Diipa Büller Khosla is busy deciding where to lunch. She loves a good South Indian meal. And, filter coffee. Savya Rasa, Manjal, Junior Kuppanna... she lists out her options. The Mumbai/Amsterdam-based influencer — with an Instagram following of 2.1 million — has strong ties with Chennai. Her mother grew up here. Diipa lived here for a year and studied in Udhagamandalam (Ooty). She was back in the city this week to host an event for her brand Inde Wild - The Champi Tour - Momi x Diipa Khosla. “This feels like homecoming,” she says.
Diipa launched Inde Wild, her skincare and beauty line in 2021. That is the year she delivered not one, but two pandemic babies. Her daughter Dua in April and Inde Wild in October. “I was on call (for the brand) three days after giving birth to Dua. I was mulling over this launch for many years. Trying to create a business in a world that had shut down had its challenges,” she says.
“If you look at the beauty world, there are Ayurveda brands and dermatologist-led brands. We wanted to marry both; make a modern version for the youth in India,” says Diipa. The first product the brand created was an AM PM serum. Before a new product is formulated, she asks her community of Inde Wild users what they would like next. That is how the SPF lip balm came about.
The hair oil is one of their bestsellers globally and was the main character at the Chennai event. The oil is made using her mother’s formula. Champi (head massage) with this oil was a constant in her childhood. It would be a shame not to launch this hair oil, says Diipa. Though Khosla senior was against the idea in the beginning, she eventually gave in and shared the ingredients and recipe. The manufacturing happens in different parts of the world. For example, the champi oil is made in Gurgaon, the SPF lip balm is made in Seoul.
The 33-year-old entrepreneur is also one of the first Indian digital creators. During an internship at a social media agency in 2012 in Amsterdam, she noticed a lot of Caucasian women making it big on social media. “I wanted to be this influencer person; though this term hadn’t come about then. I wondered why isn’t an Indian woman doing it? Why should we not have representation? So, I started in 2014,” she recalls.
One of the first things that went viral was when she showed her acne skin live. It started a dialogue about real women and skin and body positivity. Because till then people were largely using filters for their face.
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“My wedding post went viral. We hit 200 million impressions in a week. There was a moment when my husband (Oleg Büller) touched my feet and we spoke about mutual respect.” Then there were moments from her attendance at Cannes film festival that received a lot of views, especially a picture of her in a yellow gown with two breast pumps, just after her daughter’s birth.
Her talks at Harvard, House of Commons, United Kingdom, Davos, TED Talks, all largely highlight topics such as minority women leaders, doing business globally, how to fundraise etc. Topics that resonate with her community include fashion, entrepreneurship, family, speaking up against patriarchy, and women empowerment. “I started an NGO with my husband four years ago. It’s called Post For Change and we use it for social change, fight for women empowerment and gender equality.”
As part of empowering women, Diipa says every Sunday she gives a shout out to macro and nano women influencers. When I started, it was a lonely place,” she says, adding “Now that I am somebody its nice to use my voice for somebody.”
