrated and concerned for herself and for others. “Never in human history have people been exposed to such a plethora of chemicals,” she said. For Ria, natural means more than luscious leaves and vibrant flowers. “Plants, flowers, and herbal extracts provide amazing curative properties,” says Ria. By eating and using organic products and by paying close to what she puts in her body and on her skin, Ria has been able to cultivate nature’s cosmetic properties and harness them into her healthy, healing products. Through her products, Ria promotes a life free of chemicals, toxicity, and inflammation.
In such a large world, with so many people and so much competition, Ria understands that mainstream skincare products are losing their degree of personalization to their clientele. Instead of creating an‘all-curing’ type of product, Ria tries to focus on that personalization. “Skin is a very personal thing,” she said. “You can change a person’s life by changing the appearance of their skin … Skin Apotheke is based on these delicate relationships between ingredients and user.”
Ria does have her own personal favorite product – her best-selling Ubtan Scrub. Ubtan means the art of cleansing. This product has “cleared up skin, [evened] it out, reduced pigmentation, [and] left it glowing, radiant and firm,” Ria said. She also likes to drink a teaspoon of Intellimune oil, from Intelligent Nutrients, to help her skin.
“My dream is to have a clear and full life, clarity of thought, clarity of food, clarity in love, [and] clarity of environment,” she said. Ria’s passion for Skin Apotheke is as clear as her skin. She is a living example that beauty inside and out can indeed be effortless and chemical-free.
Want to win a customized skincare set (value of $100 or more) by Skin Apotheke? All you have to do is “like” Skin Apotheke’s Facebook page, here, AND comment on this post. Winner will be announced next Friday October 28th. Good luck!
