Founder of House of Beauty Vibhuti Arora shares her journey as an entrepreneur, the benefits of face yoga, and her expansion plans

She always wanted to do something unique in beauty. However, things took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with an auto-immune skin disorder (Lupus), and that’s when her journey as a face yogic began. Today, House of Beauty is one of India's prominent D2C skincare brands. Her non-invasive methods and trademark 1-min Vibhuti massage have helped many get their glow game on non-invasively.  Here’s a quick chat.

Tell us something about yourself and your brand, House of Beauty. 

When I moved from Dubai to Delhi 12 years ago, I was detected by an autoimmune skin condition called Lupus. At that time, India lacked a clean beauty company, and there were few beauty brands or skincare brands available that had a holistic approach. Every product I picked up was filled with sulfates and parabens. That's why I launched a clean beauty, anti- ageing skincare brand for sensitive skin.  For those such as me or those with eczema, Lupus, rosacea, and that's when House of Beauty was born. I decided to take this one step further. I realised that a lot of greenwashing is happening in the market, and there's a lot of misinformation that a lot of doctors do. Dermatologists also hide, and they are looking at injectables and toxic treatments as anti-ageing treatments. And that's when I thought of bringing face tools to India so that people could tighten their skin, use clean skincare, and get closer to their skin goals, but naturally.

What were the challenges you faced when you thought of starting this business?

One of the first challenges that I faced and that I still face is the fact that people cannot believe that face yoga and natural skincare can give you such amazing results. And then, because it's giving us such good results, there's a lot of opposition from Dermas saying that all of this doesn't work. But now, slowly through the years, through client testimonies, through research, all of that is surfacing. We've been able to succumb to the other challenge that I faced, which was that people did not believe that natural skincare could work. They thought it was a slow process. But, at House of Beauty, when we created the right formulas, we ensured that you see results within three months. And, we try to overcome those challenges even today.

Do you think women have different perks and challenges when starting a business in a country like India?

In a country like India, it is very difficult for a woman to surface. While there are a lot of government initiatives that assist us in every small detail, from getting work done by a male coworker to directing the packaging team to give instructions, there are small hurdles and challenges along the way. It is two times harder for a woman to succeed than a man, and in our country, that reality, unfortunately, still prevails. Apart from that, I think as women we multitask and do so much. We play the roles of a mother, a wife, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, and then an entrepreneur. So you know, obviously we do not. When you're doing so much, you cannot be docile. You cannot be very quaint. You are an entrepreneur, and so you are giving instructions. You are level-headed. You know what you want? So a little bit of confidence and acceptance of that confidence can be difficult for those around you sometimes. And, that has to be balanced at all times.

How can face yoga help those who don’t want to spend on invasive beauty techniques?

Face yoga is one of the most beautiful anti-aging face lifting, muscle toning, and tightening treatments. You do not need to spend thousands on expensive creams; even simple oil will do. And if you don't want to spend even on the oil, you can use ghee. You can make your cream at home and use that. My one-minute massage is magical and will show results within a month. And that is where a non-believer becomes a believer, and his journey into face yoga starts.

What are your expansion plans?

We hope to expand our wellness center across cities, starting with Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, and Jaipur. We've also launched Salon House of Beauty, a quick-service salon with face yoga facials. So we're looking at franchising that segment. Apart from this, we're looking at increasing our online sales and revenue by 20% year over year.