Behind the Beauty – Interview with AAVRANI founder, Rooshy Roy

For centuries Indian women have understood that beauty is more than skin-deep. Beauty starts from within and is enhanced by a natural, healthy lifestyle. In this article, we introduce you to Rooshy Roy, the founder of AAVRANI, who talks about her multicultural background, her brand's mission,i.e., making South Asian women feel beautiful in their own skin, the legacy of her beloved grandmother, what works best for the Indian bride-to-be when it comes to the wedding glow and her latest product, Purifying Oil Cleanser. 

Source: AAVRANI

Tell us about your background and what led you to start AAVRANI.

My parents immigrated from Kolkata to Detroit in 1986. They were born and raised in India, while I was born and raised in Michigan, so I grew up bouncing back and forth between cultures - too Indian or too American at any given point in time. AAVRANI honors my beauty and celebrates my duality by uniting my worlds: clinically-proven, modern-day routine and ancient, all-natural rituals.

By the time I graduated from college, I was proud of how much I’d disassociated from my roots. I stopped eating with my fingers as soon as my turmeric-stained fingernails were deemed ‘disgusting’ in my 4th-grade classroom. By high school, the beauty rituals my mother recreated for us in Michigan felt crude and unrefined. My grandmother’s hair recipes felt too sticky and greasy to bear anymore.

I got my business degree, moved to New York, and started a career in finance - where, as luck would have it - there was no room for my culture anyway. I abandoned my Indian identity altogether, only occasionally experiencing that hint of guilt and longing for what I was leaving behind.

This began to change when, after stress and non-natural beauty products had started taking their toll on my skin, I re-visited my grandmother’s recipes. The natural ingredients had an incredible effect - and the added benefit of re-connecting me with my heritage.

AAVRANI is my way to share the secrets of Indian beauty rituals with you. To combine the two parts that make me whole. But it’s also my journey back to my roots; to re-discover and appreciate their intricacies. My vision is for all women who struggle with their dualities to embrace them instead. To celebrate their conflicted, immense, breathtakingly unique identities that make them who they are.

And to look in the mirror every day, and feel the way I felt as a child when my grandmother combed through my thick, glowing hair - beautiful.

What were the ancient practices that your grandma (or mom) used to follow and passed on to you?

Source: Milled

The kitchen was a sacred place in my grandmother’s Kolkata flat. It’s where I would watch her slice us ripe mangoes and fresh guavas on an old boti; where we boiled our water for bathing; and where I first learned about the spellbinding power of Indian beauty.

On Sundays, during my annual family trips to India, I remember my grandmother sitting me down in front of her. First, she would massage a mixture of egg whites, coconut oil and castor oil into my hair. Later, she applied a turmeric-based mixture, with variations of raw honey, chickpea flour, neem oil and coconut milk, onto my face.

After washing it all through, my grandmother would slowly and gently comb my hair in front of the full-length mirror that was attached to her rickety, cherry-wood wardrobe - while I’d stay put, studying my own reflection. My face would glow; my hair felt full and healthy.

The rituals that were passed down never felt like a pursuit of beauty — they felt like a pursuit of health and general wellness. We were always practicing these rituals because they were either good for the volume and thickness of your hair or the inflammation on your face, so I didn't even make the connection that they were really beautiful. 

For the South Asian bride-to-be, what skincare routine and products do you recommend they use for 6 months before their wedding?

The Glow Activating Exfoliator is the perfect product to start using before your wedding. It’s made with Turmeric, Neem and Honey to gently exfoliate, brighten and even your skin tone. The Glow Activating Exfoliator is inspired by my Grandmother's Turmeric Mask recipe and it’s the World’s First Turmeric Mask that doesn’t stain. I like to use it as a mask  2-3x a week, but you can also use it as a gentle (yet effective) spot treatment to help treat breakouts. 

One of my favorite Indian Wedding traditions is the Haldi Ceremony, where family & friends shower the couple with a mixture of turmeric, oil and water. This ancient ritual blesses the marriage; turmeric leaves the bride and groom glowing, literally. Inspired by Haldi, this formula is elevated with botanicals & antioxidants to leave you glowing, too. 

Source: Pop Sugar

Tell us more about your recent launch, the Purifying Oil Cleanser.

The AAVRANI Purifying Oil Cleanser is an ultra-gentle yet powerful formula that leaves your face clean and nourished, without any oily residue. Made with just 11-ingredients, this product serves as a 2-in-1 hybrid solution, acting as both a daily cleanser and a makeup remover, for all skin types (yes, even oily skin!). 

The magic of this new cleanser begins with sandalwood oil. Known as 'liquid gold' in India, sandalwood oil has been used in medicinal and beauty practices for the last 4,000 years. Legends claim that this calming and purifying oil was central to the ritual bathing of the Indian Gods. To maximize its power, we steam-distilled each batch of oil for 70 hours, then layered in camellia flowers & aloe to bring you the gentlest, most clarifying cleanser there ever was. 

Sandalwood oil was also one of my grandmother’s favorite Ayurvedic ingredients because of the balance it’s said to bring to our mental and emotional well-being - she loved to remind me that real beauty commands much more depth than we often recognize.

Personally, this cleanser has replaced my face wash, my micellar water, and my face wipes! Cleansing my skin and removing my makeup at the end of each day felt arduous and wasteful. Now with this Purifying Oil Cleanser, AAVRANI’s 6th formula innovation, I’m proud to deliver a new, one-step solution that’s solved a big pain point in my own beauty ritual.

A Final Note

The “one size fits all” approach to beauty products is something that most of the world does not follow and AAVRANI, with their strong communication, embodies the message of body positivity. We might have just scratched the surface about AAVRANI but this article gives you a peek into what it means to build a brand that resonates with so many Indian women all over our country and is an ode to the ancient beauty rituals of India while also speaking to the modern bride with their clinically-proven products.

Check out The Desi Bride for more such interviews with incredible brands/individuals, luxury Indian wedding planning tips, and vendors for your next Desi event!