a note from our founder

I’m often asked why I’m not more visible in the brand - why my name isn’t on the front of the boxes, why I don’t have lots of videos of myself talking about the brand, why I don’t do (*shudder*) Instagram Lives. 

The truth is that I’m a very typical surgeon - I prefer being in the OR, listening to music, and performing the technical work that I’ve been doing since 1997 when I graduated from medical school. Talking to people whom I don’t know well and smiling on camera isn’t my jam. Put me in a pair of scrubs in a sterile room with sharp instruments, my amazing colleagues, and some Dépêche Mode, and I’m perfectly content.

The other (less dorky and more important) reason is that this brand was never meant to be about me. It’s about you. It’s about the 30 year-old who told me she needed non-toxic skincare because she was trying to become pregnant. It’s about the 55 year-old who said that her skin had become increasingly sensitive over the years. It’s about my teenager who couldn’t find products to address his sebum-rich male skin. And so, in 2008, anokha was born. We’ve changed our formulations and packaging a bit over the years, but the really important things haven’t changed at all. Same architecture, new wallpaper.

“anokha” means unique, or different, in Urdu, which is the language my parents spoke at home when I was growing up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. It reflects you - the unique you - with your individual skin care needs and goals. My many years as a surgeon have taught me that no two patients or surgical cases are alike. Our bodies are different. Our skin is also different, and literally reflects our inner vitality and health. Our bodies change with the seasons and with age. Our skin does, too. anokha is meant to allow you to adapt your routine, when and as you need it.

Please feel free to return to this website regularly as a resource; education is power. I write the blogs myself on a regular basis, and we’ve created a beauty glossary to help get you through some of the technical-speak. We send weekly emails to highlight our extraordinary ingredients, discuss trending topics and alert you to new releases. We use our social media to show off our pretty pictures. And we donate a percentage of each sale to a humantarian charity, simply because it's the right thing to do.

I hope that you’ll be able to find a moment of beauty every day with anokha. It’s been my honor and privilege to create these products for you.