Earth Rhythm is a skincare brand in India (previously known as Soapworks India). Their brand ethos is to create non-toxic skin care products that can be used by anyone who is sensitive to OTC skincare. I think it launched because the founder’s son had a syndrome due to which he couldn’t use OTC skincare.

I have been using Earth Rhythm for more than 2 years and I remember that because I started using their products right after my wedding. It was when this brand was known as “Soapworks India”, in case anyone knows. Just for the record, I loved the older name more.

I started using them simply because I loved their eco-friendly packaging at that time and not just because it was sustainable but also because the packaging was hell cute while being at it. I decided to write this post essentially for two reasons –

• I have used a lot of products from their product lines. Something that would be true for very few cosmetic brands as I use very few products in general and they are usually picked with a purpose in mind, so they may or may not be from a single brand.
• At the time Earth Rhythm launched, it was a fairly new concept in India – Indian skin care brands that are standalone and Indie and running their own production for whatever reason (Sustainability, clean beauty – a term I am not aligned to btw)

As I mentioned, I wanted to buy their first product because of their beautiful packaging but I ended up picking a basic looking moisturizer as I needed one at the time. I ended up enjoying it. I have several empty jars of the same stashed at my home even now (they were running a recycling campaign at that time so I saved them but they shut that campaign due to COVID).

Since then, I have used their cleansing balms, lip tint, a propolis serum, their solid shampoo bar (one of their cult products) and one sunscreen. I have also recommended their shampoo bars to curly haired friends because I see rave reviews online by curly haired people and my friends loved the bars. I think I am in a good position now to say what I feel about their products –

1. I love using most of their products. Almost all of the products have a soothing feeling to them. You know, like instant feel good on application.

2. What baffles and disappoints me as a customer is that almost none of the products have stood out for me as a solution to a problem. Not even the lip tint. The lip tint gave very basic tint which was barely visible after few minutes and because their products are formulated in a ‘natural’ way, the lip tint formulation in the pot also changed pretty quickly. I loved using the moisturizer, sunscreen, the cleansing balm and propolis serum because of the way they felt on my skin, so soothing and loving, but they didn’t do anything as a problem solution. For example, one of the cleansing balms mentions black head removal on usage which I don’t think I was even counting on and, of course, it didn’t happen. Essentially, I would not go for these products if I was looking for a solution to acne, wrinkles etc.

3. This brings me to my third and most important point. What do you feel about the term ‘clean beauty’ or non-toxic skincare? There are a lot of beauty brands these days who are marketing their products as ‘clean beauty’. This means a product formulated on the principle of “you only put on your skin what you can eat”. I don’t see a very relevant point here and I sort of agree with those beauty gurus who believe in solution based formulations. Just because something is a ‘chemical’ and is not edible, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be put on your skin. In fact, everything is a chemical composition. So why not put something on your skin that’s coming from an expert and is proven to provide a solution to your skin worries? Earth Rhythm is not a brand who harps on the concept of ‘clean beauty’ so it’s not like they are doing any deceptive marketing. But what they do is that they have tried to create a plant based or some other alternative of a proven chemical, something I am not able to appreciate (as i didn’t see a lot of results).

4. Their topmost cult products are their shampoo bars which seem to be working great for a lot of people, including me. I’ll be honest – it’s a pain to use a solid shampoo bar compared to the conventional liquid shampoos that we are used to. Comment below if you would want me to explain how to use solid shampoo bars. Nevertheless, you notice the good effects of a solid bar from the first use itself. Solid shampoo bars in general are less harsh for your scalp and hair, and these Earth Rhythm solid shampoo bars are just gold standard. If you are planning to start your journey with solid shampoo bars, you should definitely try Earth Rhythm’s solid shampoo bars.

In conclusion, I would like to mention that this is a brand I truly enjoy using for the feel good factor and I may continue buying from them, especially things that fit very well into my routine like cleansing balms for makeup removal, reusable cleansing pads, solid shampoo bars etc, but if I was looking for a solution to a skin problem, I would go for solution-based product or, better still, go for dermatologist recommended products.