Forest Essentials: How Ayurveda Became Luxury

Mira Kulkarni built a premium beauty identity around Indian ingredients, rituals and craftsmanship. The challenge now is scaling without dilution.

A familiar tradition, presented differently

Ayurveda was not a new idea when Mira Kulkarni founded Forest Essentials in 2000. What was distinctive was the decision to present Indian beauty traditions through the language of luxury: considered packaging, sensorial products, immersive stores and a premium price point.

This was more than a change in visual identity. It proposed that an Indian tradition could be the foundation of a prestige brand rather than an inexpensive alternative to imported cosmetics.

Luxury depends on consistency

Premium positioning creates a difficult bargain. Customers pay not only for a formulation but for the confidence that ingredients, presentation, service and experience will be coherent. A beautiful store cannot compensate indefinitely for a product that disappoints.

Forest Essentials has invested in an integrated approach spanning sourcing, research, manufacturing and retail. The Estée Lauder Companies described those capabilities as part of the brand’s value in its March 2026 announcement about acquiring the remaining shares. [Estée Lauder and Forest Essentials announcement]

The partnership that changes the scale

Estée Lauder first invested in Forest Essentials in 2008 and increased its stake to 49% in 2020. In March 2026, it announced an agreement to acquire the remaining interest, subject to regulatory approvals, while saying Kulkarni would continue to guide the brand from New Delhi.

The announcement presented international distribution and brand-building expertise as opportunities. It did not, by itself, prove that every planned global expansion would succeed. The transaction’s completion status should be reconfirmed before publication. [Estée Lauder and Forest Essentials announcement]

What cannot be exported in a box

Global beauty consumers may be curious about Ayurveda, but curiosity is not automatic understanding. Claims need evidence, product education must work across cultures, and the brand must avoid reducing a complex tradition to a handful of fashionable ingredients.

There is also a tension between scarcity and scale. Luxury businesses must grow without making the experience feel ordinary. For Forest Essentials, protecting the quality and distinctiveness of its Indian identity will be as important as opening new markets.

The bigger lesson for Indian brands

Forest Essentials demonstrates that Indian heritage can be positioned as a source of aspiration rather than nostalgia alone. That idea has implications for fashion, food, wellness and design.

The lasting test is whether a founder-led brand can become a global institution without losing the point of view that made it valuable in the first place.