In a world oversaturated with synthetic formulas and empty promises, AÏZA is taking a different approach, one rooted in nature, heritage, and driven by deep intention. Founded in Dubai by Shubham Poddar, AÏZA is redefining what clean beauty truly means, harnessing the power of natural Arab ingredients, from dates and black seed to sidr and translating them into modern, high-performance formulations that work in harmony with your skin rather than against it.
The Middle East has long been one of the strongest consumers of global beauty brands, yet for years, the region’s own extraordinary beauty heritage remained largely untapped and unmodernised. Shubham saw that gap and knew it was too significant to ignore. With AÏZA, he set out to do something far bigger than launch a product ,he set out to put Arab beauty on the global map, standing confidently alongside Korean, Japanese, and Ayurvedic beauty as a category in its own right.
Every product is formulated to meet the strictest global clean beauty benchmarks, alcohol-free, cruelty-free, and vegan, developed in leading international labs while staying deeply rooted in regional identity. It is a brand built not on borrowed branding, but on genuine substance. With a growing global presence under the banner of aiza.global, Shubham is on a mission to make conscious, culturally rooted beauty not just accessible, but irresistible. We sat down with him to find out what sparked the journey, what drives the vision, and where AÏZA is headed next.
Take us back to the beginning, what was the moment or experience that made you say “I need to build this”?
The Middle East has been one of the strongest consumers of global beauty brands, yet there were very few brands created for this region. At the same time, Arab beauty has an incredibly rich heritage, from ingredients like dates, black seed, and sidr to generations of DIY rituals, but much of it hasn’t been modernised or taken global.
That gap felt too obvious to ignore. I founded Amaani with the vision of creating the next generation of consumer brands from the region, for the region and the world, with AÏZA as our first flagship brand. With AÏZA, we set out to take the richness of Arab beauty and translate it into something modern, high-performance, and globally relevant; a brand that feels deeply rooted in the region, yet resonates far beyond it.
How does your work reflect the community you’re rooted in, and how has that community shaped your creative or business direction?
I come from the Marwari community in India, which historically has been very entrepreneurial — people who would move into new regions, understand local needs deeply, and build businesses that serve and grow with the community.
That mindset has shaped how I think about AÏZA. It’s about entering a space with humility, understanding the cultural context deeply, building something meaningful, and taking the entire ecosystem along with you. That’s very much in our DNA.
In a crowded space, what makes what you do genuinely different , not just in what you offer, but in how you think?
We are fundamentally product-first. We don’t believe in taking off-the-shelf formulas and layering branding on top. Our starting point is: how do you take the richness of Arab beauty and translate it into modern, sensorial, high-performance formulations?
We combine regional ingredients with clinically proven actives, developed in leading global labs, and then build storytelling and brand around that. Every product is formulated to meet AÏZA Clean standards (aligned with the strictest global benchmarks like Ulta’s Conscious Beauty and Clean at Sephora) and is alcohol-free, cruelty-free, and vegan (with the exception of select regional ingredients like honey).
There’s Korean beauty, Japanese beauty, Ayurvedic beauty;our ambition is for Arab beauty to stand alongside them on the global stage.
Walk us through a challenge that nearly made you quit, and what kept you going.
Honestly, building a brand, especially a new category, comes with challenges almost every week. But I’ve never really thought about quitting. If you’re deeply mission-driven, challenges don’t feel like endpoints; they feel like problems to solve. You might need to work harder, rethink strategy, bring in new people, or take a different route, but there’s always a way forward. That mindset is what keeps you going.
How do you balance staying true to your original vision while adapting to what the market or your audience needs?
Our vision is to build the most loved Arab beauty brand globally; achieving that requires being extremely close to our consumers.We spend a lot of time understanding how people use our products, what they love, what they want next. The vision doesn’t change, but how we execute and evolve absolutely does, based on what the customer is telling us.
What does support for local and independent businesses actually look like in practice, what have you received, and what do you wish existed?
Consumer brands are not a winner-takes-all space; there’s room for many brands to coexist, and that’s what makes it exciting.
We learn constantly from brands globally and within the region,both those ahead of us and those just starting out. More broadly, I think we’re at the beginning of a wave where multiple brands from this region can scale together and take Arab culture global, and that collective momentum matters.
Who in your city or region is doing something you deeply respect, and why?
Huda and Mona Kattan have built incredible global brands from the region, across colour cosmetics and fragrance, and really paved the way. That’s something we deeply respect and aspire to do in our own category.
I also really admire Sarah, the founder of FIX Chocolate, for taking regional ingredients into a completely different category and putting them on the global map, including incredible recent pop-ups like Harrods. That kind of thinking is inspiring.
If you could change one structural thing to help entrepreneurs like you thrive, what would it be?
Access to capital and structured support for consumer brands.
The region has created enormous value in 3 sectors: financial services, real estate, and retail, but innovation and access to venture capital for consumer brands have been relatively limited. I believe the next decade will see a new generation of homegrown consumer brands, and for that to happen at scale, founders need better access to funding, mentorship, and ecosystem support.
What does success look like for you in the next three years, and how do you define it beyond revenue?
Success for us is becoming the defining Arab beauty brand globally; not just in terms of scale, but in how people feel about the brand. Over the next few years, we’ll continue to expand across the GCC, both online and offline with partners like Ulta, while also beginning to take AÏZA into international markets.
What would you say to someone sitting on a dream similar to yours, too afraid to start?
You’ll regret not starting far more than you’ll regret trying.There’s never a perfect moment; you figure things out as you go. Taking that first step is the hardest part, but it’s also the one that changes everything.
By Lea Nouhra
