Almora Botanica, or when ayurveda and adaptogenic plants save the skin

Almora Botanica is an indian skincare line founded on ayurvedic principles using only natural ingredients including adaptogenic ones. “ Powerful adaptogenic plants help the skin to manage stress and restore balance and are an integrative part of our truly unique skincare formulations.” explains the brand. In a recent interview with Ravi Prasad, co-founder and executive chairman, we uncovered the recipes behind the brand holistic approach.

The vision behind the brand is a focus on ancient traditions with modern perspectives. Almora Botanica has a holistic approach using effective Ayurvedic botanical ingredients and adaptogens – such as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties – within their skincare line. The brand has developed the SAPTA COMPLEX © (more on that below), a delivery system that is both ultra-light and ultra-hydrating, complete with ultra-fast absorption. Almora Botanica also offers Face Yoga Fitness routines to accompany its product line.

" We wanted to create a brand that offered validated and measurable skincare results through products based on Researched Ayurveda formulated using the cleanest ingredients. We also wanted to bring Face Yoga into the brand because the fount of Ayurveda and Yoga is the same, viz, the fourth Veda, Atharvaveda." expresses Prasad.

" There is also a growing consumer awareness and demand for natural, sustainable, and performing products as opposed to chemical based products.  Ayurveda has a lot to offer in this regard and therefore Almora Botanica is uniquely positioned to bring Ayurveda into scientifically-validated mainstream products that are natural " adds Prasad.

re/sources: you have formulated the Green Chemistry principles. Could you please explain to us what it means to you?

Ravi Prasad: We have formulated on the principles of green chemistry.

The first criteria is using for instance one guiding principle “ less is more”. We wanted to have very few ingredients in every recipe. If a serum in the adjacent band has 30 ingredients, we wanted to have only 15 for two reasons. One, it reduces the bio-burden on the skin and two it also reduces the potential chances of allergies because there are fewer ingredients going on the skin from our products and also the consumer is using other products. 

We achieved that by blending adaptogenic ingredients with other multitasking ingredients that had safety profiles and most importantly, that found mentioned in the Old Ayurvedic compendiums, which are 5000 years old. 

The herbs were chosen from across the world. Based on where they were cultivated sustainably and certified by both Cosmos and Soil Association of the UK, be it sunflower oil from Brittany or Centella Asiatica from Madagascar. We chose ingredients from all over the world based on purity levels. 

The second criteria was purity in itself. We filtered according to three criteria: no heavy metals, particularly lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury. The second was no bacterial impurities. And the third was no mycotoxins, which come from fungal toxicity. Then for excipients or additives, we followed the Whole Foods Premium Body Care list of approved substances. 

re/sources: how difficult was it to formulate with only natural ingredients and achieve sensorial formulas?

Ravi Prasad: Indeed, our third criteria of green chemistry was to come out with textures that were extremely light. Bearing in mind that we were only using natural ingredients, which can determine the thickness of the final formula. The objective of the base is to make sure that the active ingredients are dissolved in it and are stable at a very low temperature or very high temperature. The base should actually be very easy to spread on the skin. We decided to formulate our own base by blending oils (instead of buying the base of the shelves of a supplier). We blended seven cold pressed oils, each oil was blended at a particular viscosity at a particular temperature. And then we had some processing. The seven-oil blend became our base and they uniquely spread like silicone on the skin even though it is 100% natural. And finally the viscosity of the product because of the lightness of the base was only five times that of water. If you compare that with any adjacent brand with any similar brand, it is about ten times lighter. What we have is ten times lighter than the other brand. The base is called SAPTA, which means seven in Sanskrit.

Our formulas are under patent globally.

re/sources: How long did it take you to develop the brand?

Ravi Prasad:  It took us almost three years to do all the formulations and the testing. The formulations went through many iterations before we approved them. So from the end of 2020 until 2024. We did a pilot launch in the middle of the year (2023) where we again had got learnings from the market and there were some learnings from the packaging, regarding the dropper and the formula delivery. We only need one drop of the product so we needed a very precise dropper applicator. is adequate. So officially launched in January 2024. We are present at John Bell & Croyden in London. We got into Harrods in March this year. We just launched in May in Singapore. And we are now preparing to launch through twelve stores in Dubai in August and September this year.

re/sources: could you tell us more about the principles of Ayurveda?

Ravi Prasad: One is to restore balance in the body, including the skin. Either by solving problems or by maintaining balance, including supplementing natural ingredients like tamarind seed to restore the collagen network for instance.