Since 2021 · Mumbai

We started with a window.

Oriel is named after the bay window in our first studio. Everything we make is tested in front of it, because daylight is the light your skin is actually seen in.

Why daylight

Studio bulbs flatter. Windows tell the truth.

Most beauty is developed under bright, warm, forgiving light. It looks perfect at the counter and grey at the office. We wanted the opposite problem: formulas and shades that hold up in the harshest, most honest light there is.

So every texture is judged at a north-facing window between ten and two, every tint shade is matched on real skin of that depth, and every active is printed on the front with its percentage. If it can't survive the window, it doesn't ship.

The Oriel standard

Every % on the front

If an active is in the name, its percentage is on the label. No fairy-dusting.

Fragrance-free face care

Nothing on your face is scented. Body care uses natural oils, listed in full.

Matched in daylight

Shades are judged on real skin at a window, from fair to deep, before they ship.

Glass, refills, less

Glass bottles, refillable lipstick and jars, and outer boxes we are phasing out.

So far

2021
A studio by a window
Two chemists and a makeup artist rent a room in Kala Ghoda with a north-facing bay window and start matching shades in it.
2022
Three bottles
Dawn Milk Cleanser, Clear Morning Serum and Daylight Fluid SPF 50 launch online. The SPF sells out in nine days.
2024
Eight shades, fair to deep
Second Skin Tint arrives after eighteen months of testing on 140 people, every shade judged at the window.
2026
Refills, everywhere
Refillable lipstick and night cream, glass-return at every counter, and outer boxes on their way out.

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