Interview | Diipa Büller-Khosla of Indē Wild

Long before “beauty founder” appeared on her résumé, Diipa Büller-Khosla was already rewriting the rules of influence: part digital powerhouse, part activist, and part beauty insider.

Now, as her brand Indē Wild officially lands at Sephora US, hitting 178 US stores on March 13 after a successful digital launch, it’s clear she’s doing more than growing a business. She’s leading a major movement for South Asian-led beauty.

Since Diipa introduced Indē Wild in 2021, the brand has carved out its own beauty hybrid — one that blends Ayurvedic rituals with modern cosmeceutical science. The brand calls it Ayurvedistry, a philosophy that embodies Diipa’s own upbringing and perspective: one rooted in South Asian heritage but designed for a fast-paced, global world.

By entering Sephora, Indē Wild has become one of the first homegrown Indian beauty brands to land a major retail partnership in the US — a huge moment for Diipa, whose mission has been to bring South Asian beauty rituals into the mainstream.

We caught up with Diipa to talk about the story behind Indē Wild, the rituals that inspired the brand, and why bringing Ayurveda into today’s beauty conversation feels so relevant right now.

What inspired you to create Indē Wild?

Indē Wild came together through a series of red threads in my life. My mother is a practitioner of Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old Indian system of healing rooted in balance and holistic wellbeing, and she’s also a dermatologist. So, growing up, I had the unique experience of seeing traditional rituals and clinically backed science exist side by side, each informing the other. It was a dab of ghee on chapped lips and elbows in winter instead of lip balm or lotion, alongside carefully prescribed, clinically proven treatments for when I fell sick. These worlds have always coexisted for me.

At the same time, I spent over a decade navigating my own acne journey, trying every product I could get my hands on without truly addressing the root of the problem.

What became clear to me was that modern beauty often focused on quick fixes, while traditional practices held deep wisdom but weren’t always designed to keep up with life today.

That only became clearer to me the longer I spent behind the scenes in the beauty industry — people wanted the efficacy and credibility of science, but also craved the depth and intention of heritage rituals.

Indē Wild was born to bring those worlds together. We call it Ayurvedistry — combining time-tested ancient Indian rituals with modern conscious chemistry and real consumer insight to create products that are effective, intentional, and relevant today.

What product makes the best introduction to the brand?

The Champi Hair Oil really is the heart of Indē Wild and the best introduction to the brand. It’s our hero hair product and the one that truly captures our philosophy.

Champi is inspired by a four-generation Khosla family recipe and rooted in the traditional Indian scalp oiling and massage ritual I grew up with. We modernised it completely to include 16+ actives and updated it to a lightweight, mess-free formula that supports scalp health and hair density, while also offering aromatherapeutic benefits that make the ritual feel calming and grounding.

It’s now our best-selling product, with over half a million bottles sold, a whole Sunday Champi movement behind it, and numerous awards. It represents what Indē Wild does best: taking a deeply rooted ritual and making it accessible, effective, and adaptable for modern life.

For someone newer to the brand and Ayurveda as a whole, our Dewy Lip Treatment is also a very easy entry point. It’s a modern take on ghee for the lips — a vegan blend of peptides and squalene that give you cushiony, pillowy hydration and shine. It’s quickly become a cult favourite in our community, and we’ve sold out more times than I can recount. Together, they really do capture what Indē Wild is about: Born from India, made for the world, because great rituals should belong to everyone.

What has been the biggest highlight?

I think what I’m most proud of is the product itself. Champi is based on a ritual I grew up doing every Sunday at home with my family, something we’ve practiced for generations, and seeing people across the world embrace it in their own way still feels surreal.

Watching these rituals compete alongside, and often outperform, legacy beauty brands in retail has been incredibly validating and has made me proud to have done justice to that legacy through our products. In fact, I see that most clearly in the community that’s grown around Indē Wild.

What started as conversations around hair oiling and skincare has become a movement rooted in education, self-care, and shared heritage — one that’s taken on a life of its own. We’ve had everyone from young girls to grown men come up to us saying, “Indē Wild made champi cool again,” and that’s a badge of honour I don’t take lightly, especially having once been on the other side of that conversation.

We’ve hosted sell-out community events everywhere from New York to London to Bombay, and each time, the love and energy for the brand and the products has been unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

Of course, becoming the first homegrown Indian beauty brand to launch at Sephora US is a milestone I don’t take lightly. It feels like a signal that there’s space on the global stage for brands with a strong point of view, coming from outside the traditional beauty playbook.

What advice would you give to those wanting to launch their own beauty business?

