In an era where the quest for natural and effective skincare is at its peak, MotherEarth's Beauty stands out for its unique blend of tradition and innovation. Founded by mother-daughter duo Malika and Prerna Aswani, the brand embodies a deep-rooted commitment to harnessing the power of Ayurvedic ingredients. Malika’s journey began with a desire to address her family's health challenges through diet and lifestyle, leading her to explore the benefits of natural skincare. Her extensive research revealed that many mainstream products were laden with harmful chemicals, sparking the creation of MotherEarth's Beauty—a line dedicated to effective, earth-friendly skincare. With Prerna’s educational background complementing Malika's passion, the brand seamlessly combines ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern skincare science. In this interview, Prerna shares insights into their brand’s inspiration, the efficacy of their natural ingredients, and their commitment to sustainability and ethical practices.

Nicolle: What was the initial inspiration behind starting MotherEarth's Beauty, and how did your background influence the brand's creation?

Prerna: MotherEarth’s Beauty was created by the mother-daughter duo, Malika and Prerna with the conviction that all our beauty needs can be met from the Earth’s natural resources.​ Completing her naturopathic nutrition qualification at the age of 44, and returning to education after more than two decades of hiatus, MotherEarth is the story of how a mother of two found her identity through natural beauty and skincare.​ With Malika’s son growing up with a number of health challenges – Malika retrained as a nutritionist to learn how to tackle his health challenges through diet and lifestyle. Somewhere along the line, she began delving deeper into skincare, learning that most of the mainstream skincare and beauty products sold on the high street are riddled with harmful chemicals or unnecessary fillers that are not doing your skin any good. 

Whilst natural and organic brands have indeed been on the rise since then, you oft find complaints that they are not as effective at doing what they say on the tin. Tackling this exact problem was why MotherEarth’s Beauty was born – to create skincare products that truly work, but do not cost the earth and are good for your body long term.  To do so, Malika returned to her Indian heritage and roots to explore the power and potency of Ayurvedic ingredients in her skincare formulations, combining the ancient principles of Ayurvedic healing with scientific knowledge of skincare formulation to create natural, organic skin and hair care products that work.  Prerna on the other hand, with her background and career in the world of education came to MotherEarth with two driving factors: 

1. To share her mother’s passion for organic skincare with the world. 

2. To educate consumers about what goes into their skin, hair and beauty products, and to help consumers make more informed decisions about what goes on their bodies. 

   
   
   

Nicolle: How did you and your mother, Malika, decide to blend traditional Ayurvedic ingredients with modern skincare science in your product line?

Prerna: Bringing together Ayurvedic ingredients with modern skincare science came very naturally to us. We wanted to create a skincare range that was rooted in the earth – i.e. natural ingredients but we needed to make sure that our products would be effective. Tapping into our Indian heritage and taking inspiration from Ayurvedic healing practices felt very much like returning to our own roots and age-old household practices in India for healthy, glowing skin and bringing it to the Western world. 

Nicolle: What are some specific Ayurvedic ingredients used in your products, and what are their benefits for skincare?

Prerna:  At MotherEarth, we use several Ayurvedic ingredients in our products:

Saffron: Featured prominently in our moisturizers, saffron is renowned as the world’s most expensive spice. It’s widely used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine for its flavor and aroma. Beyond culinary uses, saffron has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties, making it a key ingredient in Ayurvedic healing. It’s particularly effective in skincare, helping to heal blemishes, scars, and hyper-pigmentation by inhibiting tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for melanin production. Its high Vitamin-C content also brightens the skin. We infuse the saffron in our Glow Me and Glow Me Light moisturizers to promote naturally radiant skin.

Liquorice Root: This ingredient is known for its ability to inhibit tyrosinase, addressing pigmentation, sun spots, and acne marks. It contains liquiritin, which helps disperse melanin, and Licochalcone A, which slows oil production, thereby reducing blemishes. Additionally, liquorice root soothes irritation and calms redness, making it ideal for sensitive skin.

Millet Seed Extract: A staple in South Asian diets, millet is rich in protein, fibre, and essential nutrients. In skin care, millet seed extract acts as a protective barrier against environmental damage and helps retain skin moisture with its high unsaturated fatty acids. Its antioxidants neutralize free radicals, rejuvenating the skin and preventing early signs of ageing. We use millet seed extract in our Cleanse Me face cleanser and polish to ensure your skin remains healthy, hydrated, and vibrant.

Nicolle: How does MotherEarth's Beauty ensure that its products are both sustainable and effective?

