Beauty Without Cruelty: Drs Abhijit and Gauri Desai Of brownkind On The Future of Ethical Cosmetics

An Interview With Wanda Malhotra

Communicate overtly on what is unique to the consumer: our Even Tone Defender™ formula designed to preserve tone.

In an era where conscious consumerism is on the rise, the beauty industry is undergoing a significant transformation towards cruelty-free and ethical practices. This series aims to highlight and celebrate the brands and individuals who are at the forefront of this movement, showcasing their commitment to ethical sourcing, animal welfare, and sustainable production in the world of cosmetics. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Abhijit Desai.

Dr. Abhijit Desai, a Cosmetic Dermatologist & Laser Specialist with over 25 years of experience, co-founded SkinSense Skin and Laser Clinic in 2002, introducing aesthetic lasers to Mumbai and providing customized solutions for various dermatological conditions and aging issues. Dr. Gauri Desai, a trained Pathologist from Dr. B.Y.L Nair Charitable Hospital & T.N. Medical College of Bombay University, has practiced for over a decade with a special interest in Dermato-Pathology and aesthetic lasers, trained at the Institute Of LAHA in Slovenia. Together, they founded Brownkind, combining their extensive expertise to offer long-overlooked knowledge for caring for melanin-rich skin.

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about Brownkind’s ‘backstory’?

For context, Abhijit’s medical specialty is in dermatology while Gauri’s specialty is pathology. As a husband-and-wife team of doctors, we run a clinic devoted to aesthetic dermatology & health in Mumbai, India. All our patients have melanin-rich skin — in many shades of brown, from olive-toned to very dark. Over the years we were amazed at how many of our patients are continually misguided on their skin’s aging process by large global skin care brands. Most people don’t know that skin of color ages differently than white skin. Tone issues such as dullness, uneven tone & dark sparks are the early signs of aging, not wrinkles for skin of color.

For over 25 years we have been listening to the misguided skin concerns of our patients. We knew we had to change the dialogue on melanin-rich skin care by shining a light on the science of melanin-rich skin and provide meaningful solutions. The pandemic became our time to address this. We hit the books and worked with formulators to develop the products to help ‘preserve tone’ for melanin-rich skin. After rigorous testing and bringing a marketing team together, we are really excited to bring this brand and critical education to consumers.

Ultimately, being on the front line to these insights about our patients’ needs, we felt a responsibility to use our knowledge of science and medicine to formulate a line of products that effectively cares for the needs of melanin-rich skin. That’s why we created Brownkind.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your careers and what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from it?

We continuously find ourselves sharing with our patients that the power of good daily proactive habits is the best approach to preserving youth. That doesn’t always mean we avoid issues; however, good habits undoubtedly help. We have mirrored that philosophy into our products at Brownkind, we created a formula that when used daily help nourish melanin-rich skin that preserve the skin’s tone. Our Even Tone Defender™ formula has natural ingredients that have been scientifically proven to reduce the appearance of early skin aging signs.

What was the inspiration behind Brownkind?

One day our own daughter, who was just about 20 years old at the time, asked us about wrinkles, and asked when she would need to start using Botox! We spent decades in our clinic re-educating patients, and we realized the euro-centric misguidance was now in our own home.

That was when it struck us that we need to educate people at large that early signs of aging in skin of color are not fine lines and wrinkles, but uneven tone, dullness and dark spots.

Melanin-rich skin is almost 4 billion of the world’s population! They have been under-represented or ignored when developing effective skin care. All the major multi-national companies producing skin care products have always developed them keeping only the needs of Caucasian skin in mind. Their approach has been one size fits all. We believe Brownkind can change the dialogue in skin care. We want to use the brand and products as a platform to better educate melanin-rich skin consumers about the unique needs of their skin.

Are you working on any new products for the Brownkind line now? How do you think those products will further enhance skin care?

Our current products are focused on tone benefits for melanin-rich skin. These offerings include our Glow Moisturizer, Dark Spot Corrector and Vitamin C Serum. All of these are infused with our proprietary Even Tone Defender™ formula to preserve the skin’s even tone and deeply nourish with antioxidant-rich phytonutrients.

