Chennai-based skincare brand, Astrea has natural and handcrafted bath and body products on offer

The two-year-old home .brand, features over 40 in-house products including cleansers, toners, moisturisers, face masks, face mists, lip balms and body scrubs
Face mist by Astrea
Face mist by Astrea

Chennai-based computer engineering graduate and fine arts professor Sharon Natarajan came up with the idea of starting her own brand of bath and body products, Astrea, after she developed a skin cream for herself. The cream not just helped herself heal her sun allergies completely but instantly became a hit among her family and friends. “I have gone to a lot of dermatologists to find a solution for my sun allergy and got fed up after a point. My own experience made me start studying more about skin care and medicines for skin problems. I realised how much of unwanted things we all use on our skin on a daily basis and that’s when I started formulating skin care products myself,” says 37-year-old Sharon, adding that her brand now has over 1500 loyal customers.

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Cleansing trio - Oil cleansers, foam cleansers and cleansing grains" />

The two-year-old home brand, that was introduced in the retail sector only last year, features over 40 in-house products including cleansers, toners, moisturisers, face masks, face mists, lip balms and body scrubs- all of them handcrafted and fully chemical and preservative free. “Some of our best selling products are the under eye cream, skin cream for eczema and the acne kit. Having recently introduced our cosmetic line, we have also launched Creme Blushes and Lip Tints,” shares Sharon, who has a chemist, a botanist and a board of advisors in her team.

The ingredients used in their skincare products mostly include extracts of plant botanicals (sourced from Himachal Pradesh) such as aloe vera, rosemary lavender, amla, tulsi, licorice, essential oils (sourced from the Nilgiris) such as almond oil and olive oil and fruit extracts from strawberries, oranges, lemon, among others.

<em>Astrea Lip scrub</em>
Astrea Lip scrub

“The whole concept of the brand is to offer skin products that are fresh, natural and handcrafted. And therefore the shelf life of our products only last till six months,” says Sharon while adding that a pop-up/experiential booth is being conducted at Express Avenue Mall as a prelude to how the Astrea store would be like.

“The idea of this kiosk is to get people to experience the brand. For instance, customers can come and get a face mask done, get a free consultation by our skin therapist and even pick, choose and measure the products that are suitable for their skin type,” shares Sharon who hopes to open a physical store for Astrea early next year.

Pop-up ongoing till December 31 at Express Avenue Mall

Products available online

Price from `220 and upwards

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