Gone are the days of bleaching and cleaning skin with harsh, harmful products. People are becoming more conscious of what they are putting on their faces and how it will affect their skin in the long run. One such conscious brand is Mudita Earth. Founded by Jessica Chopra, all the products of Mudita Earth are vegan and cruelty-free.
Jessica Chopra is a seasoned data scientist with an MS in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University and an MS in Statistics at India’s Punjab University.
She used her data science background to develop Mudita Earth after experiencing a decline in the condition of her skin during the long COVID quarantine. “I wanted to create a product line that is natural, effective, and good for the planet. It isn’t just a matter of putting a few botanicals in a bottle. My background in data and analytics helped me study and select ingredients with a critical eye,” says Jessica Chopra.
She ventured into territory not usually explored by other skin care startups. She designed and developed analytics models to adjust her product design to consumer demand more efficiently, did rigorous technical documentation, and created a long-term strategic brand vision driven by consumer insights.
Join us as we ask Jessica about her inspiration behind this business and know who introduced her to skincare as a child.
1. How is Mudita earth different from other skincare brands?
My brand identity is that it is founded and formulated by a 60 years old corporate tech lad who understands her own and the real world’s problems of environmental aging. And try to solve them by launching vegan, cruelty-free, high-quality, affordable, and sustainable products that will make you feel and look good while saving our environment and supporting members of our society who don’t have a voice of their own.
2. How did you come up with the name?
Mudita is a Sanskrit word that means the joy that we get from the well-being of others. That is my core value and I try to bring it to my brand by launching a solution to environmental aging that will make people feel and look good, enhancing their well-being. I got inspired by the word Mudita and chose it for my brand name because it is fully integrated with my values.
3. What was your inspiration behind this skincare brand?
Self-awareness during the pandemic that life is moving forward motivated me. Working in the corporate world all these years I did not realize that aging has started showing up on my face. I and the people around me were so caught up with the fast pace of life that we didn’t realize our skin started showing signs of aging. And being a problem solver by profession, brought a burning desire in me to come up with a product with hand-picked, clean ingredients which are backed up by clinical studies, show results, and make you feel and look good. That was my biggest inspiration behind this brand.
4. Who first taught you about taking care of your skin?
During my childhood, the orthodox community in India believed in colorism. As I had a dark complexion, my parents were worried that they wouldn’t be able to find a good husband for me because of my complexion. My grandmother started giving me skincare tips like applying a lemon and turmeric face mask to reduce pigmentation so they can find me a great match one day. In this way, my grandmother was the person who introduced me to skincare.
5. What’s your favorite skincare step?
My favorite step is moisturizing. I follow it daily in the morning and at night and it rejuvenates my skin. Just like we drink water daily to hydrate our body, our skin also needs to be moisturized daily to replenish the natural oils.
6. What are your top skincare tips everyone should follow?
My top tip would be to always use products that are made of clean and plant-based ingredients. My research on oil and plant extracts indicated that some of the chemicals can penetrate the deepest layers of skin and over a period of time can cause damage to the skin.
The next tip is to gently exfoliate the skin twice or thrice a week to remove dead skin and make-up residue. The particles in some of our make-up products are so fine that they sweep into the pores. Exfoliation removes these particles from the skin.
The third tip is to apply hyaluronic acid serum each time you wash your face. As we age, the hyaluronic acid in our skin starts depleting and that causes dryness. So we need to introduce it through natural products.
And the final tip is to moisturize. Our skin oils need replenishment throughout the day and oils in the moisturizer sit on our face, replenishing our skin.
