Seasoned entrepreneur Ujwala Bhat and investment banker Karthik Vasudevan on First Light, and why the complexity should live in the formula, not your routine
At Lavenderoom, we’ve always believed that beauty works from the inside out. So when a new brand arrives with a name built on the idea of being illuminated from within, it gets our attention.
Ilumay is the new skincare label from Ujwala Bhat and Karthik Vasudevan, and it’s debuting with a single product. First Light is a multi-solution serum for skin tone, the concern Ujwala has spent years trying to understand on her own skin. It took 18 months to get right. It also rests on an idea that feels refreshing in a category full of elaborate routines: the complexity should live in the formula, not in your routine.
What makes Ilumay worth a closer look is how it holds three things together. The first is emotion: skincare is deeply personal to the people who built this brand. The second is design, in a palette borrowed from sandstone, laterite and terracotta, materials that change with time, weather and light. The third is formulation, in a serum built on the understanding that skin concerns rarely exist in isolation.
Ujwala is a seasoned entrepreneur with a background in hospitality and manufacturing, and she brings the creative vision. Karthik, an investment banker, brings a sharp financial and analytical lens, along with a love of skincare that began when he was a student at NYU living above Kiehl’s flagship store. Together, they’re building a bootstrapped Indian brand with global ambitions. I spoke to them about the moments that started it all, why Karthik believes the market is ready, what France taught Ujwala about design, and how much work goes into making something feel simple.
Let’s start with skin. What was the moment that set all this in motion?
Karthik: During my undergraduate years at New York University, I lived above Kiehl’s flagship store. That was really my first introduction to skincare beyond a cleanser, and to products that made a noticeable difference in how my skin felt. What began as a fairly simple expression of self care evolved into a much broader interest in skincare, formulations and the products available across the world.
Ujwala: For me, it was during the pandemic. Being at home for months gave me the opportunity to slow down and pay more attention to myself. In attempting to address the dullness that years of stress had left on my skin, I found a personal project. I was making notes, tracking changes in my skin and trying to understand what was actually working.
At some point, I remember thinking there had to be a better way to approach all of this. I’ve never enjoyed long, elaborate routines, but I love understanding a problem and finding a solution to it.
I think that’s where the earliest idea for Ilumay really began.
Ujwala, this isn’t your first brand. Why beauty, and why now?
Ujwala: For a long time, I’d felt that I had something of my own to say about beauty and how we experience it today. In many ways, Ilumay grew out of that thought, the idea of being illuminated from within.
I also felt that India was at an interesting inflection point. Consumers today are exposed to an extraordinary range of products, ideas and global perspectives. They’re increasingly discerning, they know what they like, and they can see through something that lacks substance almost immediately. I find that exciting because it creates room for brands with a distinct point of view and the ability to deliver on it.
Karthik, what did you see in the market that made you believe in this brand?
Karthik: The fundamental drivers of growth in India’s beauty market are already in place: increasing penetration and premiumisation. What makes this particularly interesting is the continued growth of e-commerce, which has fundamentally changed the competitive landscape by flattening access to customers. Established brands have traditionally benefited from their distribution networks and retail presence, but digital commerce has created opportunities for newer brands to reach consumers and build market share without those same advantages.
We also see a growing appetite for high-quality, differentiated products, with consumers increasingly willing to invest in brands that offer genuine value. For us, this creates an opportunity to build a contemporary Indian beauty brand that combines global standards of quality with a distinct point of view, and has the potential to compete meaningfully with established players.
Ujwala, what did your earlier ventures teach you that you’ve carried into Ilumay?
Ujwala: My earlier ventures taught me to trust my instincts. Nobody understands the brand I’m building quite the way I do, and over time, I’ve learnt to have greater conviction in my own judgement, while remaining open to learning from the people around me.
The other thing I bring is a strong sense of operational discipline. Running businesses taught me how much the smallest decisions matter, from purchasing and cost management to quality audits, team management and the consistency of the customer experience.
You spent time in France. How did it shape the way you think about design?
Ujwala: France was, in many ways, a revelation. It’s a place where art, food, design and craftsmanship are deeply woven into everyday life. You see it even in something as simple as how chocolate is made. There’s an enormous respect for tradition, but also an instinct to continually refine it for a contemporary palate. They don’t feel the need to abandon one to embrace the other.
When building Ilumay, I was interested in how we could draw from India’s extraordinary heritage of craft, colour and visual expression without being confined to traditional interpretations of them. Modern India is a canvas of multitudes, and so is the skin we see around us every day.
The palette is all earthy reds and oranges. Where did that come from?
