Influencer and entrepreneur Diipa Khosla on building a life of inclusivity and authenticity

Nobody could have predicted the boom of the Indian influencer market. The numbers keep increasing everyday, with almost everyone claiming (or buying) the ubiquitous stamp of popularity: the coveted blue tick on social media. 

Back in the 90s, television commercials with Bollywood superstars promoting certain brands were often successful in tempting people to buy the products. Fast forward to today, every other user on social media claims to be an ‘influencer’, promoting every other brand that pops up in the market. 

A report by global decision-making B2B platform KlugKlug suggests that the Indian marketing industry will be touching Rs 2,500 crore by next year, as brands across the globe continue betting on these influencers. But there’s a catch—how do we trust one over the other? Are we supposed to glorify the goodness of Ayurvedic skincare, or dismiss it and turn to lab-made jars of serums to ‘glow from within’? 

For global influencer Diipa Buller-Khosla, the answer lies in traditional Indian Ayurvedic beauty rituals that are backed with modern skincare science. But more on that later. 

Khosla has been a trailblazer of sorts—one of the first Indian influencers ever and the first Indian female influencer to speak at The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos (2022), and to walk the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. However, much before Khosla became a global influencer with 2.3 million followers on Instagram, a fashion icon and an entrepreneur, the tricenarian studied to be a doctor, practised law, and modelled for a bit. But what does she call herself? 

“An idea machine,” says Khosla, Founder of Inde Wild and NGO Post For Change, during a video call with YS Life from her Mumbai home.

Transitioning between Mumbai and Amsterdam, Khosla believes home is not a specific place but “where the family is.” Looking back, she says that entrepreneurship has been her true calling: “I truly feel I was born to probably bring an idea to life.”

Building a brand

In 2021, during the global lockdown amid the pandemic, Khosla launched Inde Wild, a skincare and beauty brand with roots in Ayurveda, in the US. In July next year, the brand launched in India. Inde Wild celebrates diverse beauty with a focus on inclusivity, sustainability and authenticity. 

The brand has over 60 focus groups across India, UK and US, to give power to the people who are actually the customers—a key USP for Inde Wild. “We are yet to launch a moisturiser or cleanser because our target group said that they have pretty good products for those concerns…What they didn’t have was something that targets their pigmentation or postpartum hair loss,” Khosla says.  

The turning point for her brand was when Khosla shared an image of her acne prone skin to her long line of followers on Instagram. People started resonating with Khosla’s realistic pictures on social media, giving her an edge over other celebrity brands that promote the culture of looking perfect round the clock. 

Khosla’s mother, Sangitha Khosla, is a practising Ayurvedic doctor and dermatologist, and the original creator of the brand’s best-selling product—the champi hair oil. 

Initially, she never meant to launch a hair oil. “Nobody in the community asked for hair oil, not even our investors…They wouldn’t not give me two cents if I would have launched another hair oil in India!” 

Despite that, Khosla decided to go ahead with the plan, even after starting off as a skincare brand.

“Living in South India, my mom’s biggest identity has been her ankle-length hair, and she made the champi oil when she was only 18!,” Khosla says. The very first ingredients to be added to the champi oil were sesame oil, castor oil and hibiscus.

“As my mother moved and lived in different places, she continued adding different herbs to it…The final herb was rosemary, which was added when we lived in the Netherlands, and that finished the recipe,” she says, adding: “I had to share the recipe with the rest of the world!”

The champi hair oil is the brand’s best-seller, globally, with the sale volume for FY23-24 accounting for 24,460 units. “We have a 60% return customer rate, although the average in the beauty industry is only 23%!” Khosla claims. Interestingly, today India is the largest market for the champi hair oil. 

Inde Wild’s latest launch, the Dewy Lip treatment has gained exceptional success among its customers. Launched in December, the product has grown over 1,300% since its launch. 

“The philosophy (for the lip treatment) is again based off of our age-old household product. Our grandmothers kept telling us ‘ghee lagalo’ (apply some ghee)...So we used biotechnology to create vegan ghee and added phospholipids, shea butter, squalene, peptides and a really low molecular weight of hyaluronic acid to make it extremely nourishing,” Khosla adds.  

The global skincare market was recorded to be at $159.26 billion in 2023, with a projection of reaching $262.41 billion by 2031. According to consumer intelligence company NielsenIQ, as of 2023, 43 celebrities have launched a skincare line, globally. How does Inde Wild create a niche for itself in such a saturated market, we ask?

“What truly helps is going back to those values…Why are you putting a business out into the world? The consumer is very smart today, they differentiate between authenticity and someone trying to make a quick buck…You need to truly set a new standard in the beauty industry in terms of the formulations, the storytelling and packaging, to stand out,” Khosla explains. 

US is the biggest market for Indee Wild, although Khosla believes that India is en route to becoming the biggest market. 

Life beyond business

Having been in the limelight for close to a decade now, Khosla says, “You don’t build confidence, you build a thick skin so that you don’t let things affect you.” 

Spirituality occupies a core spot in Khosla’s life. A devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, she says, “I practise mindfulness, I meditate very often, and I am doing yoga all the time…It puts things into perspective for me…I am also a big believer in the power of manifesting and the way the universe works.” 

Khosla is presently focusing on family growth and the growth of her business with Inde Wild launching in Sephora UK and USA soon—”We will be the first homegrown brand to be able to crack the global market!” 

“My plate is full for now!” she concludes.