CHRISTINE MACHADO
The Nature’s Van
Ever since she was little, Anuradha Agarwal was allergic to the soaps available in the market. When her son was born, she and husband Ankur quickly realised that soaps didn’t agree with him either. It was then that the two of them decided that they should do something on their own with regards to beauty products.
With Ankur being a pharmacist, his experience helped in the understanding of the research required and experimentation.
The couple first began selling their products to friends and family when they lived in Chennai in 2014. Once they moved to Goa in 2015, they decided to launch their company The Nature’s Van consisting of all chemical free products. Their range includes body scrubs, lip balms and scrubs, lotions, moisturisers, shampoos, soaps,bath salts, bath bombs etc. “The most common requests are for anti- tanning and acne issues and our active charcoal soap which has anti bacterial and acne healing properties has been quite popular,” says Ankur. Cinnamon and mango soaps are especially popular among the younger crowd while women tend to pick up floral fragrances.
Their products, he states are suitable for all skin types. They do however have a separate range for extra sensitive skin.
One of the things they have learnt however is that packaging matters a lot. Sourcing material for packaging and some of the raw materials however is a bit of an issue in Goa and they source these from cities like Delhi and Kolkatta. Another issue that they have faced is the pricing. “People think that since we use only natural ingredients, our products should be cheap,” says Ankur.
Having also done baby showers, baby announcements, bridal showers, with Sania Mirza’s sister being a client for this, The Nature’s Van now plans to begin a store in maybe a year or two.
