Senthera, a new body care brand, launches in India their Make Love collection

The first scent that Margarita Kuritsyna remembers putting on at her childhood home in Ukraine, is a tropical scent called Pacific Paradise. The bottle, pink and blue in colour, often brought with it a fruity and fun smell. “The box had this young woman amidst palm trees. It was likely my mother’s perfume that I kept using for a while,” she says. Many years since, her tryst with the world of fragrance and perfume deepened. She gravitated to scents that often had notes of vanilla and always ended up making heads turn at events she would go to. “I’d also ask people what they wore too,” she says.

From her years of growing up in Ukraine, Margarita set up a life in India’s Gurugram. It was soon after that the quest for finding the perfect scent that also provided wholesome nourishment began. The idea for Senthera, her brand, was hence born in 2023 and launched in July this year.

The first line, Make Love, wrapped in lush and pretty pink packaging, consists of a shower gel with 10 oils, exfoliating body scrub and body cream with collagen. Upon opening the bottles, one immediately picks up on rose, lychee and vanilla. It is subtle yet it persists in the air, many hours after its first use. Of the three products, a shower gel for a lightening quick bath, an exfoliant for a deeper cleanse and the collagen body cream for hydrated skin, the cream remains a winner. Its scent, full of notes that the Indian palate is accustomed to, is one that is delicate yet intense.

Margarita Kuritsyna taking people through a bathing ritual 

Although Margarita did not study perfumery and was in the events and management space, she pivoted towards wellness early in her life. “I did many different things after university but I remember entering the world of body care when my mother handed me a gift of body cream and shower gel. It smelt great but it didn’t do much for my body. I was always attracted to the wellness industry and the passion for fragrance lingered. That is why I created my own brand,” she says.

At a wellness retreat for the launch of Senthera in Goa’s Brij Parasio amidst massages and gourmet meals, Margarita says that people often take care of their face with several active ingredients but do not pay the same attention to their body. “It is why our ingredient list included peptides, collagen and several other nourishing ingredients,” she says.

As someone who always hopped in and out of showers quickly, Margarita says that it is essential to take time twice a week to exfoliate. It is why her scrub continues to leave behind all the natural oils that the body produces. The product is free of harsh chemicals, without silicone and paraben and is vegan. “I do not like that squeaky clean, no oil feeling of the skin that some products create. It makes the skin extremely dry. We are careful about ensuring that the bathing ritual, on most days, is quick, yet intimate,” she says, explaining an ideal bathing ritual at the Goan resort where massages, journaling and tarot readings are curated for the launch.

Products from the range

It is why the line is eponymously named Make Love. Margarita wants people to remember the sweet smell of falling in love or developing a small crush. Memories have scent, she says.

Margarita says that it has taken relentless trials and many iterations of rose, lychee and vanilla to get here. It took two years for the final sample to develop. Only after this did she choose to let her family and friends take a whiff. “I don’t think I have fully grasped that something I have made is now out in the world. It is wonderful to see and take in,” she says.

The aim is to ensure that Senthera hits shelves of stores and is available on e-commerce platforms across India. “We will be launching new lines and shipping abroad soon,” she says. For now, she wants to ensure that everyone who gets a whiff of Senthera is reminded of the Goan monsoon: where one sips on feni between cloud bursts, as the smell of rain lingers in the air. All that is left to do is a long soak in hot water.

Senthera’s Make Love range starts at ₹1,499 and is available on sentheraworld.com.

(The author was at the event in Goa on invitation of the brand.)