BEAUTY
Bazaar
OVER THE LAST FEW
MONTHS, I’ve looked
into skincare as a casual
consumer, at best.
To understand the essentials,
what my skin needs as
I cross the age when it
glows no matter how many
workouts I skip or glasses of
wine I drink. Here’s the
recommended list:
Exfoliator. Under-eye gel.
Facial oil. Acids—
hyaluronic, glycolic,
mandelic, lactic. Masks, sheet and clay. Retinol.
Night cream. Vitamin C, even better with
vitamin E, iron, and botanicals like olive leaf
extract. Did I mention there’s a particular
sequence for application? Whew.
First Water Solutions, then, is a relief. Rooted
in Indian recipes and ingredients,
it demystifies skincare through potent
formulations that target any potential concerns.
The range features a clarifying facial wash and
scrub, face mists in six versions, like jasmine and
white rose, a charcoal hair mask, and the Pure 21
line of moisturisers, which includes a cream, gel,
serum, and oil. “It takes care of every issue,
so what you use depends only on your skin type,
whether it’s dry or oily or combination,”
says Mani Khurana, who co-founded the brand
with her sister Geeti Arora and niece Noor
Arora. “Life is simple, that’s the best thing. The
more you complicate it, the worse it becomes.”
Her own regime? Cleanse, tone, moisturise.
Though it launched only last August, First
Water has been in development for perhaps over
a hundred years. It all started with a stack of
notebooks they found when Noor’s great-
grandmother passed away—among her poems
and essays on life and philosophy were
homeopathic and topical treatment formulas.
“It was eye-opening and very interesting,
but you forget about it after a point. A few years
later, my nani was diagnosed with breast cancer,
and her radiation treatments led to pigmentation
and hair loss. So we pulled out her mother’s old
diaries to cheer her up, and began to make therecipes and apply them on her.
It made her happy because it
was a connection to her mom,”
says Noor. More importantly,
they appeared to work. Perhaps
there was something more to
the DIYs, they thought,
and consulted with a biochemist
to adapt the recipes and create
new, modern products.
Some, like the Pure 21
serum—which contains,
among others, shea butter,
almond oil, and essences of
mulberry, calendula, and bergamot—are almost
entirely from the notebooks; others, they
modified, based on new research and advice by
dermatologists. Yet, the core of their brand
remains DIY. Apart from a few fair-trade
suppliers in Kerala and Uttarakhand, they source
many ingredients, like mulberry and cucumber,
from their own farms. They use food-grade
preservatives, and are happy to demonstrate that
most of their products are edible. (But by no
means tasty.) “People should have access to good
skincare, natural skincare,” says Mani.
This is the philosophy behind their newer
initiatives as well. First on their agenda, as a
family with “very curly hair”, is a silicon-free
serum: “She [her great-grandmother] had one
formula for a smoothener that is completely
silicon-free, and I really want to experiment
with that because silicon, in the long run,
is what makes your hair dry,” says Noor, who
studied at Parsons School of Design and handles
product development. They’re also expanding
their range to include everyday makeup,
without talc and heavy metals: “It won’t be as
pigmented without artificial ingredients but we
want to move away from that. It will be a more
neutral palette, with lighter formulations.” Like
their other products, these too will be vegan and
cruelty-free, free from parabens, alcohol,
formaldehyde, and petrochemicals, and mostly
organic (they have applied for certification).
“You shouldn’t just take our word for it.”
Judging by the results, we don’t have to. ■
Available on amazon.in and ipkart.comLove the skin you’re in, with homegrown
brand First Water Solutions’s natural,
fuss-free approach to beautyBy Esha Mahajan
THE SIMPLE
LIFE
(From top) First Water
Solutions Pure 21 Face Oil,
`1,499; Earthen Ash hair
mask, `600; Volcanic Clay
Face Mask, `699.