(Beauty)

11 Ayurvedic Beauty Brands You'll Want To Know — And Try ASAP

by Sara Spruch-Feiner
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
@ranavat
We may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

Ayurveda is a system of healing originated by ancient civilizations of India, thousands of years ago, and is considered the 'sister science' to yoga, Ananta Ripa Ajmera, the Director of Ayurveda at THE WELL, tells TZR in an email. And yet, amazingly, these systems and practices remain relevant today. If the incredibly multi-faceted practices of Ayurveda could be summed up in just one word, that word would be 'balance,' Ajmera says. And, so, it's not entirely surprising that a system devoted to helping people achieve balance would be resurging in popularity today — hence, a proliferation of new Ayurvedic beauty brands inspired by the ancient tradition.

In Ayurveda, Ajmera notes, what is applied to the face should mirror what the body ingests. "A lot of the things we keep in our kitchens tend to double as all-natural beauty and skin care products," she says. "We use all kinds of flours, including those of lentils like mung and chickpeas, honey, different parts of fruits like pomegranates, aloe vera gel, and much more for skin care." And sure enough, you'll likely recognize many of the ingredients mentioned below from the kitchen, too.

Beauty brands rooted in Ayurvedic tradition seek to make this ancient practice more accessible and easy to implement into your own self-care practices.

Below, discover some of TZR's favorite brands bringing Ayurveda to the modern world.

We only include products that have been independently selected by TZR's editorial team. However, we may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Mauli

Named after a red thread that plays an important role in Indian blessing rituals, Mauli was founded by a husband-wife team, both of whom are British natives of Indian descent. The brand seeks to marry "science- led Ayurvedic principles and a sense of British refinement." The Supreme Skin Face Serum is a bestseller thanks to a blend of 16 collagen-boosting botanical ingredients like calendula, a soothing, anti-aging ingredient, and anti-inflammatory, antioxidant rose absolute and rose otto.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Love, Indus

Courtesy of Love, Indus

This just-launched brand combines India's historical customs and prized botanical ingredients with New York City's cutting-edge technology for luxurious skin care products. Rather than focus solely on natural ingredients, founder Surbhee Grover sought to fuse "precious botanicals from India as well as lab-designed clean synthetics— incorporating the best of both to create highly efficacious, safe, and results-oriented offerings." The Amrutini True Brew Transforming Serum features traditional, time-tested ingredients like ashwagandha, a soothing adaptogen, fatty-acid rich ghee which is washed in a special process using a copper vessel. It also uses high-tech processes to improve upon natural ingredients. For example, "Makaibari, in Darjeeling, is the oldest, continuously operating tea estate in India," explains brand founder Surbhee Grover. "Their premium tea, Silver Tips Imperial, is only picked on certain full moon nights in order to ensure highest taste, a process that also results in a tea that is especially rich in antioxidants."

Love, Indus uses a proprietary extraction technology called BioTransformation to process the tea. It "uses plant derived enzymes to simplify complex botanical actives so they are more easily absorbed by the skin," Surbhee Grover explains.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Taza Ayurveda

Courtesy of Taza

Launched by two Columbia business school graduates who transformed their health by practicing Ayurvedic health principles, this brand has just four products (for now), a face oil, body oil, supplement, and loofah. Each product is created in partnership with state-licensed Ayurvedic institutions in India, so you can be sure everything is truly authentic, and not just trendy. The Eladi Body Oil mixes 34 native-to-India ingredients to nourish the body without causing breakouts. There's everything from antibacterial sesame oil to antioxidant cardamom and aromatic myrhh, which acts as an anti-inflammatory. A thoughtful detail: Every Taza product includes a Mala meditation bead bracelet and a truly charming, tiny Chalisa book of mantras to encourage the true inner-outer connection at the heart of Ayurveda.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Uma

