Gayatri Pradhan’s stacked resume includes a pharmaceutical chemistry degree from the University of Bombay, a master’s from MIT and a long run working for the Vaseline and Dove brands at Unilever, but along the way she learned mothers do indeed know best. “I grew up with my mom, if she saw a pimple on my face, she’d dash at it with a paste of turmeric and sandalwood,” Pradhan says. “Back then I’d be like, ‘Mom, what are you doing?’” Botanicals now star in her Wellesley-based skin care brand Poéthique that taps the wisdom of other cultures’ wellness rituals, from China’s herbal medicine to Northern Europe’s spa waters. Pradhan spent three years ensuring she was sustainably sourcing ingredients and workers were earning fair wages before launching a serum late last year made of caviar lime and wild plums foraged from Australia. And this month, a cleanser with antimicrobial neem oil and a regenerating facial elixir with oils from India, Peru and Polynesia joined Poéthique’s lineup, which soon will include fully plant-based masks and lip care that prove one thing: “You don’t really need to go to synthetic stuff to get effective skin care.”

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Poéthique poethique.com