They Took Our Haldi, Sold It Back to Us… / Colonialism Ended. But We Still Don’t Trust Our Own Remedies / Is India Really Free? Not In Skincare / Freedom Was Won Decades Ago… But Have We Embraced It Fully?
Tagline: Proudly Swadeshi. Proudly You.
Seventy-nine years ago, our nation broke the shackles of colonial rule. We won our freedom.
OR DID WE?
Today, when we look in the mirror, what do we really see? Beyond the reflection, do we see the remnants of our colonized minds? Because even after all these years, when it comes to something as intimate and personal as skincare, we still reach beyond our borders. We chase after glass skin, after global skincare routines. We load our shelves with imported serums, creams with hard-to-pronounce names, and pay premium prices for things we’ve had in our own kitchens for generations.
But why?
Our ancestors never doubted the healing power of our mitti. When we fell and scraped our knees, our dadi didn’t reach for a tube. She reached for haldi. When our skin broke out, our nani mixed chandan with rose water, gently dabbed it, and we healed.
India has always known beauty. Not the filtered, curated kind, but the kind that breathes through neem leaves, rose petals, and aloe grown in courtyards. We are the land that gave the world haldi, and today, it’s being sold back to us under another name, wrapped in foreign labels.
We’re not saying theirs is bad. We’re only asking, when did ours stop being enough?
Truthfully speaking, foreign products are made for foreign skies, foreign climate. But we? We are children of the monsoon, of sun-kissed coastlines and dry winds. Our skin tells a different story. A story that only we can write. And while global skincare has its strengths, it often isn’t formulated for us, for our climate, for our melanin-rich skin, and for the unique balance that Indian skin truly needs.
At CITTA, we believe in meeting the skin where it is, here, in India. With products that honour where we come from, while embracing what science can do. Not by rejecting one for the other, but by blending both, thoughtfully, responsibly, and beautifully.
So, this Independence Day, let’s reflect and reclaim. Let’s remember, when Gandhi spoke of Swadeshi, he was asking us to believe in what is ours, fully and proudly. Let’s free ourselves from unrealistic beauty standards, from imported dependence, from the belief that beauty must come from somewhere else… With CITTA.
About CITTA
CITTA – a Pune-based premium bath & skin care brand offers a range of safe, natural, and effective skincare products that cater to newborns, children, and adults alike. With meticulous research and a commitment to quality, each product blends tradition and science to address skincare concerns at its core. By adhering to the highest standards of quality checks and maintaining 100% transparency about the ingredients, CITTA ensures that everyone knows what exactly they are putting on their skin. The premium bath & skincare brand combines the wisdom of generations (dadinanikenuskhes) with modern advancements while prioritizing safety, efficacy, and preserving Indian traditions.
