After years of sharing skincare wisdom on Instagram, in her columns and through her books, Vasudha Rai’s foray into launching her own skincare line feels almost inevitable. “I think I have started a bit too late,” she laughs. “But maybe this is also the right time; there is enough influencer fatigue and the luxury skincare market in India is moving. None of this was planned though.”
Vasudha’s Amahvas, a luxury skincare line, aims to fill a visible gap in the Indian market, one that she says is dominated by single-ingredient mass market serums. She believes Indian women could soon rank among the world’s biggest prestige-skincare buyers after China. “Indian skin definitely needs its actives. We’re battling pollution, environmental damage, harsh sunlight and enormous stress. Simply using coconut oil isn’t enough,” she says.
Vasudha’s solution is Amahvas’s first launch; the brand’s hero product Ocean Of Milk which is a nocturnal renewal concentrate. The concentrate, she describes, is a potent, luxury product keeping in mind Indian skin; that is reactive, exposed to harsh conditions, and one that also bears the brunt of biological changes including perimenopause.
Ocean Of Milk’s name, and the golden snake emblazoned on its sleek black bottles might draw on the legend of the Samudra Manthan where 14 treasures emerged from the churning of the ocean of milk, but Amahvas only draws on Indian mythology for meaning. Ocean Of Milk’s 14 ingredients include retinaldehyde, niacinamide, PHA, collagen, milk peptides, pearl extract and black tea ferment.
The product’s packaging and snake on the bottle (which we had to tape up on request from a customer, she laughs), came from a place of Vasudha not wanting to stand for the very repetitive; glowy, happy, shiny clean beauty discourse. “Clean beauty is now being thrown around like a badge of honour. I was determined to turn this, what I think is a version of toxic positivity in the beauty industry, on its head,” she says.
A test run
The first thing you notice after a pump of Ocean of Milk is its fragrance; strong, earthy and not immediately pleasant. Vasudha attributes to the CO₂-extracted ashwagandha. The product feels thick but settles easily onto freshly cleansed skin, and the scent fades soon enough.
On my combination skin, the product is soothing and an easy addition to my nighttime skincare routine. The product’s biggest victory is that it simplifies this; Vasudha says she has long cautioned against layering of multiple single-ingredient actives. The concentrate has 0.1% retinal, a necessary addition to my routine as a woman in her thirties, and given its potent actives and the fact that it does not dry out my skin, there is little else that I need.
“Given how complicated most skincare routines are, it took a little convincing …to tell girls with normal skin they don’t need to use anything under this, or add a cream or heavy actives over it,” Vasudha says.
While manufactured by an all-women team in Pune, Vasudha worked with Krupa Koestline, a biochemist and biotech expert from the USA for the formulation. “While the plan was initially to come up with three products; we decided to give it all and formulate one product to start off with,” she says. “We haven’t just thrown in an ingredient for the sake of ayurveda or anything else. I have observed skincare trends for years and made sure that anything that goes in has to be at a clinically demonstrable percentage.”
For years, the author and wellness expert has built a significant social media following with her skincare recommendations, reviews and breakdowns of the science behind them. This is an audience of women who already invest in the prestige segment; who look out for luxury skincare and naturally, Amahvas’ initial customers and users.
Priced at ₹9,630 for a 30ml bottle, Ocean Of Milk comes with a decidedly hefty price tag. This is however, not new for miracle serums and hero products across western brands in the prestige segment are priced upwards of ₹5,000, going all the way to ₹24,000. “I also understand that if I am spending nearly ₹ 10,000 on a serum, it better show me results the next morning and that is what I aim to do with Ocean Of Milk’s formulation,” she says.
The concentrate is now available in a 15ml bottle too, with a cream poised to be the next launch. The idea, Vasudha says, is to keep the range pared back. “The formulation for every product is such that if you use one, that should be enough for your skin.”
Amahvas is available online on their website, and is priced at ₹9,630 for a 30ml bottle
Published – September 25, 2026 01:24 pm IST