This may be the hundredth time I am saying this, but I am completely into skin care this year (not that it has solved my acne issue. Sigh! I guess I will have to head back to the dermat for that) and I have been reviewing quite a few products that specialise in natural skincare. Juicy Chemistry is one such brand. Not just natural and pure, but homemade also.
Instead of just showing you guy what I bought from Juicy Chemistry, I decided to interview them so that you guys can learn more about the brand, their products and what they stand for.
So here is what Mr Pritesh Asher, Proprietor of Juicy Chemistry, has to say.
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Can you tell us about your background
Juicy Chemistry was started by my wife, Megha, and me in 2014.
My family business was into manufacturing of both, industrial and automotive speciality lubricants. Here, I learnt complex formulations and manufacturing techniques among other intricacies of the business.
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What led you to start Juicy Chemistry?
‘It all started with a routine Sunday visit to the mall. While pretending to help the Mrs with the chores, I was approached by a sales person with a brand new product launched into the market, claiming that it was all natural. Out of sheer boredom, I struck a conversation with the sales person asking for the ingredients, to which he handed me the product and asked to look at the back for all details. While reading, a few of the ingredients caught my attention as we use them as raw material in our manufacturing processes at our petroleum products plant. I handed the product back to him, and all I could think of was the oxymoron, where the front of the label was shouting in bold claiming natural and organic, while the back of the label was hushing preservatives, parabens, mineral oils, colors, perfumes and more. On our way back, I shared the same with Megha, who was genuinely surprised that a product claiming all natural also was loaded with chemicals, but, she just shrugged her shoulders that well this is what is available, Right? So, at night we discussed some more and it got us thinking that, there has to be an alternative, a genuine personal care brand that cared!
We started looking out for pure and natural products but it was all in vain. We shared our thoughts with family, friends and colleagues and it increasingly became clear that there was either very little awareness about the harsh chemicals present in skincare products and the adverse effects of these chemicals on us or there was no alternative available for consumers to switch to a chemical free skin care brand.
Juicy Chemistry was born out of genuine concern to provide chemical free, natural skin care products.
- What types of skin care products do you make?
At Juicy Chemistry, we bring together the elements of nature in perfect harmony to craft pure & nutrient rich products. With over 70 variants, we are providing complete facial care, body care, hand & feet care, and hair care products.
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What was it that attracted you to skin care making?
Skincare should not be complex. It should be as simple as eating healthy. Since the day I started to see the heady list of ingredients at the back of almost any product that we use, Simplifying Skincare was what I wanted to do!
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What about skin care making intrigued you enough to turn it into a real business?
When we started Juicy Chemistry, the thumb rule was clear, ‘To use simple yet effective ingredients for our formulation.’ Our preliminary research started in early 2014 and we started sourcing ingredients from across the country. The formulations were created with a blend of essential oils, flowers and natural ingredients to create pure and effective products. The next few months were spent creating different products and sampling them out to family and friends and using their inputs in a process of elimination on the way to attain a final product.
It was during this time, we started getting rave reviews on the products and people came back for more as they noticed a visible difference. ‘We soon realized that everything we need for a healthy skin is available right from nature’s lap, everything else was just a fad. We decided to take it to the next level when we noticed that there was a huge gap in this segment between the demand and supply for products that deliver the results without the use of harmful additives’.
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How did you go about learning the techniques behind skin care making?
The first step for us was to find alternatives to replace petroleum and petro-chemical based derivatives with natural ingredients. Once we did this, we realized that we would have to compromise shelf life for purity. Given the volatile nature of these natural ingredients, handling and formulation of these products require precise manufacturing techniques to ensure nutrient values of the ingredients are not lost during the process. As a result, these products offer maximum therapeutic benefits upon application.
At Juicy Chemistry, every single product is hand crafted with complete attention to detail.
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Do you remember the first time you made a soap/skin care item? Was it a success? Tell us about it.
Yes!! It was our signature Rice Flour Orange & Green Tea Face Scrub with Tea Tree Oil and it was a success! This gentle exfoliating scrub made with ground rice flour, green tea leaves, and essential oils of sweet orange and tea tree was an instant hit.
Though the product was a success, the test kitchen was a disaster and the wife was none too happy! Well you know how it is!
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Can you talk about your experimentation process and how you come up with your recipes?
We formulate our recipes in house after a lot of research. We identify a problem and come up with a solution that could best help address the issue. Each recipe is created to indulge the mind, body and spirit.
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Share with us your biggest skin care making mess-up?
Honestly, couple of failed soap batches ☹
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What about the product or recipe that you are most proud of?
The very fact that we have managed to achieve our goal of creating a skin care line with 100 percent natural ingredients, means a lot to us. To hear consumer reviews each passing day, and to know the faith people have started putting in Juicy Chemistry is very humbling.
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What is your latest creation?
With an increasing demand by our buyers for Toners, we recently launched – Hibiscus & White Tea Toning Facial Tea. Knowing the harmful ingredients that are present in commercial toners we came up with a unique concept and introduced Facial Tea Toners in Tea Bags. (Editor’s note- I bought this to review for you guys!)
We have also launched a new line of Gourmet Soaps, which will be ready for sale by Mid-September.
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Where do you look for inspiration when want to create a new product?
Our Buyers! Our Bug Me Not Body Butter was specially made on demand, by a mother whose child suffered from horrible mosquito bites that led to severe rashes. We created a product with a blend of essential oils in nourishing shea butter and cocoa butter.
And the end result-
“Couldn’t thank you enough Juicy chemistry for introducing a special body butter which acts as a mosquito repellent as well as a moisturizer! He was extremely allergic and this gave us a total peace of mind. Thanks Lakshmi Krishnan for introducing this lovely idea of completely going organic and avoiding the use of all fancy chemical dump.”
Happy Mother
Instances like these are the most gratifying for us!
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You haven’t been a skin care maker for an extremely long time. How long was it from the day you made your first product to the day you had your first sale?
Honestly, wasn’t too long at all! We showcased Juicy Chemistry at an exhibition in Chennai and there was no looking back!
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Is there really that big of a difference between handmade products and store-bought products?
What distinguishes juicy chemistry from other commercial skin care brands is that we use the most potent ingredients available from nature. While we are committed to use only all natural ingredients we do not sacrifice the effectiveness of the product.
Absolutely! At Juicy Chemistry all our products are handmade in small batches every two weeks. As our products do not contain any stabilizers or preservatives, we offer a shelf life of only 6 months. As for commercial brands, economies of scale are much higher and they rely on petro-chemical based preservatives and stabilizers to extend the shelf life of their products. So, while the product lasts much longer, they also cause long term damage to the skin.
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You have some awesome testimonies on your site; from clearing up acne, to healing dry, chapped skin. Why do you think your handcrafted products have been able to show such improvements in one’s skin?
It is truly the chemistry between natural ingredients, flowers & essential oils that has helped to create products that are both nutrient rich and effective on the skin. After a lot of research and testing we have been able to create simplified skincare products for people with different skin troubles and issues.
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Is there anything you want to say to all IshtyleAwhile readers?
Thank you so much for your time!!
You’ve heard what they have to say. Now lets see what I bought.
1. Coffee and Green Tea Infused Under Eye Cream
2. Cell Reconstruction Serum
3. Hibiscus and White Tea Toner + Spray bottle
4. A surprise product that I will talk about later
5. A handmade scrubber (This was sent by the brand as as small surprise gift for me)
I am already using the under eye cream, but give me three weeks guys and I will have full reviews up.
miss kays
🙂