Canada’s 100% natural and organic skincare, Refresh Botanicals is all set to arrive in India – bringing forth their highly reliable and ethically sourced skincare line using plant bioactive. Mr. Jagvir Singh, Founder, and Managing Director, Refresh Botanicals unveils more about his brand with GlobalSpa.
An Indian-born Canadian immigrant, Jagvir Singh started Refresh Botanicals in 2018 to utilize his 12 years of technological knowledge and experience into providing unique solutions in the area of health and beauty segment. In just two years, the brand has seen a massive growth – amassing a cult following for their ethically sourced products and extra transparency of ingredients.
In conversation spanning time zones, the green pioneer talks about his beloved brand, hopes for launching in India this year, and his values on being sustainable…
1.) First of all, how did Refresh Botanicals come about? What was the concept behind it?
The concept behind Refresh Botanicals was essentially to use the plant life force for the betterment of health of human skin, which is not only effective but also ensures the sustainability of human life on the planet. The products came out as a research on the use of plant bio-actives for the benefit of various skin types like sensitive skin, for the people who are having certain skin issues like acne, rosacea, eczema, or even breakouts or dry skin. Another thing is the idea to extract the active biological components out of the plants and make it usable in the skincare. So that was a broader idea behind Refresh Botanicals.
2.) What was your inspiration or drive behind venturing into the organic beauty segment?
My educational and research background (PhD) in nanotechnology and master’s in chemistry, along with having worked on the interface of technology development and commercialization which has been my area since the last 15 years. And even after coming over to Canada, I have logged into the same domain. I have seen so much research and the number of technologies which have developed in the lab but never came out. For example, the Kakadu plum is a famous Australian origin plant well-known as a source of ellagic acid, as well as ascorbic acid and certain other minerals which are extremely useful and healthy for the skin. Now it went through a very long research, is there in the research publications, but you might not have even heard about it and how many skincare brands are using it. There’s so much research going on and our idea was to actually use that research and bring out in the form of products.
Even today I have the passion for commercialization of that knowledge base and the resource specifically that involves the interfacial interaction at the molecular level. There are so many skincare brands out there, but I feel there is still a large gap that addresses the skincare concerns in a way that not only involves the safe ingredient, but also that has a remarkable efficacy. So that was the inspiration or the drive you can say behind this all for me.
3.) What would you say is the USP of your brand?
We have been able to establish ourselves in the skincare market in Canada and in the US where it’s been three years of our journey. Now, what I consider the USP for our product first is the brand reputation itself. What we believe is in trust and transparency. And when I’m saying trust and transparency, that means we are indicating what we are putting into the product. You can say every skincare brand is doing that, but how we are different from that is we are putting the actual percentage out there. We are natural and organic skincare where we are saying how much natural, even if it is 99.5% or 99.9% – we are indicating that on the label itself. Secondly, we are also following the strictest Canadian GMP standards. They are one of the best in the world, which means we aren’t adding any parabens, no gluten, no artificial fragrances, and no animal testing.
Moreover, all of our products are well-researched having novel formulations. They have been able to provide amazing results so far. Last but not the least is our shelf life. The packaging we are using is airtight so it doesn’t lose any efficacy, even if it is kept for five years unopened. These are just some of the many things keeping us at par with the rest of the market.
4.) You’ve established well in Canada and the States and now you’ll be launching in India. What are you expecting from the Indian market in response?
See, the thing is, as compared to Canada and US, India is a huge market. And you know how traditionally we Indians have been relying on Ayurveda and other homemade remedies in skincare, and in spite of the Indian market being saturated with almost all well-known international brands, they have all sorts of chemicals going into them. Some of them, they are calling themselves natural but most of them are having the synthetic ingredients. The fact remains that there is an increasing awareness among the people, so I think this is a perfect time to introduce a brand that is going forward and about its regulations in terms of the content itself. For example, the regulation is that even if the content is 75% and more, you can go the natural way. So, we are doing the revelation, we are going 99.5% natural. So that is one of the critical factors which’ll make us successful in the Indian market. We are confident that the quality of our products will speak about itself in India. We are pretty sure about the census as well.
5.) And where are most of your ingredients sourced from?
Most of the ingredients are locally sourced from Canada itself, except two ingredients which we source from Germany.
6.) Personally, what’s your beauty philosophy?
What I feel is that beauty means being healthy. It’s not about the looks. Looks are hereditary, you can’t change that. Whatever it is you’re looking for is actually already decided by your parents, but it is having a healthy skin that gives you a confidence, right? Most people are confused between the two, but we believe in adding that confidence. We are concerned more about the health of your skin, because if it is healthy, then you are more confident definitely.
7.) Lastly, any word of advice for beauty and health entrepreneurs?
My only advice is be honest with the customers. They are your sources of inspiration. You cannot fool the customer by putting anything into your work. You need to be very transparent and very honest about what you are doing. It’s also not about the product alone, it’s about the sustainability of mother nature too. When you are adding synthetic chemicals into the skincare products, you are harming in two ways – first you are adding pollutants to the ecology and second you are putting something onto the skin for which it is not made of. They might have amazing results but in the long run, you are creating more trouble for them. So just be ethically honest and true about your brand and products.
