Interview: Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia, Co-founder La Mior, an Indian PETA-certified Vegan Clean Beauty & Makeup brand

Interview with Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia, Co-founder La Mior

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia spearheads Product & Formulation Development, along with PR & Marketing, at La Mior.

She plays an instrumental role in every aspect of a product’s formulation, right from the process of zeroing in on the naturally-sourced ingredients to their formulation and crafting of the final product.

As the PR & Marketing Head, she is also entrusted with establishing an effective outreach with the end consumers.

An alumnus of one of India’s most prestigious educational institutions, IIM Ahmedabad, Aakriti had brief professional stint at CSC and Star TV (Hotstar) before embarking on the entrepreneurial journey.

A B Tech degree holder from Jamia Millia Islamia, Aakriti stands tall amongst the most forthcoming women entrepreneurs in the country.

She prefers dancing her way to fitness with Zumba and busting the stress with her culinary skills in the kitchen.

Tell us a little about yourself

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: My husband Shaunak Chhaparia and I are the co-founders of La Mior. We share much in common, right from educational background to a joint tryst to introduce vegan clean beauty for Indian consumers.

We did our MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. We did our under-graduation in Computer Engineering. Shaunak did his B.Tech from IIT Bombay and I did my B.Tech from JMI, New Delhi.

He is also a dual degree holder for Masters in International Management from the University of Bocconi in Italy.

Prior to our entrepreneurial journey, Shaunak worked at Deutsche Bank and McKinsey & Co while my initial professional stints were with CSC and Star TV (Hotstar).

At La Mior, I spearhead Product & Formulation Development along, Marketing and PR, whereas Shaunak leads Finance, Operations, Procurement and Production.

Please tell us a little about your entrepreneurial journey

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: We were looking to start a makeup brand that would offer makeup-skincare hybrid in true sense. Formulations with plant derived and vegan ingredients were at the core of our thought process.

Additionally, we did not want the efficacy of products to be compromised in any way because of the choice of our ingredients.

In a nutshell, we were looking to launch a Clean Beauty in India. As this was a fairly new concept in India and a budding one in the west, we could not find any manufacturers in our country who were well versed with efficacious plant based formulations.

All the aforementioned specifications plus lack of any innovative and high performing plant based formulations in our market led us to set up our own manufacturing facility and R&D lab in 2018.

Initially, we only did research, developed clean and high performance formulations for good two years, before we started conceptualising the brand.

It was in 2021 that we formally launched La Mior, a PETA-certified Vegan, Cruelty-free Clean beauty brand.

Kindly brief us about La Mior, its specialization, and the products that it offers

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: We are a superfoods based clean beauty and high performance makeup brand. Our makeup is enriched with superfoods, meticulously formulated with clean and plant derived ingredients that not only deliver high performance but also enhance the skin.

We at La Mior understand that it is imperative for any makeup brand to know where the ingredients are coming from and how true the claims are, so that there is no fear of compromising on quality of skin.

Being an ethical brand, our complete product portfolio is 100% cruelty free. Also our products are in sync with modern lifestyle, wherein working women and mothers do not have more than 10-15 mins to put themselves together before going out.

We offer products that are quick to use, easy to apply, long lasting, travel friendly and fuss free. La Mior offers makeup products in lip, face, cheek, eye and body categories.

How does La Mior approach the sourcing of its ingredients and what steps do you take to ensure they are ethically and sustainably sourced?

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: As a clean beauty and ethical brand, we strive to practice the best of ethical and sustainable practices. For example, we do not source any of the ingredients that are proven toxins like talc, paraben etc.

Additionally, the mica that we source is Ecocert certified to ensure that it has been procured sustainably and is not associated with child labour. 

How important is it to La Mior to ensure that its products are free from harmful chemicals and other potentially toxic ingredients?

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: La Mior has emerged swiftly as a homegrown brand of recall in the beauty segment because it offers plant based vegan makeup and skin care products.

It is free of harmful chemicals like parabens, sulphates, drying alcohols, formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers, talc, triclosan, chemical sunscreens etc.

Our consumers can be assured of absolutely clean products that are apt for sensitive and acne prone skin too.

They are formulated with 0.5% or lesser fragrance, to ensure that a sensorial experience is created for the users, without overdoing it.

Can you discuss the benefits of using vegan and cruelty-free beauty products?

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: These vegan and cruelty free beauty products are perfect for those who are looking for everyday high performance makeup products with attested skincare benefits.

Our makeup-skincare hybrid range of beauty products are meticulously formulated with plant derived ingredients and gentle actives to give a radiant skin – in and out.  

How does La Mior strive to stand out in an increasingly competitive beauty industry, and what sets it apart from other brands?

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: As we have explained, La Mior makeup products are high performance, effective and long lasting. Additionally, our formulations are superfoods based, made with plant-derived ingredients to give our consumers the best of both worlds – high performance makeup and a naturally radiant skin. 

What was the inspiration behind turning into an entrepreneur

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: It was probably a sense of consciousness for all living beings that laid the foundation of our entrepreneurial drive.

A joint pursuit to discover a true skincare-makeup hybrid, based on formulations with vegetal extract, ingredients that are plant derived and vegan, led to the inception of La Mior, which is an ethical PETA-certified vegan Clean Beauty brand.

As to how the idea came into being, it was merely a manifestation of constraints that we come across in our day-to-day lives.

For instance, most women do not wear makeup on an everyday basis with the fear of compromising on the quality of their skin while working women and mothers do not have more than 10-15 mins to put themselves together before going out.

So we made makeup products that are quick to use, easy to apply, long-lasting, travel-friendly and fuss free, under the ambit of a sustainable brand that strives to be as carbon neutral as possible.

Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming product releases or initiatives that La Mior has in the pipeline?

Aakriti Jayant Chhaparia: Our most recent offering is India’s first filter in a bottle, named La Mior Glass Skin Flawless Filter. Bliss for the face, it is a complexion-boosting multipurpose liquid glass filter that gives a juicy, dewy glass-like skin within seconds.

You can use it solely as a radiant sheer base, or mix with foundation for an all over radiance, as the first layer of skincare underneath your foundation and on top of foundation to illuminate or highlight the high points of the face.

Crafted for all skin tones, it comes in 6 flexible shades – Moondust, Starlight, Supernova, Sirius, Halo and Celestial. While boosting radiance, the glass filter also blurs blemishes.

In the pipeline are more such nature-oriented skincare and makeup solutions, based on intense research and specific need-based proposition.

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