Kosha is a Sanskrit word for a sheath, a protective layer around the body. For Risa Monica Kharmutee, who began the Kosha journey in December 2019, it came to represent something much deeper: protection, nature, and a return to traditional ways of healing. In 2021, Geraldine Isabelle Lamare joined her, becoming an integral part of Kosha’s evolution and helping shape the journey it continues to take today.

Both women come from tribal communities in Meghalaya, a place where forests, farms, and people have long existed in close relationship with one another. What began with Risa making handmade soaps gradually grew into a wider exploration of natural cosmetics, traditional knowledge, and healing.

It Began With a Personal Need

For Risa, the journey started with her own skin. She struggled with severe skin issues and went looking for natural products that could help. Nothing she found worked well enough, so she decided to look for the answer herself.

That search turned into years of experimentation, study and research. Geraldine and Risa spent considerable time learning about ingredients, their properties, and the vitamins and compounds within them. They consulted dermatologists and botanists, studied chemistry, and tried to understand not just what an ingredient could do, but how and when it should be used.

There was no shortcut. They researched, tested and analysed, and used their own products before selling them to anyone else. This gave them a customer's-eye view of what they were making. Over time, people began returning, not just to buy again, but to share what had changed in their skin, and sometimes in their lives.

Everything Begins With Where They Come From

One thing sets Kosha apart: its relationship with its surroundings. The founders source their ingredients from the forests and farms of the Northeast wherever they can. Turmeric is homegrown. Honey comes directly from beekeepers. Spices come from local farmers, and essential oils from extractors in the region.

For Geraldine and Risa, knowing where an ingredient comes from matters. They've seen farmers work with their own manure and grow produce close to home, a relationship between land, farmer and community that they feel sets Meghalaya apart from much of the rest of India. Their aspiration is simple: to source as much as possible from the forests and farms around them, keeping their work tied to the land they call home.

Sharing a Journey, Not Just Selling a Product

Geraldine and Risa see themselves as sharing a journey rather than simply selling products. Every ingredient has a story behind it, every farmer they work with has one too, and every returning customer adds a new chapter.

Their approach has stayed flexible. When it makes sense, they explore customised products for individual needs. But they're also clear about the limits of what cosmetics can do. If someone has a serious or persistent skin concern, their advice is to see a doctor. For them, honesty matters more than a promise.

Building Without a Blueprint

Neither Geraldine nor Risa comes from a business family. They are the first in their families to start a business, with no established enterprise to inherit and none of the built-in confidence that can come from growing up around entrepreneurs. They had to learn business, formulation, chemistry, sourcing and everything else at the same time, largely on their own.

Their work eventually caught the attention of government of Meghalaya, which began offering support. A District Commissioner once asked them how they had managed without it for so long. The honest answer is that they had already learned to survive by believing in what they were doing, without waiting for someone else to create the opportunity for them.

Creating Opportunity in Meghalaya

Employment opportunities in many parts of the Northeast are limited, and Geraldine and Risa know this firsthand. Their ambition goes beyond running their own company: they want their work to open doors for people around them, and to show that something meaningful can be built in Meghalaya without having to leave in search of opportunity.

For Risa, this is personal. She doesn't want to leave the world without having made a difference, and that single line perhaps says more about Kosha than any description of a cosmetic brand could.

Beyond Cosmetics

Kosha doesn't seem interested in simply capturing a market. The founders want to spread awareness, to get people thinking about what they put on their bodies, where ingredients come from, and how nature might be approached with a little more respect. Their vision is gradually moving beyond cosmetics towards something closer to healing: not a promise printed on a label, but an awareness of the relationship between a person, their body, nature, community and the small choices made every day.

Neither founder would likely describe their work as spiritual. But something like it seems to be happening anyway, in the way they think about the land, the care they take to understand their ingredients before making claims, their relationships with farmers, beekeepers and extractors, and their willingness to listen to customers' experiences. It shows up, too, in the simple desire to build something larger than themselves.

Kosha Shillong began with soaps in December 2019. Its story since has grown into something bigger: two women who started with a personal problem, chose to learn rather than give up, built a business with no family legacy behind them, and are now working to create awareness, opportunity and a deeper relationship with nature in their corner of the world. Perhaps that is what Kosha ultimately means: not just a protective layer around the body, but a reminder of everything that surrounds us.

See the Process for Yourself

For anyone curious to see how it all comes together, there's an interview that walks through the processing of Kosha's products, from ingredients to the finished product. It's worth a watch:
https://youtu.be/4YP07309qp8?si=W6j-BhsEzz8Pyw6A
https://youtu.be/DJK0DeP_AEw?si=9j0IjmBRolbEHp4C
https://youtu.be/TCkBQVubMeU?si=gbu9R63oZBXIxaeT

 
This is genuinely an impressive story of grit, patience and a clear sense of purpose. If you'd like a customised product made for your own skin, reach out to Kosha Shillong at @kosha_shillong.