If people claim that beauty is only skin deep, they clearly haven’t encountered Purearth yet! Inspired by the ancient holistic wisdom of Ayurveda, this Hong Kong-based, award-winning sustainable skincare and wellness brand is built around ethically sourced, fair trade, vegan ingredients – resulting in all-round gorgeous beauty products that you know you can trust.

For our latest edition of ‘8Shades Of’, we’re chatting to the founder of Purearth, Kavita Khosa, about her favourite veggie dishes, deep-rooted passion for sustainability and top beauty tips for everyday life.

1. In one sentence, tell us what you do?

I’m a women’s rights activist, sustainability advocate and the founder and CEO of Purearth – a cruelty-free skincare and wellness brand that works with marginalised women groups in the Himalayas on fair “trade, not aid” principles.

2. Why are you an 8Shader?

From an early age, I was very sensitive to my environment, mindful of my food choices and felt strongly about social justice and gender equality.

I wanted to reconnect with the Earth and my roots in India – establishing a platform that could impact positive social change for women, offer sustainable income generation and reduce gender bias. A trip to Tibet left me deeply inspired, so when it came to launching my brand, the Himalayas became the wellspring of my inspiration.

3. What’s your best eco habit – and your guilty not-so green one?

I don’t use plastic in my daily life; canned frozen foods and soft drinks don’t figure in my meals either.

My not-so-green habit is using hair colour and nail polishes, although I try to choose natural, organic and 13-free products as much as possible. 

4. Fave veggie dishes in Hong Kong?

My favourites are the cauliflower florets at Soho House, the acai bowl from Be-Juiced, the thali at Woodlands and the veggie dim sum from Golden Leaf at the Conrad Hong Kong. 

5. What are some of the ways that you incorporate sustainability into Purearth? 

Purearth uses wild harvested ingredients that are sustainably hand-foraged by our women self-help groups in the Himalayas. Our oils are cold-pressed by hand at source using the traditional kachi ghani process or the green, clean CO₂ supercritical extraction method. We support sustainable harvesting practices and pay fair trade wages to our farmer and women groups. 

As an initiative to move toward a zero-waste enterprise, we also launched our own recycling programme where we collect empty Purearth glass jars and bottles from customer’s doorsteps and repurpose them in non-commercial ways. As a conscious green business, for each jar or bottle returned, we’ll plant a tree in return.

We also eschew plastic, palm oil, synthetics and toxic chemicals in our products and are a Leaping Bunny approved cruelty-free brand. 

6. What is one thing about sustainable beauty that you think more people should know? 

Sustainability wasn’t a thing back in the day when I was growing up – it was inherently a way of life when the soil and air weren’t polluted and contaminated. Petroleum, plastics and phthalates are finding their way into our systems, oceans and marine life; coral reefs are dying because of the sunscreen we wash away; orangutans have lost their habitats and become endangered because of the palm oil in our beauty products.

Climate change is real, people! And it has real, dire consequences – it’s not some woke Gen Z illusion. So, let’s really pause, use our intelligence, learn the facts and make informed conscious choices with our beauty purchases. 

7. What are some of your top tips for people to make their beauty routine more sustainable? 

• For skincare, look in your kitchen; it’s your green pharmacy! Oats, nuts, seeds, lentils, spices, fruits and dairy are all fabulous skincare ingredients. Try buying Ayurvedic herbs like liquorice and turmeric from organic grocery stores too.
• Many quick fix methods are proven to cause long-term damage and strip, dry and irritate skin; trust ancient wisdom, test the efficacy of organic natural products on your skin and judge for yourself.

• Try one of my favourite Purearth pairings – our Wild Rose Himalayan Mist, the perfect skin pick-me-up for toning and rejuvenating skin, with our Illumine Face Oil, featuring wild sea buckthorn berry and rosehip seed oils. These “beauty berries” are chock-full of essential fatty acids and omega-7, which is vital for collagen production and skin cell replenishment.
• Drink lots of clean water, sleep well and last but not least, be kind and smile – your face will glow with an inner light!

8. What shade of green are you and why?

I’ve always connected with the forest so my shade of green would be deep, lush and mysterious.

Find out more about Purearth on their website and Instagram

See also: 8Shades Of… Laura Offe, co-founder of Meraki Hospitality

Sign up for the 8Shades weekly newsletter for exclusive access to VIP events, giveaways and updates!