CHENNAI: For years, people have turned to natural remedies for health and wellness. Like many traditionalists, Pollachi-based entrepreneurs P Mohan and S Nithya also rely on their grandmothers’ knowledge. Using these age-old time-tested heirloom recipes as the source of inspiration they launched their skincare brand — Lakshmi Krishna Naturals, on March 3, 2018.
With 300 products, a clientele from 25 countries, and more than 2,98,000 followers on Instagram — the skincare brand has established a strong presence in the digital market since its inception. The online brand recently bagged the best South Indian Beautycare Brand of the year 2020 by SHE Awards. P Mohan, co-founder, talks about tapping the natural skincare market, struggles, and the way forward.
Excerpts follow.
What was the motivation behind starting Lakshmi Krishna Naturals?
Nithya’s daughter had a skin condition sometime back. The medicines prescribed by a dermatologist offered only temporary relief. Following this, we decided to take an organic route. With guidance from elders, we had been experimenting various naturally sourced alternatives since 2014. We don’t have any professional degree or certification. Our first product during trial-anderror was a soap with natural variants. We received encouraging feedback from friends and family. This paved way for us to extend the product list and set up a full-fledged business.
What sets you apart from other natural skincare brands?
All our products are designed in a way that offers problembased solutions. Our pimple gel, one of the first few products, continues to remain the most popular among patrons. Our creams, scrubs, conditioners, shampoos, soaps, balms, packs — all of them — target specific problems such as cracked heel, black spots, hair fall, dark eyes, open pores, pigmentation, and more. Moreover, everything on the catalogue can be used by both men and women, depending on their skin type.
Where do you source your ingredients from?
From herbal leaves to flowers, the raw materials are freshly procured from our garden in Pollachi. Saffron, aloe vera, shikakai, fruit and vegetable seeds are commonly used in most products. The essential oils are sourced from a dealer in north India. We are transparent about what goes into each product. The ingredients, benefits, suitable skin type, quantity, and method of usage is given on the website.
What were the initial challenges in convincing people into buying your products?
Skincare is a sensitive market and people are informed these days about allergies depending on what does and does not suit their body type. We don’t promise one solution to all. Each skin type is different and determined by many factors, such as lifestyle, hereditary, existing medical problems, and more. While designing each product, we classify it under sensitive, oily, normal, or a combination. The transformation is a slow process. When customers don’t get the desired results we answer them patiently and give an alternate solution.
What are your popular products?
The hair regrowth kit is our speciality and it comes as a pack of hair regrowth oil and baldness gel. It comprises 25 vital herbal ingredients and is designed to suit all hair types. Our goat milk soap, hair oil, and herbal shampoo are hotsellers. We don’t use artificial preservatives, colours or fragrances. It is affordable and the quantity is limited so that it doesn’t exceed the shelf life, which is usually six to nine months. We add a few natural preservatives.
How was business during the pandemic?
It has been productive. Our manufacturing team of 25 members, monitored by Nithya, kept working on new products. The marketing team, under me, worked on the digital presence. People finally got their muchneeded break to attend to their skin problems and pamper themselves. We grabbed the opportunity to reach out to as many through our Instagram.
What are your plans?
We are working on a CTM (Cleansing, toning, moisturising) kit, based on each individual’s skin type, along with a few more hair care products designed for curly, straight, wavy, and more hair types. We will also be launching our physical store in Chennai in the next six months.