Ruhi

Britta Hekmat learned about the effects of medicinal plants like turmeric and pomegranate from her Persian father, a physician, at an early age – two of her favorite ingredients today. Her interest in the effects of ingredients grew further at L'Oréal, where she was able to discuss formulations with chemists. After implementing various beauty and digital projects at Condé Nast, she founded the clean skincare blog Beautyshelf – which explored the effectiveness of slow-aging ingredients.

Her realization: Many natural cosmetic products promise a lot but don't actually contain the active ingredients that have a proven effect on the skin. The idea for her own natural skincare line was born. She had previously discovered the plant-based ingredient bakuchiol, which, in studies, achieved the same effect at a 1% concentration as 0.5% synthetic retinol! Despite this groundbreaking discovery, at the time, there were hardly any natural cosmetics companies using this active ingredient – and if they did, they used unclear concentrations or formulations that Britta found unsatisfactory. This was the impetus for her natural and highly effective skincare line. Thus, ruhi became one of the first natural cosmetics companies to use bakuchiol – and the ruhi Bakuchiol Oil Serum was a true game-changer.