From working with India’s largest haircare brand to her role at L’Oréal, Surbhee Grover brings her vast knowledge of the beauty industry to the creation of Love, Indus. The brand marries the power of potent regional ingredients from India with the latest technological innovations to offer unique, consciously formulated products. We interviewed Grover to learn about her journey in the industry to launch Love, Indus. 

Can you share a little about your journey in the industry and what led you to launch Love, Indus? 

I grew up in India — spent my early childhood in Kolkata, in India’s east; summers were spent with my grandparents in Ajmer in the west. High school and college were in Delhi, while my first job took me to Mumbai. My parents were from 2 different states (Punjab and Rajasthan), and while many might read about India being a diverse country, I lived and breathed that fact growing up. 

I started my career working on new product launches for India’s largest haircare brand (a coconut oil treatment). I subsequently joined L’Oréal as a brand manager and part of the core team that launched the brand in India. I went from working with pure, virgin coconut oil treatments to hair color and from selling to consumers in remote villages to collaborating with professional / luxury spas and salons. These early years taught me a lot about how consumers engage with beauty, skincare, and personal products and what truly matters to them.

The next stage of my life brought me to New York (which is now home). After a master’s from NYU Stern, I joined Booz & Co, a global consulting firm where I worked on strategy and innovation for clients in the consumer space. Over the years, I worked with some of the leading luxury goods brands in Europe and North America – which complimented my earlier exposure.

With my base in New York – a city that heralds many trends – I was able to observe how increasing consumer consciousness led to the now-ubiquitous clean beauty category, and how several Indian concepts, such as yoga, or Indian kitchen staples such as turmeric and coconut oil started finding their way into the daily life and lattes of Western consumers. However, I was keenly aware that the skincare and wellness concepts from the Indian subcontinent that had achieved some recognition globally, barely scratched the surface of all the regional riches I had grown up experiencing. 

In addition, my strategy consulting work and global career taught me that technology and innovation, used effectively, can significantly enhance and compliment natural elements – because breakthroughs come from reimagining possibilities. The key was to bring it all together – these rare riches from various parts of the Indian subcontinent, lab-designed clean chemistry, and the latest in skincare tech and innovations.  

When was Love, Indus founded and is there a story behind the name?

We launched in Jan, 2021 – in the midst of the pandemic, which, looking back, sounds INSANE! However, I’d been working on the concept, product ideas, formulation, and branding for about five years prior to launch. 

As for our name, there’s several elements behind that story.  Firstly, we wanted the name to evoke the region that inspired us. As the Nile was to Ancient Egypt, the Indus River was to the 5,000-year-old civilization that flourished on its banks. So synonymous was it of the region that it lends its name to the land, language, people, and religion.

Love, Indus, however, is incomplete without its integral and powerful comma.

A soft pause. A quick escape.

A symbol of continuity. An indicator of flow.

An upside-down drop. Something of nature.

A celebration of diversity. A confluence of cultures.

Above all, Love, Indus is a letter that can be read and re-read, and an invitation for you to write and re-write your story. It’s all in the name. 

In a similar vein, for most of antiquity, the indigo in our logo was a rare and hard-to-replicate color associated with lands to the east. So much so that the color’s name comes from the Ancient Greek word “Indikon” meaning “from India” and shows how representative the shade was of the region. (Ink) Indigo, is as personal as it is powerful, as beautiful as it is bold, and as contemporary as it is ancient.

No surprise then, that this deep, dark shade of blue gives life to our brand’s sign off, and colors the word “Indus” in our name?

Tell us about your products. What makes them special? 

Our launch portfolio includes 5 distinct products spread over 3 collections – where each collection is focused on certain primary concerns or need gaps.  

The first collection is Amrutini® Collection. In ancient Indian mythology, 𝘢𝘮𝘳𝘶𝘵 (nectar) promises immortality. In modern Manhattan, a well-made martini is a perfect concoction of exceptional ingredients, and Amrutini® is a portmanteau of the two. This range is designed to address fundamental issues - strengthen your skin and make it more resilient and firmer. Products include Amrutini® Precious Potion Vital Cream, Amrutini® True Brew Transforming Serum, and Amrutini® Luminosity Dewdrops. 