Ujwala: With First Light, we were drawn to the earthy reds and oranges that appear so naturally in our landscapes and the materials we build with, from sandstone and laterite to terracotta. I love how these materials respond to time, weather and light, taking on different shades and textures as their surroundings change. It felt like a beautiful expression of the thought at the heart of Ilumay: everything is shaped by what it lives through.
Your philosophy is that the complexity should live in the formula, not in your routine. What does that look like in practice?
Ujwala: Everyone loves the idea of having good skin, but I don’t think getting there should require you to understand much more than the concern you’re trying to address, unless you have the inclination to do so.
Our thinking was born from wanting to shoulder some of that complexity ourselves. We create formulations with the understanding that skin concerns rarely exist in isolation. Ultimately, we want to help skin feel like itself again, without asking the person using our products to figure it all out.
Karthik: I think what often gets overlooked is the amount of work that goes into making something feel simple. There are hundreds of decisions behind a product like First Light, from ingredient selection and how they work together to formulation stability, sourcing, manufacturing processes, packaging compatibility and quality control.
That becomes considerably more complex when you’re developing a formulation from scratch rather than working with something off the shelf. Every decision has implications for the next, and bringing a sophisticated product like this to life in India requires a great deal of coordination, technical expertise and attention to detail.
Why begin with First Light?
Karthik: First Light connects quite naturally to the larger idea of illumination that sits at the heart of Ilumay. There’s something very evocative about the first appearance of light, the way it brings things into focus and reveals what was always there. It felt like an appropriate beginning for a brand built around the idea of seeing skin differently and revealing the beauty that already exists beneath the surface.
Ujwala: For me, First Light alludes to that moment of clarity when you begin to see something working. Skin tone has always been one of my most persistent concerns, and I know firsthand how difficult it can be to understand what’s causing the changes you see and what might actually help.
And I suppose there was a part of me that thought, who better to put our first product to the test than someone who’s spent years trying to solve the very problem it’s designed for?
Karthik, skincare is a crowded shelf. How do you build a brand that lasts?
Karthik: Ultimately, earning a place on someone’s skincare shelf is a question of trust. A customer might discover us because of our design or philosophy, but it’s the experience of using the product that will determine whether they stay.
We believe strongly in the formulations we’re developing and the value we’re creating through Ilumay’s approach to skincare. But building a brand for the long term also means being consistent in how we deliver on that promise, across product quality, customer experience and every subsequent launch.
In a crowded category, I think having a distinct point of view gives you a reason to exist. Delivering on it consistently is what gives you a reason to stay.
And what does it really take to bring an Indian brand to the world?
Karthik: There are certainly practical constraints, particularly around capital allocation for a bootstrapped brand like ours. International expansion requires a considered approach to market selection, distribution, regulatory requirements and the resources needed to establish a presence in each geography.
But fundamentally, we believe we’re bringing a contemporary expression of India for the world. India is far from homogeneous, whether in its diversity of skin tones and textures or the climates, pollution and everyday stresses that influence how skin behaves. That diversity informs our approach to formulation, where we consider multiple influences on skin rather than treating concerns in isolation.
The opportunity lies in finding resonance with consumers across markets without having to change who we are to appeal to them.
How do the two of you divide things up?
Karthik: Our skill sets overlap in certain areas, but I think one of our key strengths as co-founders is that we bring fairly distinct areas of expertise to the business. That allows us to take ownership of different functions without stepping on each other’s toes. Our relative freedom of operation makes us more operationally nimble, capable of tweaking our value proposition in response to our customer needs and ultimately, capable of offering more to them.
Ujwala: We approach problems quite differently, and I’ve come to appreciate how valuable that is. I tend to look at things through the lens of the brand, the product and the larger creative vision, while Karthik brings a strong financial and analytical perspective.
We don’t necessarily agree on everything, but there’s a great deal of respect for what each of us brings to the table.
Where do you want Ilumay to be in five years?
Karthik: In five years, we’d like Ilumay to have established itself as a meaningful player in India’s premium skincare market, with a growing presence internationally. The goal is to build a financially sustainable business with a strong portfolio of products, a loyal customer base and the operational capabilities to support long-term growth.
But I think the more important measure of success will be whether we’ve built a brand that people continue to choose, not simply one they’re willing to try.
Ujwala: I’d love for us to be part of a generation of Indian brands that are recognised globally for their own distinct identity, rather than for how closely they resemble something from elsewhere.
Five years from now, I’d like to feel that we’ve stayed curious, continued to challenge ourselves and built something that still feels unmistakably Ilumay.
Discover First Light at ilumayskin.com and follow Ilumay on Instagram at @ilumayskin.
Editor’s note: Lavenderoom is working alongside Ilumay on its launch. Homegrown brands built with intention will always have our support.
