Gunam, in Elizabeth’s native language,
Malayalam, translates to goodness, benefit,
virtue, and much more.
Meet Elizabeth
Born and raised in the small town of Kadayiruppu in Kerala, much of Elizabeth’s time was spent learning about natural ingredients and their real-world applications.
Just a few yards away from home was her family’s factory. A fifty-year-old organization, Synthite, is a global supplier of spice and plant extracts. Instinctually, she developed a habit of analyzing the ingredient list of any new product she came across.
Since her teens, her troublesome skin led to multiple doctor visits and even more tubes and jars that held a promise for better skin. Having suffered from severe side effects to traditionally prescribed acne medication, Elizabeth went on her own journey to experiment with more natural solutions; combining skincare and natural supplements finally helped get her acne-prone skin under control.
The need for skincare that was
born out of necessity eventually became a passion.
Elizabeth went on to work for a cosmetics ingredients supplier in Paris. She realized she could one day develop her own formulations using ingredients extracted in her family’s factories.
Back home in India, during the first of the COVID lockdowns, she decided it was time to lay the foundation for Gunam. With the idea of developing sustainably formulated products, Elizabeth started to work with formulators in France, combining Indian ingredients with French formulation expertise.
Elizabeth’s dream is to build a conscious and genuinely inclusive company, as she recognizes her privileges growing up in a rich and diverse land.