A batch of vetiver cream, from roots to label

Every jar of vetiver day cream is made in a batch of 200, in the workroom behind our Thadagam Road shop. A batch takes most of a working day, and two people make it together.

The day before, Revathi steeps dried vetiver roots from Thanjavur in warm sesame oil. The roots release a cool, earthy scent and a pale gold colour into the oil. In the morning she strains the oil through muslin and weighs every ingredient on a scale that reads to a tenth of a gram, writing each weight on the batch sheet.

The cream is made in two pots. One holds the oils and the plant-based emulsifier; the other holds water and aloe juice. Both are warmed to about 70 °C, and the water phase is poured slowly into the oil while a stick blender runs. This is where a cream either comes together or separates, so nobody talks during the pour. The mixture is stirred as it cools, and once it drops below 40 °C, the vetiver extract, vitamin E and preservative go in. Heat would weaken them if added earlier.

A sample is set aside for our records and checked for colour, smell and texture against the last batch. Then Selvi fills each 50 g jar with a steel spatula, wipes the rim, seals it and sticks on a label with the batch number and date. By 5 pm the jars go on the shelf to rest overnight before they are packed.