How an Assam startup is rethinking sustainable beauty

India’s beauty and personal care industry has been booming, but it is also under scrutiny. Consumers are increasingly questioning the environmental cost of cosmetics and the chemicals that go into everyday self‑care. Across the country, a new generation of entrepreneurs is responding with brands rooted in sustainability, science, and transparency.

The Bath Science, launched in 2022 by Dr Geetima Deka, is one of Assam’s young ventures rethinking personal care. The founder’s mission is to redefine luxury by transforming waste into wellness — upcycling stale flowers, fruit waste, and food by‑products into functional skincare ingredients. Rooted in science and circular sustainability, the brand positions itself as “zero‑waste, zero‑tox”, with products designed to be safer for both people and the planet.

From Idea to Impact

Geetima describes her decision as both personal and purposeful. “I wanted to build something meaningful, something that could turn waste into value and make self‑care safer for people and the planet,” she says. That conviction became the foundation of The Bath Science.

“Our uniqueness lies at the intersection of science and circular sustainability,” she explains. By upcycling discarded materials into skincare ingredients, The Bath Science aims to prove that waste can be a resource, not a liability.

The early hurdles were familiar to most young brands. “The biggest challenge was trust; convincing people that a small Assam‑based waste upcycling brand could deliver quality comparable to large cosmetic companies,” Geetima recalls. Infrastructure was another barrier: scaling production while maintaining purity and sustainability standards.

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Government support at a critical stage

This is where the Assam government stepped in. “The Assam government came on board at a critical growth stage when the idea was validated, but scaling sustainably was a challenge,” she says. The most impactful support came through the My Assam Startup ID (MASI) grant of Rs 10 lakh, along with incubation and mentoring under the Startup Assam initiative.

The funding allowed The Bath Science to strengthen production processes, improve compliances and certifications, and invest in better sourcing and quality control. Post‑support, Geetima notes, “We saw stronger operational confidence, better market access, increased trust from partners and customers. Without this support, scaling responsibly without compromising sustainability would have been much slower and riskier.”

For Geetima, the connection to Assam is not incidental but central. “Assam gives me raw materials, stories, resilience, and identity. I don’t want to leave Assam to grow. I want to grow Assam through my work,” she says.

She argues that Assam’s challenge is not a lack of talent but visibility. As she puts it: “Talent is already here; the narrative just needs amplification.”

Looking ahead

The Bath Science is still young, but its trajectory reflects a larger shift in India’s beauty industry: sustainability is no longer a niche, it is becoming mainstream. For Assam, ventures like Geetima’s show how local entrepreneurs can build brands that compete with national players while staying rooted in regional identity.

The founder’s journey underscores the role of government support in bridging the gap between validation and scale. It also highlights how personal conviction, scientific rigor, and ecosystem backing can come together to create a brand that aspires to redefine luxury; not through excess, but through responsibility.

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