It was while attending a literature festival recently in Dehradun that I discovered the best moisturising cream I have ever used. Well, it’s not like I have kept a ranking of moisturising creams, but it felt pretty close to being better than anything I have used before.

It comes from a tiny brand called Asaagat born in the Garhwal hills and is a pure Ayurvedic product made by a collective of hill women called Gauri International. Turns out they also make an excellent pure aloe vera skin product. I discovered the pleasures of using absolutely pure aloe vera while living at Oxford—one bright spark there insisted that the only kind worth using had to have been cold pressed in Scotland—and I am convinced that the Asaagat supply came close enough.

Of course very few people have ever heard about this brand, far less used it, and that’s because the women’s collective that produces the products is made up of underprivileged local women who neither have money nor the skill sets to market their fine offerings.

As a long-time writer of Fortune India’s luxury coverage, I have a natural interest in brands like these and I decided to look up other brands in this genre from the region. It seemed perfectly logical that a region that is renowned for its environmental treasures should have the ability to create an ecosystem that brings forth products and experiences that are truly luxurious in a world hungry for organic fare. Also—just to put the numbers in perspective—India’s personal care market is inching towards annual sales of Rs 100,000 crore with near double-digit growth year-on-year.