Sahajan Doubles Down On Ayurvedic Roots In Brand Refresh

Sahajan is getting a refresh a decade after its debut. 

Landing today online at Sephora Canada and Credo as well as select Credo stores, the Ayurvedic skincare brand’s new packaging features bolder branding and molded caps embossed with the words “Ayurvedic blend” in gold. Sahajan’s assortment contains 14 skincare products across moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, eye creams and masks priced from $18 to $64 for individual items, including bestsellers $64 Radiance Face Serum and $55 Nourish Crème Riche. The refresh hasn’t changed the brand’s prices or formulas. 

Founder and CEO Lisa Mattam believes doubling down on Ayurveda is particularly important as clean and clinical claims have become less unique in the skincare industry. “We were one of the pioneers in clean…and one of the first to do clinicals. Sometimes what takes you here isn’t going to be what takes you there,” she says. “Some brands I think worry about putting Ayurveda on things. They will substitute it with ‘ritual,’ for instance, and, for us, Ayurveda has always been what we stand for. The ingredients and recipes are what transform skin, so we are firmly on this mission and the branding continues to reflect this.”

The Toronto-based brand tapped Concrete, a creative agency that’s worked with beauty brands Pat McGrath Labs, Patrick Ta, Pai Skincare and The 7 Virtues, to help bring its new look to life. Without divulging exactly how much Sahajan paid for the rebrand, Mattam estimates the price range for a well-executed rebrand generally is between $60,000 and over $200,000.

Mattam admits to fretting about the reaction of Sahajan’s largely mature millennial and gen X customers to the rebrand, which she began pondering three years ago, but got underway in earnest a year ago. The brand recently surveyed about 200 customers and discovered 74% aren’t of South Asian descent and identify as Caucasian. It teased the new packaging during a 1-hour live sale on Sunday and the immediate reaction was positive.

The sale gave customers early access to $56 Eternal Glow Cream, a new product with saffron, ceramides and bakuchiol. It’s a lightweight counterpart to Sahajan’s bestselling Nourish Creme Riche and a product Mattam reports Sahajan customers had been requesting. According to Sahajan, the live sale surpassed 1,500 viewers and $100,000 in sales. Sahajan generally holds live sales on video commerce platform Firework about twice a year.

Sahajan’s direct-to-consumer sales increased 100% last year. This year, they’re tracking 50% to 60% above 2024 DTC sales. About 18% of the brand’s net lifetime value is generated by shoppers who purchase at least 10 times a year.  Mattam points to efficacious products, authenticity and an almost fanatical focus on customer service as the reasons why Sahajan customers return to it. She says that, without a focus on profitability, the brand’s sales could be growing even faster. 

DTC sales account for 80% of Sahajan’s business, with retail making up the balance, and half of its sales are from the United States. The brand landed on Sephora Canada’s website last year. Mattam says it’s exceeded the retailer’s forecasts and experienced multiple sell-outs. It’s currently discussing its move into Sephora Canada stores and consulted with the retailer on its refresh. Mattam notes that it was important to wait until the rebrand, which was conducted with a retail presence in mind, was finished before the brand expands to more stores. 

In addition to Sephora Canada and Credo, Sahajan is available at The Detox Market, Beauty Heroes, Well.ca, Amazon and TSC, the Canadian shopping channel. In 2023, Sahajan inked a deal with Marriott hotels to distribute products in 400 luxury hotels worldwide such as Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, St. Regis and JW Marriott brands. The brand aims to heighten its American brick-and-mortar retail presence in the future, but has taken a measured approach in building its retail network to date.

“I want to demonstrate our wins, and then I want to build that portfolio as fast as we can,” says Mattam. “With Sephora Canada, we’ve been able to show that we blew out the forecast and exceeded expectations. So, I think it’s those kinds of nuggets that will take us to who our next retail partner is.” 

Mattam launched Sahajan in 2015 while she was still running her strategic development consulting business The Mattam Group. She previously led a biotech brand for Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen Inc. This year, she participated in Beauty Independent and True Beauty Ventures’ Bridge Mentorship program readying founders for fundraising and scaling their brands. 

In its first institutional fundraise, Sahajan secured an undisclosed amount of capital in 2023 in just four weeks. Ridgeline Ventures, Wonderment Ventures, Top Knot Ventures, Celeste Burgoyne, president, Americas and global guest innovation at Lululemon, Yvonne Strahovski, actress and star of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and Rupi Kaur, The New York Times bestselling author and poet behind the books “Milk and Honey” and “Home Body,” were involved in the oversubscribed round. 

This year, navigating tariffs and their impacts has been a challenge for Sahajan. To alleviate costs from the 25% tariff rate set by President Donald Trump on goods entering the U.S. from Canada, the brand partnered with a third-party logistics provider in New Jersey to handle its American e-commerce shipments. Partnering with a 3PL in the U.S. was a longstanding goal, but the tariffs pushed Sahajan to take action on it. 

“The cool thing about being an indie brand is you can just decide tomorrow I’m going to do this,” says Mattam. “It takes time, and it takes effort, and it takes money, but you can actually make that decision and then put it into place.”

This article was revised on June 17 and June 18.