Anju Rupal, the founder and head behind Abhati Suisse, is a strong believer in ‘paying it forward’. So much that, 6 years ago, she started to plant trees of her very own through her foundation WeForest. Over 14 million trees have been planted since then, but Anju didn’t stop there. Swissmedikids is another one of her projects, a walk-in emergency clinic for children, which offers top-level care to those in need.

Her next vision was the creation of a superior and natural product range, which could combine her Indian roots and the healing plants of her current home: Switzerland. But Abhati is much more than just a collection of exceptional skin, body and hair care products. Anju has pledged the profits to help young girls in India to go to school. We wanted to know more about her unique brand and mission, so, luckily, she found the time to tell us more about Abhati Suisse.

Abhati Suisse is a social impact company that creates the highest standard of skin care products and has recently joined the Amazingy portfolio. Can you tell us a little bit more about the mission behind your brand?

I’ve always tried to work and be involved in projects that have left an impact. It’s what motivates and inspires me and drives me in my work. One example is working as a social worker at women’s shelter with women who were victims of domestic violence. My aim was to help them & their children move out of an abusive life. This was my first ever job. Then I became an entrepreneur and later founded SwissMediKids, a clinic for children that I launched with 2 doctors. Seven years ago I launched the Weforest foundation with my business partner to address cooling our earth. Did you know trees are the best technology to cool the earth? They suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reverse global warming. We have now planted over 14 million trees globally and I am still active on the board. www.weforest.org

In order to build Abhati, I had to step out of my comfort zone. Abhati is a result of a long journey of discovery, which started when I first went back to my roots in India. This led me to work on projects around empowerment and women. I became an entrepreneur not to make money or to buy things but to use money as a tool to change the world.

The mission behind Abhati, an old Sanskrit word meaning “illuminate your soul”, is to live holistically in one and harm no one. Our holistic skincare combines rare Himalayan & Swiss healing botanics. The collection consists of scientifically proven beauty products, steeped in spiritual healing virtues and traditional expertise.
Abhati is an ethically-minded skincare brand, deeply influenced by my Indian heritage and built around the principle of “Seva”. For Abhati, seva, the Sanskrit word for “selfless service,” is paramount to the development of our Ayurveda-based line of socially conscious, sustainable products. Seva is the art of blessed action: to perform work without any thought of reward or repayment and a commitment to contribute in improving the community. Everyone on our team has worked pro-bono with no compensation and shared their skill sets, be it in formulating the best shampoo, scent, or packaging, all with the goal of making a difference.

How does purchasing Abhati products benefit girls in India?

Every product supports and makes a difference in someones life. Some of our profit goes to the NGO educategirls.in, where we send funds to support sending girls to school.
Some of our beneficial influence is also in the form of our cooperatives where women farm and work with us on our raw materials needed for Abhati products. They work with some of the oldest extraction methods of cold pressed oils, oils we had never heard of. We brought them back and tested them here in Switzerland in our laboratory and they show results of having a range of beautifully potent & healing attributes, like Calophyllum Tacamahca oil.

The way I see it, we all buy products to feel good, then why not buy them from an ethically motivated company that will deliver only the best possible product.

Why did you decide to create an ethically-minded skin care brand?

Every idea starts with a problem. Ours was: “What is happening to our beautiful world? Why are virgin forests being cut down and soil polluted with pesticides? Why are girls being denied an education? Where does all this chaos come from?”
During the course of a dinner one evening I asked my friends: “What if we could use our combined skills (some of us had won awards for our work in beauty products & design) to make a difference in this world? What if we came together and collaborated with the best, to make the most amazing skincare and build a business that could solve problems instead of creating them? We could create products of a very high standard, safe for the environment and we could donate funds to help girls go to school while supporting farmers and their families.”
And with that, Abhati was born: a dream, a vision, a mission and a cause.

What does the Abhati team look like today?

Abhati has grown into a dedicated team of beauty experts, formulators and traditional healers, with many years of experience. We work toward a shared goal: creating beauty with dignity. We’re a team of thinkers. Entrepreneurs, beauty experts, and designers who find inspiration in travel, exploration, design, and surprise. We create special skincare inspired & made by real people and true stories—working hard and giving our time to get the safest, best, most beautiful products into your hands. And we support and love the work artisans deliver. We believe everyone has a right to live a safe, happy healthy life. We believe looking after yourself is important but we also believe in caring for others, whether across the road or across the ocean.
We have built the business with an emphasis on giving and working together. We are very proud of our collaboration with Geza Schoen, Paperlux and a wide array of small-scale suppliers and farmers who help us bring you products that meet our very high standards for quality and purity while doing good along the way.

Are there certain goals you would like to achieve through Abhati?

Abhati has been certified by BCorp, so we now stand along side Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s for our impact and work. This was for us huge, getting this certification as we’re the first company in Switzerland and possibly the first beauty company who got this certification so fast.
I’m still very active with weforest.org on their board and will continue supporting them.
Our biggest goal is that Abhati sends 1 million girls to school by 2025. We can only do this with the help of companies like Amazingy and their customers.

Can you tell us more about the ‘Invest in Girls’ and ‘Educate Girls’ campaign?

“Literacy is a bridge between misery & hope” – Kofi Annan

For me, helping a girl move from the danger of prostitution to becoming a nurse warms my heart and makes our roller coaster of effort worth the journey. Education Girls is a project of the “Foundation to Educate Girls Globally” (FEGG)
On our website, we tell you what impact you’ve made and how many months/years your purchase has sent a girl to school. The campaign started on Indiegogo where we crowd funded successfully the start of Abhati.

Abhati products all carry an intriguing and beautiful scent. Is there a story behind your signature fragrance?

Our signature scents have been created by the trail blazer and perfumer Geza Schoen from molecules, and, like everyone else, he has worked pro-bono for us. Mixing both worlds India and Switzerland into a unique olfactory experience that’s loved by men and women. It’s one of the most beautiful and touching unique scents.

Why did you decide to mix ingredients sourced from the Himalaya and Swiss Alps?

My influences were the important healing properties from both countries, my heritage and growing up in a very spiritual family, my love of nature and botanics, and, most importantly, the access I had created from weforest to farmers in India who we’ve helped and continue to support. It’s “farm to product” process, where we share our work of extracting oil from our plants and our family of farmers. It so happened that one of our farm’s forefathers had had experience mixing oils and spices for Indian royalty. This legacy of knowledge has been shared to us and I believe karma plays a big role in that.
There is a tradition of healthy hair in India, and people use botanicals to maintain a healthy scalp. That’s why I love the sacred hair oil we have alongside our shampoo.

I already love your hair and body products. Especially the Periya Body Cleanser has become my go-to product when I want to take a relaxing and warm shower. Will you extend your line in the future?

Thank you. Yes 🙂
We’re bringing out a special wild crafted facial serum, an Abhati Perfume, a natural deodorant, a face hydrating cream, an exfoliator mask for the face, an oxygenating face wash, and a beautiful scented hand cream. We all get a bit carried away with ideas, but there’s lots of exciting stuff in the pipeline.