Why bronze matters in skincare

When Kavita Khosa, a lawyer turned wellness entrepreneur, launched Purearth 12 years ago, she was clear that her beauty brand wouldn't be about chasing trends, but more focused on raising awareness about traditional practices. 

This year, she won a patent for one of the brand's most innovative products, the Kwansha Coin, which merges the benefits of gua sha (used in traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, for massaging) with bronze, an alloy hailed in Ayurveda for its therapeutic properties.

“Because of my husband (born in Hong Kong), I started going to TCM aestheticians, who would do gua sha with horn material tools to release heat, toxins, and pain, and improve qi flow (the flow of energy)," Khosa, an Iyengar yoga teacher who's studied Ayurveda, explains while talking about the idea behind the coin. "Eight years ago, I thought, why not marry TCM and Ayurveda?” 

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Khosa worked with artisans in Odisha, Punjab, and Gujarat, to create the coin, which is handmade, with perfectly rounded edges that sit well on the facial contours. She says the Kwansha Coin can be used to massage blocked energy in different areas, including the thumb and forearm.

Why kwansha, or kansa (copper), though?

“When I was a child my grandmother used to rub my belly with warm mustard oil in a kansa vatti (copper bowl), when I had stomach ache. While rubbing the tummy with a round bowl, she used to put the oil in my navel. I wanted to learn more about the kansa alloy as I grew older,” says Khosa. 

Unlike other gua sha stones, often made with jade or rose quartz, the Kwansha Coin has been designed to work on the contours and give the face a snatch. 

Research shows massaging with kansa helps release toxins, heat and acidity, and improve imbalances in the body.

“In Ayurveda, kansa is believed to balance the body's doshas and enhance the nutritional value of food. So, whether you choose to eat out of a bronze vessel or massage yourself with it, kansa or bronze has only positives to offer for your skin and body," Khosa says. 

The patent journey

Once launched in 2017, the coin was replicated by several brands, which prompted Khosa to file for a patent. 

“We took over seven years, and hundreds of prototypes to finally arrive at a design and function we were happy with. Since we debuted the product before it was patented (she filed for a patent in 2018; the process was delayed because of the pandemic), it resulted in a lot of knock-offs," says Khosa. 

"The system around registering patents is not the friendliest, but if a lot of businesses are there and represented and trying, I trust the system around it will change, and copyrights will be taken much more seriously.” 

Dhara Vora Sabhnani is a Mumbai-based writer. 

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