Be obsessed with your customer. Not trends, not buzzwords, not what’s working for someone else or “the next big ingredient,” but the real people you’re building for.

Spend time understanding what they need, what actually works for them, and what problems they’re trying to solve in their everyday lives. At Indē Wild, we do this through 65+ focus groups made up of real customers and community members — sessions that can last for hours, because there’s truly no replacement for the insights those conversations can give you.

Trends will come and go, and so will buzzy ingredients and bold claims. What lasts is trust. And trust is built by being honest about what your products can and can’t do, listening continuously, and showing up consistently over time. If you focus on solving real problems well, everything else tends to follow.

What’s next for Indē Wild?

The most exciting thing right now is our Sephora US launch, which feels like a huge milestone for us as a truly global brand. Taking these rituals from my mother’s kitchen and my grandfather’s garden and seeing them on the shelves of Sephora really is surreal, especially because it’s happening so soon. The launch feels like a moment we’ve been building toward for a long time, and it opens up a new way for new people to discover Indē Wild and the rituals we grew up with.

Beyond that, we’re expanding our product portfolio based directly on what our community has been asking for. Some of our most highly requested launches are coming up this year too. We’re expanding the hair and skin categories in ways our community has been asking for — new formulations rooted in Ayurvedistry, but made to feel contemporary, effective, and easy for daily life for everyone.

What does your daily beauty routine look like?

Through my own acne journey, I learned that the best beauty routines really are the simplest ones. I’ve tried doing more, and it never worked as well as doing less, consistently.

In the morning, I focus on protection and balance. I cleanse, use our Sunrise Glow serum that gives me everything I need in the right proportions from vitamin C and turmeric to niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, followed by moisturiser, and always finish with sunscreen, of course. I like routines that take the guesswork out of skincare and actually fit into real life, which is the exact reason we made our skin serums.

At night, it’s about repair and recovery. I cleanse thoroughly, apply our Sunset Restore serum with bakuchiol as a natural, milder retinol alternative, and finish with a nourishing moisturiser.

And scalp care is non-negotiable for me. A Sunday champi ritual is something I’ve carried with me from childhood, and it’s still one of my favourite ways to slow down, reset, and take care of myself.

What are three beauty products you can’t live without?

One would definitely be the Champi Hair Oil from Indē Wild. Scalp care has always been a part of my routine, and Champi is something I reach for — not just for hair health, but as a ritual that helps me slow down and reset.

Outside of my own brand, I’ve been loving the Weleda Skin Food Rich Cream, especially when my skin is dry or compromised because it’s simple and does exactly what it promises.

And Tatcha’s The Rice Wash is a staple for me. It’s gentle, effective, and leaves my skin feeling clean without ever stripping it, which is so important when you’re trying to keep your routine balanced.

What’s the biggest beauty lesson you’ve learned?

Less really is more. For a long time, I thought the answer was doing more — more products, more actives, more steps — but giving my skin space to breathe changed everything. Consistency and restraint have done far more for my skin than any complicated routine ever did.

I’ve also learned that what’s happening on the inside shows up on the outside. How you eat, how you sleep, and how you manage stress all reflects on your skin and hair.

The best thing you can do for your beauty routine isn’t always another product, but taking care of yourself in a more holistic way. I truly believe that when you feel centred, it shows.

Which person or brand would you love Indē Wild to collaborate with?

On the brand side, I’d love to collaborate with Rare Beauty. What Selena has built feels values-led and community-first, and I respect how the brand centres emotional wellbeing alongside beauty. There’s a natural alignment in creating products that feel inclusive, thoughtful, and grounded in self-care rather than chasing an idea of perfection.

On a more personal level, collaborating with Shah Rukh Khan would be incredibly special. He’s someone who transcends generations and cultures, and represents confidence, warmth, and global Indian identity in a way few people can. Seeing someone like him engage with these rituals of self-care would be powerful, and a meaningful way to continue normalising these conversations across audiences.

What’s not getting the attention it deserves in the beauty industry right now?

I think Ayurveda, when approached thoughtfully and clinically, still doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I always see it reduced to trends or ingredients, rather than treated as a complete system with real depth and history.

There’s so much potential in translating these rituals into formulations that are modern, evidence-informed, and designed for today’s lifestyles. I’d also love to see more focus on long-term skin and scalp health rather than quick fixes. Beauty doesn’t need to be loud or extreme to be effective. It needs to be consistent, intentional, and rooted in practices that support the body and health over time.

Indē Wild is stocked at Sephora UK and Sephora US, as well as online at indewild.com, which ships to both the UK and US.