PURE PERFECTION

In a very special conversation with Bazaar, Mira Kulkarni— Chief Managing Director of Forest Essentials—reminisces her childhood memories, the journey of the beauty brand, and how it revolutionised the Indian skincare movement

“I still remember that evening... I must have been 10-years-old, and my mother came into my sister’s and my room to say goodnight to us. She looked stunning! She was heading out for dinner with my father, and was draped in a pale-blue sari with a string of pearls around the neck. That was my very first impression of someone looking absolutely beautiful.

While growing up, we followed fairly-mundane beauty rituals. We used ubtans to wash our faces, with milk or yoghurt, and our hair was regularly massaged with oils. I was always keenly aware of the fragrances around me. My maternal grandmother used to place bowls of water filled with mogra flowers all around her home, and a faint scent of the flowers would waft through the rooms. And my mother would always spritz Joy by Jean Patou on her clothes and shawls…everything had a similar fragrance, and you knew when she was around.