Aiming for a toxin-free society

New Delhi-based Biotechnology expert Tanaya Sharma along with her partner Amis Ahmed discovered the truth behind what most companies sell as healthy and organic to their customers. They found that things needed to be changed at the earliest and comes up with 'Speaking Herbs'.

Tanaya says that when you look at any self-care product that promises to be organic, toxin-free and a 100% safe-to-use for people, but refuses to be transparent about the quantities and even the complete list of ingredients which they choose to include in their products, how does one trust such a product philosophy. "As a counter to these hiding ingredients kind of an approach that multiple brands have shown to their consumers in their products either via jargon or not specifying each individual chemical compound in the first place, 'Speaking Herbs' was born."

Tanaya in a conversation with "The Hans India"opens upher journey in starting 'Speaking Herbs'. Let's have a look into it.

Tanaya says that 'Speaking Herbs' was started to design a lifestyle for the people with the help of natural and toxic free products in a way such that the future is safe."I have been the Co-Founder of 'Speaking Herbs' since its inception. With the motive to design a lifestyle for the people with the help of natural and toxic free products in a way such that the future is safe. I firmly believe that with the help of clean consumer products, we can go a long way without compromising the generations to come. This was conceptualised as an effort to make clean and responsible consumer products accessible to everyone. With the intent to build a completely transparent and sustainable supply chain of consumer goods who can purchase as per the needs absolutely guilt free and at the same time contribute towards a clean, green and better planet," she said.

The place where I have grown up made me more interested in organic and natural products. She said, "I have completed my Masters of Technology in Biotechnology from VIT (Vellore). I have a hands down knowledge in natural product technology and after working in a startup ecosystem for over four years now, I understand the dynamics and trend of the market. She also worked as a research assistant in a CSIR laboratory after completing B.Tech in Biotechnology from University of Pune, which has made her aware of the fundamentals of research and development and the needs of the country.I have grown up in a green and breath-takingly beautiful township, situated in a remote corner of Assam and I think that's what makes me more interested in organic and natural products."

Tanaya says that 'Speaking Herbs' is creating the world's largest single branded store of botanical ingredients that are 100% pure, supremely efficacious and potent. "Our core mission is to empower people with super effective botanicals and the know how to employ them in every day care thereby avoiding the usage of conventional consumer products that contain toxic chemicals and are proven to be harmful for human health and as well as for the environment.In the process, we are creating the world's largest single branded store of botanical ingredients that are 100% pure, supremely efficacious and potent," she says.

"We are raising the bar and constantly pushing ourselves to set up a gold standard for botanical ingredients through bio-molecular and bio-activity based profiling.'Speaking Herbs' is the world's only brand that is enabling people to '#BuyLessDoMore' and '#BlendItClean' across beauty, personal care, wellness & home care verticals," Tanaya added.

Tanaya said "The interest started from my college days. In late 2014, Amis Ahmed, who was my batchmate in masters, started discussing more about the issues related to toxic chemicals in everyday life and how to avoid them. We used to read each and every product label in detail and investigate every ingredient present in it. On almost every occasion we found names such as EDTA, Formaldehyde, PEG, toluene etc and being from a biotech and biochemical background we were quite familiar with them. This gave us more interest in diving deeper into the usefulness and possible side effects that they could have on humans when used on a regular basis."

"We were convinced that there was always a trade off or compromise between the product perception (look, texture, fragrance, palatability, consistency or shelf life) and the health of the user and even the planet. And each and every time the compromise was on the overall health of the product user and the health of our environment. Everytime we read a product label, we were in utter shock of how we were being exposed to some of the most toxic ingredients and being duped into buying "natural" products that constituted more than 95% of synthetics, preservatives and fillers.

We knew it was time to create a brand that was built on an ethos of purity, potency and transparency. More than anything we believed that it was time for us as consumers to speak up against the use of toxic chemicals in daily care products and the long term impact that they were having on people's health. We founded 'Speaking Herbs' in early 2018 to advocate for a clean and conscious change in consumer products.

We derived the name from a very personal philosophy that if each and every one of us starts speaking for what is right and true, the world will be a better place," Tanaya concludes.