Founder member quits Renee Cosmetics to start her own gender-neutral skincare brand - based on ghar ke nuskhe

How often have you compared yourself to someone on social media?

If your answer is anything more than twice, Fugeno might just be the skincare brand for you.

The reason? Simple. 

Fugeno wants to treat your skin issues without asking you to conform to a specific beauty standard.

In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia Nupur Thakkar says, “We’re here to systematically dismantle beauty standards that have been set for ages. So if you have dark spots, our products will help lighten them. But we don’t want to do anything for your, say, freckles — they’re beautiful. Or peach fuzz, for that matter.”

Founded in January 2024, Fugeno is a new-age gender-neutral brand that makes products rooted in the time-tested gharelu nuskhe (home remedies). The brand also combines the principles of biomimicry in its offerings.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Nupur Thakkar has an extensive academic and professional background.

She tells Startup Pedia, “I have earned degrees in civil engineering and interior designing. My father is a District Judge and my brother is a lawyer. I was inspired to take on LLB but I dropped out of the degree after one and a half years.”

Eventually, Nupur began a journey of multiple job stints — but all extremely impactful. She has worked in the domains of construction, hair, makeup, and even alcohol.

One evening, she met the co-founder of Renee Cosmetics at a family function.

Nupur says, “The co-founder is a family friend. It was my birthday and I went to give them prasad. We randomly started talking about my ideas of brand-building and they immediately asked me to be on board with their brand.”

Also Read: Adil Qadri Gets Vineeta Singh’s Funding Amount Credited; Closes FY24 With Rs 70 Lakhs Net Profit

Renee was just starting out and they needed someone who could build workflows, get in touch with vendors, and market their products. So Nupur’s next three years were spent growing and building Renee Cosmetics from the ground up. She was a founder member there.

Next, Nupur joined a distillery company and contributed to figuring out and smoothening the transportation and logistics for them.

Finally, after 8ish years of experience in the job and corporate world, Nupur wanted to start something of her own.

She tells Startup Pedia, “I was visiting countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka when I realized how a lot of them know exactly how to utilize the sources of nature. I came to know that allopathy is an option only when there’s a serious emergency. Otherwise, Sri Lankans heavily depend on nature-sourced medications like the Pink Pineapple.”

This made Nupur think about how India can benefit from international Research and Development in nature-sourced forumulations and how they can be further integrated into skincare products.

“In India, we already have a lot of time-tested home remedies. But because they lack science, people doubt them. I aimed to make use of biomimicry and refine these home remedies into skincare products that give actual results without any trace of potential harm,” she adds.

Also Read: Financial Planner Quits ₹20 LPA Job to Start a Healthy Snacks Brand, now Clocks ₹80 Lakh Per Year

According to The Biomimicry Institute, “Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by living organisms to solve challenges comparable to the ones we face as individuals and societies.”

That is how Fugeno was born - a mix of home remedies and biomimicry principles combined with the power to work on all skin types, regardless of gender.

Nupur officially founded Fugeno in January 2024.

Till July 2024, she figured out the RnD aspect of the brand, conducted trials, and finalized all important paperwork from certifications, licenses, and compliances.

JUGGLING HOUSEHOLDS AND BUSINESS

Nupur Thakkar is a firm believer in how women can do multiple things and ace each one of them.

“I am kind of against the narrative that women are abandoning households and going in the outside world to make money. They are not. They’re actually doing both these things, and doing them well. When I started Fugeno this year, I would come home after a long, exhausting day. But even then, I couldn’t help but go into the kitchen to cook up a warm soup for my family,” Nupur says.

Nupur’s Fugeno is registered as an OPC (one-person company). She hasn’t onboarded any team members yet and has built the brand and taken it into the market without any external help.

Also Read: Mumbai Woman’s ‘Something Sustainable’ Eyes ₹1 Cr Revenue by Next FY

FUGENO - FUTURISTIC SKINCARE 

The word Fugeno is inspired by Future and Genome. 

While the future is what lies ahead, the genome is the complete set of genetic material (DNA or RNA) in an organism. 

The brand integrates the science of biomimicry with nature-sourced products aiming to solve skincare problems for today and tomorrow. 

From helping Gen Z and Alpha customers reject beauty standards on social media to guiding them towards the right skincare rituals, Fugeno does it all. 

Its products are based on home remedies including ingredients like multani mitti, potato, cinnamon, nutmeg, papaya, and lavender.

Apart from the above, it blends science-based elements like niacinamide and salicylic acid to get to the root cause of skincare problems, address them, and uncover glowing, youthful skin. 

Fugeno’s product catalog includes Lavender Body Juice, Potato Bright Under Eye Mask, Cinnamon Spice Lip Plumper, and Multan Face Essential. 

While it's only been two months since the products went live on Amazon and the brand's website, there have been largely positive reviews from customers. 

According to Nupur Thakkar, Fugeno’s products use no chemicals and are absolutely safe for all skin types.

The products are mid-premium priced for now and range from Rs 250 to Rs 2,500.

LOOKING AHEAD

Nupur Thakkar is currently gearing up to work on Fugeno’s visibility. She is involved in numerous advertisement campaigns and projects that'll bring in the desired audience.

She signs off by saying, “Fugeno will become a complete ecosystem of skincare that can be banked on, despite changing trends and social media messaging that mostly involves propagating insecurities. What I want is to provide youngsters (and adults) is a safe skincare brand that solves real issues without overly glorifying the results.”

Also Read: From MBBS to MBA: Entrepreneur Clocks ₹1.2 Cr Annually with Eco-Friendly Furniture