Megha Desai Asher, COO & Co-Founder, Juicy Chemistry talks about what the clean beauty movement means to her, and how the need for simplified skincare helped her define Juicy Chemistry, the brand she co-founded.
What does the clean beauty movement signify for you? Comment.
Clean beauty to me means raw, unrefined, unadulterated, organic and as close to nature as possible. I feel the clean movement is a lot more than just beauty, it’s about leading a clean lifestyle. It often feels like ‘clean beauty’ is just another label now since there’s no widely accepted definition for it. Everyone has their own interpretation of what clean means to them.
What does following a clean beauty regime really mean? What are the benefits of opting for such a thing? Do you think it is easy to take to the clean beauty movement?
For me, following such a regime means efficacy that takes a lesser toll on the planet. It’s definitely a conscious choice to opt for a clean beauty regime but I think it’s more about opting for a clean or organic lifestyle. Beauty is just one aspect of this. It certainly isn’t easy but it is definitely well worth it.
How have you personally adopted this clean beauty and green living movement? Share some tips.
As I mentioned before, it’s all a matter of changing your lifestyle and approach to things down to the smallest seemingly insignificant details. For me, it involves:
- Opting for organic beauty products.
- Eating organic unrefined foods and cutting down on processed foods. I make it a point to cut down on junk food and refined sugars as much as possible.
- Opting for organic fabrics and fluid fits.
- Making conscious purchases and not buying things for the sake of buying them.
- Minimising waste generation, be it at Juicy Chemistry or at home.
- Supporting ethical and slow-living-based brands.
- Educating my daughter about what organic living means.
- Spending quality time in Nature to understand and appreciate what we have.
What was the reason behind starting your clean beauty brand?
I co-founded Juicy Chemistry because it was evident that there wasn’t a truly ‘organic’ brand in the market. I wanted to simplify skincare and create products that were truly efficacious and kind to the planet.
What is the clean beauty ethics behind your brand Juicy Chemistry? How has it changed over the years, as you have evolved into a well-known brand name?
Over the years, we’ve doubled down on our values and beliefs at Juicy Chemistry. We continue to provide our customers with the best organic and natural personal care, made with fresh nutrient-rich ingredients. We want to educate our customers on why we believe in the power of organic and raise awareness about what it means to live an organic lifestyle. As a brand, we endeavour to #InfluenceToEmpower and help customers make conscious choices. As an environmentally conscious brand, we want to minimise our impact on the environment as much as possible and cut down on our footprint. We recognise that sustainability is an ongoing process and that one is never at 100% but we are committed to improving and doing better. We are also committed to establishing ethical partnerships with our suppliers to ensure fair pay and ethical treatment of the farmers.
Your brand was launched at a time, when the concept was still evolving, how difficult was it to change the consumer perception and get acceptance for your brand?
Pritesh and I quickly realised that was a lack of awareness in the consumer with regard to natural and organic products. Most people weren’t questioning brands, formulations, and ingredients; Consumers didn’t really know what an organic product was supposed to be. Given the low-quality options available in the market (most of which were hardly as natural or organic as they claimed to be) there was a clear lack of faith in natural products with regard to their efficacy.
In recent times, this has begun to change. Right now, consumer awareness is at an all-time high and more and more consumers are questioning brands and asking for transparency. The organic movement has also taken off although it is still at a growing stage in India, while it is very popular in the West.
How are you retaining the original brand concept and how have you improved your product formulations as your product range has grown?
Juicy Chemistry strives to be as organic as can be. We want to give our customers quite literally ‘Nature in a bottle’ and our formulations have been created to give precisely this experience. We’re very aware of how different our products are from their commercial counterparts so we go out of our way to explain how our products can and should be used. We often get a lot of questions from new consumers and take the time to explain each and every aspect of the product.
Our formulations and ingredients are all backed by research. I always like to say we’re ‘powered by Nature and backed by science’. Research is at the heart of all our formulations, and it is this thoroughness that ensures our products are as efficacious as they are. We choose to be very intentional about the products we launch, creating them with the simple goal of solving a problem. As a brand, Juicy Chemistry actively rejects getting onto the trend bandwagon.
How big is the clean beauty market in India? What is really driving the growth?
The clean beauty market is driven largely by consumer interests. As more and more consumers choose to be conscious about their purchasing habits, we’re seeing the rise of clean beauty. I definitely see the clean beauty market dominating the beauty industry in the future.
What is the potential for this segment, since we are seeing new brands being launched almost on a regular basis? Wouldn’t the uniqueness of this concept be lost with so many brands coming in with similar message?
There’s definitely a lot of competition in the market right now and it does seem at times that the term ‘clean beauty’ has completely lost its meaning. Having said that, now more than ever brand ideologies are being put to the ultimate test. Consumers are a lot more informed than they were previously and are able to identify brands and products they resonate with. If you’re true to yourself, you’re still able to cut through the clutter. But yes, since clean beauty didn’t have a clear definition, to begin with, it has gotten distorted along the way. I still do feel there’s a lot of potential in this sector, if there weren’t you wouldn’t have so many brands pop up!
Do you expect consumer behaviour to change with respect to clean beauty? How do you see the clean beauty movement taking up in the Indian market in the coming years? Comment.
I see the movement growing. There’s no denying it, consumers are certainly more conscious about what they ingest or apply to their bodies.
