About us

ABOUT ILUVIA

Professional haircare, engineered for Indian hair and water.

iluvia is the culmination of indigenous research and development to build a true salon professional brand out of India. Cruelty-free, since 2015.

  • 3,000+ professional salons across India use iluvia
  • 6 concern-led ranges, from hard water to colour and smoothened hair
  • PETA registered cruelty-free brand

Our story: two engineers, one problem, hard water

iluvia began with two engineers from VIT Vellore, Palash Pandey and Nishant Gupta. In his final year, Palash built the earliest formulations as an engineering project, mentored by Dr. Jayasankar Variyar, then Dean of Academics at VIT. They had seen how many people struggle with hair damage from hard water, and wanted a solution that works scientifically.

Why a shampoo? Showerhead filters are generally designed for chlorine and sediment, and water softeners need plumbing that is often impractical in high-rises. A shampoo is easy to replace and easy to take on a trip.

The project was incubated at the VIT Technology Business Incubator, with an investment from VIT and a Government of India MSME grant for the hard water shampoo. The Hard Water Shampoo launched in March 2017 and reached salons in 2018. Today iluvia is used in 3,000+ professional salons across India and sold online on Amazon.in, Nykaa, Myntra, Tata CLiQ and iluviapro.com.

The name iluvia comes from lluvia, the Spanish word for rain, a nod to clean, pure water.

Built around real hair problems

  • Hard water and build-up: Hard Water Shampoo and Squalene Restorative Conditioner, for normal to oily scalps.
  • Dry or damaged hair: Sulfate Free Shampoo and Hair Repair Mask.
  • Frizz, shine and heat styling: Intensive Haircare Liquid Serum, Hair Protection Liquid Serum and 100% Pure Argan Oil.
  • Care after chemical services: the ChitinX range, with the Deep Clarifying Detox Shampoo, Fortifying Shampoo and Reinforcement Mask. ChitinX Amino Treatments are available exclusively at professional salons.

Learn more on our science page.

Indian research, formulated and manufactured in India

Renaura Wellness Private Limited, incorporated in September 2015, was recognised as a startup by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Startup India in February 2017, and has been building a next-generation haircare company out of India ever since. Our products are formulated and manufactured in India, in the spirit of Make in India, using ingredients sourced from across the world. Our research began as a final-year engineering project at VIT Vellore, was incubated at VIT-TBI and was supported by an MSME grant approved in 2016. We want to help put Indian haircare research and development on the map.

Built in India, for the world

Hard water is a concern in many countries, including the UK, Germany and the US, and frizz is common in humid, coastal areas, where around 4 in 10 people live within 100 km of the sea. We start from problems like these, and we see what we build in India as innovation that can serve hair well beyond it.

How we got here

  • 2014: First formulations, built as a final-year engineering project
  • March 2017: Hard Water Shampoo launches
  • 2018: Launch for salons, in black professional packaging
  • 2019: Squalene Restorative Conditioner and Intensive Hair Care Liquid Serum
  • 2021: Sulfate-free range
  • 2024 to 2025: LissLock and ChitinX

As featured in

  • Entrepreneur India: profile of iluvia and hard-water haircare, 25 December 2024.
  • ELLE India: "ELLE Loves: Transformative Haircare Systems For Every Need."
  • The Times of India: Vellore-based Renaura wins at Startups Club Demo Day, Chennai, 20 February 2016. Read
  • YourStory: New-age wellness startup Renaura is taking on the hard water problem to ensure an end to bad hair days, 2 September 2020. Read

Available at professional salons across India, and online on Amazon.in, Nykaa, Myntra, Tata CLiQ and iluviapro.com.

Are you a professional salon?

Register for professional pricing, salon-size packs, spa kits and offers. Register your salon. Looking to buy for yourself? Shop at iluviapro.com.