Forest Essentials has grown from a single store in Delhi when the Ayurvedic beauty company launched 19 years ago to around 70 stores across the country today. Now it has its eyes firmly fixed on the international market.
OVER THE AGES, people have been obsessed with the quest for beauty and eternal youth. It is said Cleopatra bathed in the milk of asses. And Mary Queen of Scots washed her face with white wine. And in India, Ayurvedic beauty company Forest Essentials buries dates and litchis under a banyan tree to ferment to make its Eternal Youth anti-ageing cream. Ancient Ayurvedic wisdom says that under the shade of the banyan tree, the fruit ferments at a certain pace. If there is too much sun, it will ferment too quickly; if it doesn’t have enough, it ferments slowly. And while workers at the Forest Essentials factory are mixing the ingredients for the cream—described as an ancient formulation from the early 17th century—they chant special mantras. “It’s for positive vibrations. I have been asked over the years, ‘Do they really do this chant?’ They really do. It imbibes the energy into the product,” Mira Kulkarni, chairman and managing director of Mountain Valley Springs, the parent company of Forest Essentials, tells me in an interview at her home in Panchsheel Park, an upscale New Delhi neighbourhood.
This story is from the June 2019 edition of Fortune India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2019 edition of Fortune India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
IN GOOD COMPANY
BIRDS OF A FEATHER MAY FLOCK TOGETHER, but what about other collectives of critters-and what do you call them when they do?
Sense or Nonsense?
Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Food-Focused and Fierce
Meet Canada jays and learn why they eat almost anything they can find
Sparrow Look-Alikes
Distinct sounds help separate these similar species
ON THE MOVE
Birds approach the challenges of migration in surprising ways. Learn about how they walk, swim or take the scenic route during their travels.
Embracing the Darkness
From black plants to moody decor, Gothic garden elements can offer a unique outlet to express your dark side
Autumn Wonders
Fall colors offer befitting backdrops for these stunning reader photos
Red-Hot Plants
Scarlet-hued berries add a pop of color to any garden
YOUR OWN Perfect Prairie
Learn how to cultivate an oasis of grassland flora in your backyard
Maple Mania
Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
THE GE NERAL
How ELIZABETH PRELOGAR, America's low-key, high-powered solicitor general, is holding the Supreme Court's feet to the fire
HELLA, YES
Thirty years into her career, Dutch design star Hella Jongerius proves the best ideas-and objects are those that grow and transform along with us
BAD FAITH
From exiled actors to academics, influencers to intellectuals, VF gets under the hood of the Catholic right's celebrity conversion industrial complex
Boys and THEIR TOYS
Inside the hypermacho, Bible-thumping alt-tech universe trying to take on Silicon Valley-from El Segundo
STRANGER Things
The Democrats' short hot summer of \"weird\"
CHARM SCHOOL
In the hands of Ashe Leandro, a historic New York City house gets a delightful makeover
FUNNY BUSINESS
NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE LAUNCHED A REVOLUTION THAT CHANGED COMEDY, TELEVISION, AND THE MOVIES. NOW DIRECTOR JASON REITMAN HAS RE-CREATED THE CHAOTIC HOURS BEFORE SNL'S FIRST EPISODE. LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S 1975!
A House Divided
The Mellon dynasty has long been known for its old money refinement and discretion. But when TIM MELLON became Donald Trump's biggest donor many members of the family were mystified-and not afraid to talk about it
VANITIES
MAISY STELLA knows how to think outside the box
Changed for Good
Blending architectural styles, the new movie Wicked ventures off the beaten yellow-brick path
Staying Present
At his Manhattan apartment, Queer Eye star and first-time homeowner Antoni Porowski leans into the moment
Going Big
From her vast new studio in the South of France, ceramist Olivia Cognet ups the ante
Table Talk
Gae Aulenti's 1965 marble Jumbo table still has outsize appeal
Earth Tone
In Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe, a new wellness resort looks to the land
BOTH NOW SIDES
SELENA GOMEZ is seriously in loveand making the best work of her career. With the audacious Emilia Pérez hitting theaters and Only Murders in the Building returning to TV, the actor, singer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate talks, about the climb
shades of eden
In her magical LA garden, artist Mimi Lauter contemplates the cycle of life and the rapturous power of color
GIVE AND LET GIVE
MELINDA FRENCH GATES is speaking out for the rights of women and girls, embracing her role as godmother to her fellow philanthropists, and getting political, even when it's a little uncomfortable.
mother nature
Taking inspiration from her own childhood memories, Jennifer Garner crafts a cozy California home and garden where she and her family can put down roots
THE BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET
THE GERMAN INDUSTRIALIST KLAUSMICHAEL KUEHNE, BORN IN 1937, IS ONE OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, WITH MORE MONEY THAN KEN GRIFFIN, OR MACKENZIE SCOTT, OR FRANÇOIS PINAULT. WHERE DID HIS FAMILY FORTUNE COME FROM? THE NAZIS KNOW
BOTH SIDES NOW
Celebrated for his fantastical, genderfluid fashions, designer Harris Reed brings the same rule-flouting approach to a petite London apartment