By Abhya Adlakha
03-Oct-2024
In a world where skincare trends ebb and flow with the latest beauty fads, Re’equil stands out for its grounded philosophy—restoring the equilibrium between skin, hair, and expectations. Founded by Vipul Gupta in 2018, this bootstrapped, direct-to-consumer brand emerged not from a desire to chase profits, but from a personal journey of overcoming hair loss and battling misleading promises of beauty brands. Today, with 35 SKUs and a presence in over 100 retail stores across India, Re’equil continues to challenge societal beauty norms while growing a loyal customer base.
In this candid conversation with GlobalSpa, the founder opens up about his entrepreneurial journey—from the early challenges of a failed product launch to the strategic rebuild that turned Re’equil into an award-winning skincare brand.
What inspired you to start Re’equil, and how did your personal journey lead you to skincare?
Vipul Gupta: My journey started with hair loss when I was just 19. For years, I tried everything—naturopathy, Ayurveda, modern medicine, and even a hair transplant. The transplant worked for a bit; my life felt turned around. But, the side effects from the medications made me stop using them, and soon after, my hair loss returned. What really hit me wasn’t the hair loss itself, but how misleading brands and clinics could be. False claims and promises that didn’t deliver. I felt betrayed by the system.
I noticed the same pattern in skincare, with products like neem face washes and fairness creams making unrealistic promises. That was when I knew I wanted to do something about it. My father, who had been in pharmaceutical distribution, supported me. I had no background in marketing or e-commerce, but I got one anti-hair loss kit made, launched a website, and started selling. It was a disaster. I sold only 87 units out of 3,000, and the rest went to an incinerator—I literally burned the capital my father gave me. That experience was a real eye-opener.
After facing such a tough start, how did you regroup and rebuild Re’equil?
Vipul Gupta: When my first attempt failed, I could’ve quit. But I still believed in the brand, so I mortgaged our house and took a loan to start over. This time, I was more strategic. I found the right manufacturing partners and, in 2018, launched Re’equil 2.0 with 11 SKUs—mostly focused on acne and hair care.
It was just me initially, running everything with borrowed resources from my dad’s business—his warehouse, computers, and even his staff. Slowly, we expanded. Our brand positioning became more clinical, which resonated with my pharmaceutical background. Now, six years later, we’ve grown to 55 SKUs and sell across major platforms like Amazon, Nykaa, and Myntra.
Re’equil stands for “restoring equilibrium,” which connects to my journey of losing trust in other brands and practitioners. I’ve always emphasized the importance of setting the right expectations and over-delivering on what we promise.
There's been a huge skincare boom in India in the last few years, with an explosion of Korean beauty products and other new products coming into the market. How do you aim to differentiate Re’equil from all these brands flooding the market?
Vipul Gupta: It’s difficult to point to just one or two elements that differentiate us. I’m not the kind of person who’ll make clichéd claims like, "My products are better because of this or that." That’s the hygiene of the industry—every skincare or haircare brand needs to meet certain functional requirements to even exist today. That’s just the basic minimum.
But beyond the functional and transactional aspects, there’s a lot more that helps set us apart. As a brand, we focus on challenging societal norms and creating meaningful communication around them. For example, we recently did a film on postpartum depression. That’s our way of addressing deeper issues and helping people reflect.
So, to answer your question, differentiation for us is about the entire experience we create. It's about how Re’equil fosters a sense of belonging with the customers we serve. And ultimately, it’s the serving that really matters at the end of the day.
So, coming to the present day—many years later, you're still a bootstrapped company. What are the advantages and disadvantages you've faced being bootstrapped?
Vipul Gupta: Well, of course, there are both sides to the story, and there always will be. Being bootstrapped keeps you frugal and forces you to make better choices. It also pushes you to build from the ground up. But there are many limitations when you're running a bootstrapped organization.
That said, I can’t really compare because I haven’t experienced how a well-capitalized or funded company operates. So I’m not here to judge whether one is better than the other. From my experience, staying bootstrapped does come with its challenges, but it also teaches you to overcome them in different ways. You end up replacing capital with other resources, which, in turn, helps build a strong foundation for the organization.
As for exploring investment, I wouldn’t shy away from it at the right time. There's definitely an opportunity to consider it when the moment feels right.
How do you see the growth of your company over the next five to ten years? Are you aiming for international expansion, physical stores in India, or something else?
Vipul Gupta: We're taking baby steps toward gaining visibility in offline stores, starting with Punjab. We’ve also got some presence with modern retail chains in Delhi and Mumbai, and we’re working with a few standalone distributors. But it's still very limited at the moment.
Going forward, we're focusing on expanding our online presence internationally, particularly through marketplaces like Amazon. Exclusive brand outlets aren’t part of the plan for now. Our focus is entirely on delivering value and enhancing that constantly. If we continue doing that right, the distribution channel will become secondary as people will advocate for us if we hit the right value points.
What advice would you give to someone entering the skincare space as an entrepreneur? Or, what advice would you give to yourself when you were just starting?
Vipul Gupta: I started with a lot of patience and with the mindset of understanding things deeply. The most important piece of advice I'd give is to always be very aware of why you're starting in the first place. What is the problem you're trying to solve, and why does it matter to you? Does it have any social impact? Does it make the world a better place? Does it add value to the lives of the people you're aiming to serve? If the answers to those questions are affirmative, then go ahead.
But, if the focus is purely on making money, in my view, it's not the right approach. A business should definitely aim to make more and more money, but if your intent is to genuinely serve people and improve lives, then the business's growth should align with that purpose. Money is essential, but it should be a means to an end, not the end goal itself.
And finally, if you had to define wellness in one word or a sentence, what would it mean to you?
Vipul Gupta: Feeling better.
You can shop for Re’equil products here.