We recently launched a lightweight sunscreen — one designed to blend seamlessly with skin of color in all tones, and not to leave a white cast.

Soon we will round out a complete skin care routine with products designed for Oily Skin, Eye Cream and Peptide Cream.

What inspired you to embrace cruelty-free and ethical practices in the skincare industry, and how do you ensure that your products meet both ethical standards and consumer expectations for quality and performance?

In our medical practice, we have always placed a very high value on kindness, empathy, ethics, and quality in the time and effort that we invest in our patients. Maintaining quality and ethical standards while ensuring efficacy has been a natural extension of that. For us, there is no alternative.

Can you share a challenge you faced while creating the Brownkind skincare line and how did you overcome it?

We found that dedicated scientific study of skin of color difficult to access. We were able to uncover very substantive materials after an exhaustive search. We drew upon our years of medical training — which taught us to be persistent and focused and seek expert help. Through this journey we found some significant barriers in the dermatology industry which include:

Limited educational content — In dermatology textbooks, only 10% of images illustrate dermatological diseases in dark skin.

Minimal medical training — Nearly 50% of dermatologists and dermatology residents say they were not adequately trained to treat skin conditions in people of color as reported by NYT.

Lack of diversity in dermatology — Only 3% of practicing dermatologists identify as Black or African-American, and only 4% identify as Hispanic.

This gave us more conviction on the importance of Brownkind as a platform to educate the consumer and the industry.

In your opinion, what are the biggest misconceptions about skincare products for white community versus the melanin-rich community, and how do you address these in your marketing and education efforts?

Some of the biggest misconceptions are that the first sign of aging for all skin types is wrinkles. That’s not true. In melanin-rich skin, the first signs of aging are: dullness, uneven skin tone, patchiness and dark spots — these appear well before wrinkles. Another major misconception is that darker skin tones don’t need sunscreen; they especially need sunscreen.

We have learned that collaborating and educating influencers with skin of color is an incredible medium to help consumers unlearn the euro-centric biases. Influencers are the frontline of today’s social dialogues. We have conducted dedicated in-person training with influencers to help start to get the word out. In addition, we have invested into clinical studies create more ‘proof’ on the power of tone preservation. We are only a few months young, and our marketing team is committed to learning how to best educate our consumer.

Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 things you need to create a successful skincare line”?

We have been passionate about designing skincare around specific requirements of skin of color. The 5 things that we have focused upon are:

1 . Design product benefits to the unique needs of melanin rich skin.

2. Develop formulas with proven natural actives rooted in the science of melanin rich.

3. Ethical sourcing and quality production.

4. Rigorous testing with all skin tones for efficacy, safety and consumer delight.

5. Communicate overtly on what is unique to the consumer: our Even Tone Defender™ formula designed to preserve tone.

Looking ahead, how do you see the future of the beauty industry in terms of specific skincare and makeup products based on skin type, and what role do you hope your brand will play in this evolution?

We want people of color to realize that preserving the radiance and even tone of the skin is an important sign of youthful healthy skin. Brownkind is educating people about the biological difference in skin types and how melanin-rich skin shows dullness, uneven tone and dark spots as the first signs of aging.

The beauty industry is starting to move toward true inclusivity by starting to recognize the unique needs of different consumers. Brands like Fenty have started the dialogue by addressing the overlooked cosmetic needs of women of color. We see Brownkind as the catalyst to do the same for skin.

The future of beauty is people-centric not Euro-centric and we are here to accelerate that journey. This is a world of true inclusivity.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

We have learned that the lack of dialogue in beauty industry for the needs of women of color have resulted in a feeling of being overlooked or unseen. This manifests not just functionally for product needs but societally to be seen and celebrated as you are. We really believe in Brownkind’s ability to address this — it’s even in our name:

Brown — the skin type we serve

kind — the act and ingredients our products provide

own — we believe we can help people own the tone of skin and spirit they put into the world

If we are in a world where women of color can feel confident about their skin tone, our movement has succeeded.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to find information on Brownkind, and / or to purchase products?

Through our website, www.brownkind.com, Instagram, brownkindskin, and TikTok, thebrownkindskin.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.