Avara By AAPI Dr. Dhivya Srinivasa Fills A Gap Of Beauty That Does Not Exist
Dr. Dhivya Srinivasa is a breast reconstructive microsurgeon. She spent years working with women whose bodies had been profoundly changed by cancer treatment and saw, in parallel, that the beauty industry had nothing meaningful to offer them. For instance, there is no dedicated shelf at Sephora or a curated pharmacy section for the consumer whose skin concerns are rooted in health over aesthetics. The woman navigating chemotherapy, IVF, menopause or autoimmune disease was, in beauty retail terms, invisible.
Avara is her answer to that absence. The brand is formulated for sensitive skin affected by cancer treatment, hormonal disruption, post-procedure recovery and chronic inflammation, and it sits within a target demographic of women aged 30 to 65 moving through some of the most physically and emotionally demanding experiences of their lives. Srinivasa describes what she is building as health-inclusive beauty, a category she argues does not yet exist in any meaningful commercial form. "The beauty industry has historically prioritized aspirational aesthetics over real life health experiences," she says over email. "Millions of consumers feel overlooked because their skin concerns are connected to broader health realities rather than conventional cosmetic goals."
The growth Avara has posted in its first year makes an unambiguous case for the demand. The brand moved from approximately $305,000 in total 2024 sales to more than $747,000 in trailing twelve-month revenue, a year-over-year increase of over 3,300%. In the most recent 90-day period alone, Avara generated more than $480,000 in sales with 137% growth, and the most recent 30-day period exceeded $220,000. Srinivasa is self-funded. Ninety-one percent of customers who purchase one product return to try another or buy again, a retention figure that speaks to how badly this consumer has wanted to be seen.
"What makes Avara unique is that we are creating a new segment centered around health inclusivity," Srinivasa says. "This includes consumers experiencing treatment-related skin sensitivity, chronic inflammation, hormonal disruption, aging concerns, post-procedure recovery, and other medically adjacent skin challenges that legacy beauty brands have largely ignored." In a month dedicated to recognizing what AAPI founders bring to industries that have long excluded them, Avara is perhaps the clearest example of what happens when someone with the right expertise and the right lived proximity to a problem simply decides to solve it.