Next our Velvet :08 Broadway Bright Detox Mask is a vegan detox mask that borrows from the sacred beauty regimens practiced by Burmese women, one that promises scintillating benefits like instant brightness, pore tightening, gentle exfoliation, and reduction in the re-growth of facial hair (aka “peach fuzz”). Love, Indus developed this product as consumers consistently highlighted the lack of gentle yet effective alternatives to waxing, dermaplaning, and other mechanical treatments to address the regrowth of fine facial hair. 

Our Freedom of Expression Dual-Purpose Line Limiter instantly blurs and reduces lip and laugh lines, forehead creases and other expression lines. The skin around our mouth is especially fragile and vulnerable to wrinkles yet receives little attention. For many, lip lines and thinning of the lips are the first signs of premature skin aging. When it comes to treating expression lines (laugh lines/ smile lines/ forehead creases), your options are surprisingly limited and somewhat intrusive (e.g., injectables). And that’s exactly why Love, Indus developed their Freedom of Expression Dual-Purpose Line Limiter.

Do you have a hero product? What’s your favorite?

Our launch collection was curated with two objectives in mind: One, to fulfill essential needs with incredibly potent formulations that are safe even for the most sensitive skin, and two, to fulfill unmet needs, where consumers have few efficacious, non-intrusive options.

Both our Amrutini® Luminosity Dewdrops and the Freedom of Expression Line Limiter are exceptional, yet unique products. I’ll focus on the Freedom of Expression Line Limiter for now (since I have to pick only one)! 

The skin around our lips is just as fragile as that under our eyes and yet we have few options for these vertical lip lines aside from injectables. This formulation comes with a metal applicator and smells heavenly. It’s a wonderful treatment for lip lines, laugh lines, forehead creases, and any expression lines that form as we age. It’s been called “Botox in a tube” by several publications and by customers.

Is there anything you want people to know about the ingredients in your products? 

Clinically led and consciously formulated, all Love, Indus products are gender-neutral and extremely clean (free from parabens, phthalates, sulfates, formaldehyde, and artificial fragrances and colors). A founding ethos has been our mission to leverage technology and innovation to enhance rare or lesser-known ingredients and share them with a broader, global audience. 

To that end, we have identified numerous unique ingredients that we’ve incorporated into our products including:

• Ashwagandha – also known as Indian ginseng is a root with many beneficial skin and health properties

• Makaibari Silver Tips Imperial Tea – is exceptionally rich in anti-oxidants and we’ve increased the potency by biotransforming the tea with a proprietary enzymatic process

• Thanaka Wood – the bark of this tree has been used for millennia to cleanse, exfoliate and brighten the skin.  In addition, regularly applying a paste made of the bark has been known to reduce the regrowth of fine facial hair (“peach fuzz”)

• Kokum – a citrus fruit with very high concentrations of vitamin C

• Muga Silk – a wild silk from India’s eat that is considered the strongest natural fiber

We’ve complemented these natural ingredients with cutting edge, clean, lab designed synthetics such as:

• Vegan Collagen

• Hydrolyzed Cellulose

• An ingredient specifically designed to smooth and fill fine lines and wrinkles

• High concentration hyaluronic acid

As for sustainability,  we have consciously used as much reusable packaging as possible and all our secondary packaging was produced using FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. Furthermore, we are a Clean & Conscious brand – our products do not contain any harmful ingredients and you will never have reason to feel guilty in consuming them.  

 Where are your products sold?

Besides our own online store (www.loveindus.com), we are available online at Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Verishop, and Beautyologie. We’re also available at the St. Regis Spa (Mumbai) and due to launch in the near future at a few more hotels/ spas as well as on an exciting platform – stay tuned for details!

What’s next for the brand?

We have big plans for 2024 and beyond.  As mentioned, we continue to explore new retail & beautiful spa partnerships and we’re also working on several new and exciting product concepts that we hope to bring to market in the near future.