Clean beauty has taken over the beauty and skincare industry and has continuously been hustling to formulate the best formulas for their customer base. Uttara S and Nishi Bhuvandas, founder and co-founder at Soulpure Soaps, were similarly fascinated by health and beauty products that were identified as vegan, organic, or herbal.
The previous roommates and now business partners started learning about the science that went behind building natural skincare products and all about their natural formulation. Uttara, who always had an artistic approach towards life, laid her hands-on learning the art of soapmaking during a workshop.
A hobby that turned into a flourishing business
Nishi, on observation, thought of converting the hobby into a business. The duo started experimenting with the soap formulas and were shook by the way their audience (friends, family, and other customers) acknowledged and endorsed their products. The South Indian duo holding post-graduation degrees in Environmental and Water Engineering from SV National Institute of Technology Surat, Gujarat, were ready to turn into full-time women entrepreneurs.
What is Soulpure Soaps?
Soulpure Soaps is a startup that deals majorly in 100% handmade artisan soaps and other skincare body products which are not laced with nasty chemicals and instead focuses on the use of oils, butters, essential oils, skin safe micas, and certified fragrances. The ingredients are imported from companies in the USA that specialize in soap making supplies that have been thoroughly tested and approved for skin usage. The startup staunchly stands against animal cruelty and has all its materials sourced from sustainable suppliers and cruelty-free firms.
Uttara and Nishi told TimesNext, “Being loyal to our educational background, we have always thrived on being environmental-friendly beings by giving our best to Mother Earth. Ours is an initiative that produces not only skin-nourishing but also eco-friendly bath and beauty products.”
The soaps handcrafted by Soulpure is produced in small fresh batches, bringing a sense of contentment and utmost perfection in each product.
“Promote Handmade • Reduce Chemical exposures • Save the Ecosystem”
Check out the Soulpure Soaps platform here.
About the Founders – Uttara S. & Nishi Bhuvandas
Uttara S. and Nishi Bhuvandas are the founder and co-founder of Soulpure Soaps, where Bhuvandas functions as the Chief Operating Officer as well. The Civil Engineers met in 2008 while pursuing their post-graduation degrees in Environmental and Water Engineering from SV National Institute of Technology Surat, Gujarat.
It was not long before the bond between the two transversed from roommates to best friends to business partners. Uttara and Nishi are South Indians hailing from the city of Gujarat itself, which played a significant role in forming their bond with common interests in fashion, food, travel, etc.
Just when the duo thought they were drifting apart, Soulpure happened to them, a startup that acted as the glue holding their friendship together. Currently, Uttara resides and mages the business from India while Nishsi handles the entire operations remotely from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Soulpure Soaps on its initial challenges
The first and foremost challenge in the journey of commencement of Soulpure Soaps was that of creating awareness amongst their customers about the harmful chemicals used in regular soaps placed on the counters of each general store. The entrepreneurs ensured they maintained transparency with the audience while marketing their products.
Another challenge faced by the luxury skincare startup was to that of increasing the profit volume by maintaining the price affordability and stability while sourcing raw materials from the USA, which is IFRA (International Fragrance Association) and UFDA compliant, which is comparatively quite expensive.
Vision and current growth of Soulpure Soaps
Soulpure Soaps is an entirely self-funded and bootstrapped startup. The duo believes that the firm has stepped ahead of its development phase and has been functioning in the startup stage for a while. Uttara and Nishi told TimesNext that they were now steadily transitioning from the startup stage and leaning towards the growth stage where the company holds a robust focus on the regular client base and are covering a wide stretch of the market.
The duo told TimesNext,
“Our aim has always been to provide the best bath and beauty products to our customers that are skin-friendly and at the same time give the best back to Mother Earth. We want people around us to be aware of the amount of harmful chemicals; they knowingly or unknowingly get exposed to through daily beauty regimes. We focus on constant effort to keep spreading our words on the numerous benefits of using handmade-vegan -chemical free-organic beauty products.”
Soulpure Soaps started in August 2016 and was initially set up in Bangalore, after which they moved their base to Mumbai in 2018. It was in January of 2018 that the company launched and spread its roots in the international market, making the achievement their first milestone as a startup.
Visit the Soulpure Soaps platform here.