Prerna: Our ingredients are sourced from ethical suppliers, who use sustainable and biodynamic farming methods. This means that our suppliers promote environmentally sound farming practices that support local communities without compromising the ability of current or future generations to meet their needs.  Sourcing the highest quality, organic ingredients and ensuring that we use no nasties like SLS, parabens etc means our products are both sustainable and effective. We use no fillers in our products, which means every ingredient listed at the back of the jar serves a purpose in giving our customers healthy glowing skin. 

Nicolle: In what ways does your brand incorporate modern sustainability practices, and how do these align with your personal values?

Prerna: Our packaging is conscious of its impact on the earth: we use no additional outer packaging for our products. They come to you in small jute bags, ideal to be reused and recycled for jewellery or other small knickknacks. All our products come in heavy-weight glass jars and bottles, which can be cleaned and reused for kitchen & bathroom storage. As customers join MotherEarth’s community, we encourage and urge them to reuse our jars, bottles and pouches and shop sustainably. 

Nicolle: How have you balanced the need for ethical production with the demands of running a profitable business?

Prerna: For us, the quality of our products is of paramount importance. However, we are also committed to sitting firmly in the ‘affordable luxury’ segment of the skincare and beauty market as we want to ensure that high quality, natural and organic skincare is available to everyone who wants to shop more consciously for the products that go on their body. We balance these two competing priorities, first by ensuring that we never compromise on the purity of our ingredients – 97% of our ingredients, i.e. as many as we can source, are organic.

With sustainability in mind, we also use minimal plastic in our packaging, with glass jars, and only recyclable plastic lids. To ensure our pricing is both profitable and accessible for our customers, we offer many of our products both in full-size jars and ‘minis’ / ‘travel sizes’ to allow them to get a feel for the brand and the effectiveness of our products at an accessible price. We also run subscription models, where customers can subscribe to two-monthly deliveries of their favourite products at a discounted price – giving us consistent and certain future business, whilst making our products more affordable to the consumer. 

Nicolle: What role does consumer education play in MotherEarth's Beauty, especially when it comes to the benefits of Ayurvedic skincare and sustainability?

Prerna: A significant part of our mission and purpose is around being rooted in knowledge and helping customers make informed and intelligent choices on the ingredients that go on their skin. You will see this in our approach both in the physical markets we sell at and through our website.

In person, we have customers talk through their skin type and skin issues so that we can walk them through and sample products that will be right for their skin. In fact, for our in-person market pop-ups in London, we display the ingredients that go into each product, saffron, mango butter, and pomegranate seeds so customers get a visual sense of what is going into the products and the benefits of each ingredient. We replicate this in our online store, with each product page detailing the key active ingredients that go into the product, and an explanation of how that ingredient works to benefit the skin. 

Nicolle: As a beauty brand focused on clean and ethical skincare, how do you approach product development and testing to meet high ethical standards?

Prerna: Every product in MotherEarth’s collection has been formulated to tackle the skin and haircare challenges of a loved one, and has been brought to market with conviction in its efficacy. For example, our Miracle Maca Hair Repair Mask was formulated for an aunt experiencing significant hair loss, whilst the Prebiotic Mist was first created for a friend who had regular acne flare-ups and needed something to control this. It is only once we are convinced by the product’s efficacy, that it is sent for lab testing and certification before taking it to market.  Each of our skin and haircare formulations has been made to target a specific challenge that our customers face so that customers can shop with the confidence that our products work for their skin and the planet.

Moreover, we never test on animals and all of our skincare products are vegan, undergoing intensive testing to ensure that they comply with safety standards.  All our products undergo rigorous testing carried out by independent accredited laboratories to evaluate product safety and compliance with cosmetic regulations. A thorough risk assessment has been performed to ascertain; product stability, microbiological safety, toxicological profile, preservative efficacy testing and good manufacturing practice. Upon a successful laboratory assessment, all of our products have received their Cosmetic Product Safety (CPSR) Report and are certified to be compliant and safe for human health.

Nicolle: Looking ahead, what are your goals for MotherEarth's Beauty's future, both in terms of product development and broader impact on the beauty industry?

Prerna: In the future, we are looking to expand our line of haircare and body care, working to launch new formulations of hair oil, beard oil, body wash and more in future years. Importantly, a key priority for us will be to continue to maintain high levels of transparency and take a knowledge-building approach in how we communicate to our customers about the ingredients used in our products and the impact they have on their skin and the environment.  Inclusive employment is something close to our heart as we grow our business. We hope and aspire to bring people with disabilities and learning difficulties who are often excluded from the job market into our business, operating as a business with a real social purpose. 

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Nicolle Knapova is a 30-year-old young adult writer and freelance blogger from the Czech Republic. She has a master’s degree in Creative Writing and Publishing at Bournemouth University. She loves to write about music, books and TV shows. If she’s not writing her fan fiction, she’s writing her poetry and sharing it on her Instagram @elisecaverly.