How Sonal Gupta Is Building SQIN Botanicals and Redefining Clean Beauty in India
📝InterviewsAs part of StartupTalky’s International Women’s Day series, Sonal Gupta talks about building SQIN Botanicals, a botanical skincare brand that blends traditional ingredients with modern science to create clean, effective products for everyday glow.
As part of StartupTalky’s International Women’s Day series, we spotlight women entrepreneurs shaping emerging industries. The Indian beauty and personal care market is projected to cross $30 billion by the end of the decade, driven by the rise of D2C brands, growing focus on skin health, and increasing demand for clean and botanical skincare.
Within this rapidly evolving space, SQIN Botanicals, founded by Sonal Gupta, is building a brand that blends traditional botanical wisdom with modern skincare science. In this conversation, Gupta shares the inspiration behind the brand and her journey of building a D2C botanical skincare startup in India’s growing beauty market.
Bridging the Gap Between Botanical Skincare and Performance
StartupTalky: SQIN Botanicals positions itself as a nature-inspired skincare brand for everyday glow. India's D2C beauty market has exploded with hundreds of new entrants in recent years. What was the personal story or gap in the market that inspired the creation of SQIN Botanicals, and how does the brand differentiate itself in such a crowded space?
Sonal Gupta: SQIN Botanicals was a result of my own journey of battling sensitive and reactive skin. I was stuck between using products that were highly chemical-based and caused my skin to react and products that were “natural” but lacked performance and transparency. There was a clear disconnect between performance-based skincare and botanical-based products rooted in Indian wisdom.
With SQIN Botanicals, my goal was to bridge this gap and create products that were indulgent but functional, clean but clinically relevant. For us, the key difference is that we combine plant-based activities with clinically relevant formulations that are designed to thrive in everyday Indian weather and lifestyle conditions.
Our focus is “everyday glow,” not a quick fix, but a focus on healthy, nurtured skin. Transparency, education, and simplification are key to SQIN’s personality in a highly cluttered D2C space.
Ensuring Authenticity in Botanical Skincare
StartupTalky: The Indian skincare industry has seen a wave of women-founded brands that prioritize clean, botanical ingredients over synthetic formulations. How does SQIN Botanicals ensure the authenticity and efficacy of its natural ingredients, and what role do women play in your product development and R&D process?
Sonal Gupta: Authenticity starts at the source. We partner with trusted sources and demand accountability in the sourcing of key botanicals. Each formula undergoes rigorous testing to ensure that “natural” doesn’t mean “compromised” in terms of effectiveness. Botanical doesn’t mean unscientific. Our products are backed by research and development processes.
Women are at the core of our research and development process. Women of all age groups provide their inputs on everything from feedback on formulations to packaging. At a women-led beauty brand, we don’t have to think twice about designing for women.
Hormonal changes, pigmentation, sensitization, and lifestyle stress are all on our radar.
Navigating the Challenges of Building a Skincare Startup
StartupTalky: Building a skincare brand requires navigating complex regulatory landscapes, supply chain challenges, and intense consumer scrutiny; especially in the age of social media reviews. As a founder in this space, what has been the most unexpected challenge you have faced, and how did you overcome it?
Sonal Gupta: The most unexpected challenge was perception in the digital age. Now, one viral review can make or break a brand’s credibility. Early on in our journey, we had to handle a situation wherein the texture of our product changed due to seasonal shifts and was perceived to be inconsistent.
Rather than going on the defensive, we took the route of transparency. We openly educated our audience on botanical formulations and the way natural ingredients behave in different temperatures.
This experience has taught me an essential lesson: building trust is not about being perfect; it’s about communication. Listening to our audience and communicating honestly has done far more for our brand than any amount of paid advertising.
Accelerating Action: Empowering Women Through the Supply Chain
StartupTalky: International Women's Day 2026 focuses on accelerating action. What is one concrete initiative SQIN Botanicals is taking in 2026 to either empower women; whether through inclusive product development, supporting women in your supply chain, or championing self-care as a form of self-worth?
Sonal Gupta: As part of our launch plans for 2026, SQIN Botanicals has designed a mentorship and micro-collaboration program for women artisans and small-scale suppliers engaged in the processing of botanical ingredients. Our objective is to incorporate more women-owned farming and processing operations into our supply chain.
We are also building upon our existing ‘Self-Care is Strength’ movement, rebranding self-care not as a vanity exercise but as a self-respect ritual every day.
For us, accelerating action means not only creating opportunities for women but also redefining self-worth.
Redefining Beauty Messaging in the Modern Skincare Industry
StartupTalky: The beauty industry has historically profited from women's insecurities, but a new generation of brands is redefining beauty standards. How does SQIN Botanicals approach its messaging and marketing to celebrate diverse skin types and promote genuine self-confidence rather than perpetuating unrealistic beauty ideals?
Sonal Gupta: At SQIN Botanicals, we deliberately choose to not use language that describes issues with the skin as flaws. We do not promise fair skin, whitening, or glass-like skin.
Our brand message is about healthy, strong, and glowing skin.
Our campaigns use images of women with different shades, textures, and age groups. We focus on educating rather than exaggerating. We inform our audience about what an ingredient can actually do, how long it can take, and how confident they can feel about their skincare choices.
Blending Traditional Wisdom With Modern Dermatological Science
StartupTalky: India's botanical skincare segment draws heavily on centuries-old Ayurvedic and traditional knowledge, much of which was historically passed down by women. How does SQIN Botanicals honor and integrate this traditional wisdom while also embracing modern dermatological science?
Sonal Gupta: Indian families have traditionally used products such as turmeric, aloe vera, rose, and sandalwood. This knowledge is traditionally held by women.
At SQIN Botanicals, we believe this is a starting point rather than a marketing ploy.
We incorporate traditional botanicals and standardize them using modern extraction techniques, stability studies, and balanced formulations. It is a combination of tradition and modern science.
Adhering to the knowledge imparted by Ayurveda, while supporting it with modern dermatological studies, is key to creating soulful yet effective skincare products.
Advice for Women Entrepreneurs Entering the Clean Beauty Industry
StartupTalky: If you could give one piece of advice to a young woman who dreams of launching her own clean beauty or skincare brand in India, what would it be; and what is the one lesson from building SQIN Botanicals that you wish you had known before you started?
Sonal Gupta: My advice would be to focus on building credibility first and then visibility.
In today's world of viral marketing, it's easy to get caught up in making a brand look good through social media campaigns, but in skincare, it's all about formulation, compliance, and trust.
A lesson that I wish I had learned earlier is that growing a business is not a linear progression. There will be times when you face supply chain issues, formulation challenges, and slow sales, but that's just the nature of entrepreneurship.
Especially in beauty entrepreneurship, success comes from being unshaken in your purpose and never compromising on quality for speed.
Pratyusha Srivastava