Founder Shrankhla Holecek was raised in India, where her family owns an estate known for creating such top-quality oils, they served as suppliers to top beauty brands. With access to these very ingredients, Holecek created Uma to create efficacious products that did justice to her country's rituals. Today, offerings range from full skin care routines to wellness supplements. Though the Absolute Anti Aging Face Oil is a bestseller, you should also check out the brand's 'Wellness Oils,' which can be added to a bath, a diffuser, or just massaged behind the ears, on the insides of the wrists, and on the temples, and even between the toes.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Ranavat

Grey + Elle

Founded in 2017, Ranavat's central tenet is to give users the opportunity to indulge in their own 'royal ritual.' The brand does that with a tight edit of spa-worthy textures and scents. The Radiant Rani Brightening Saffron Serum is a standout. The star ingredient, saffron, not only smells incredible, but has a long history as an ingredient Indian royals used for its brightening and antioxidant properties. To create this unique product, founder Michelle Ranavat explains, "the herbs are mashed into a paste and then mixed with organic sesame oil. The mixture is then hand-stirred over a 10-day period over low heat in large copper vessels until the infusion is complete. The result is a highly nutritious, bright, organic serum with brightening and anti-inflammatory properties."

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Surya Spa

Suyra products come from Surya spa—a celeb hotspot in Santa Monica. If you can't make it to the spa, their luxe products bring the experience home. The Balancing Collagen Cream is a hero of the line. It has a rich texture the brand refers to as "intentionally tacky," and smells like fresh rose petals, which, being rich in vitamins C and E, also serve a purpose beyond their sensorial scent. The cream also includes camel's milk, which founder Martha Soffer explains is "more hydrating and nourishing than traditional cow’s milk — and has been valued in cultures for thousands of years. In Ayurveda, many of the benefits of what you put in your body, also translate to what goes on your body."

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Yellow Beauty

Yellow Beauty gets its name from the striking color of one of Ayurveda's best-loved ingredients: turmeric. The ingredient boasts benefits for the skin as both a potent anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial ingredient. The Red Erase Facial Scrub is a powder that harnesses the power of turmeric, and combines it with other skin-soothing ingredients like oat kernel meal.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Sahajan

Founded by former pharma exec, Lisa Mattam, Sahajan founder looks to her roots in Kerala, India (the hub of Ayurvedic tradition) to inspire her products, and works with Ayurvedic doctors there to create the formulas. Her Nourish Face Cream is a bestseller, which Mattam adds, gives "results that really demonstrate the power of Ayurveda." Hero ingredients include long-time Ayurvedic staples like triphala, a blend of three fruits all of which are extremely rich in vitamin C, and Gotu Kola, a member of the parsley family thought to improve collagen production.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Aavrani

This tightly edited line (which contains just four products) represents founder, Rooshy Roy's journey to reconnect with her heritage. Having grown up in Michigan, Roy would visit her grandmother in Kolkata, where she first experienced the ingredients and rituals that would later inspire Aavrani — like hand-mixed masks with turmeric and honey. To make it easier to get this experience at home, try the Glow Activating Exfoliator, a cleanser-mask hybrid, powered by — you guessed it —turmeric and honey, as well as kaolin clay, shea nut powder, and neem, an anti-inflammatory extract also commonly found in Ayurvedic skin care.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Pratima

@pratimaskincare

The New York style set gets its Ayurvedic fix at Pratima Wellness Spa & Clinic, but its products are available regardless of location. The spa was founded in 2006 by Ayurvedic expert Dr. Pratima Raichur. In 2010, a line of products followed. The Saffron Eye Ghee combines a number of Ayurvedic superheroes — ghee, saffron, and rose, which help nourish and brighten the delicate under-eye area.

Ayurvedic Beauty Brands: Fable And Mane

Courtesy of Fable + Mane

This brother and sister team behind Fable & Mane were inspired to bring Ayurveda to the masses after reacquainting with hair care rituals their grandmother showed them as children — such as long scalp massages with plant-based oil blends. The resulting HoliRoots Pre-Wash Hair Treatment Oil allows you to replicate this time-tested ritual at home. Key ingredients include ashwagandha to help support circulation and nourishing castor oil.

This article was originally published on