Our Story — Petals & Pods

What we believe

The world we
come back to.

Rooted

In nature, ancient wisdom, and cultural memory. Our recipes are not invented — they are remembered.

Pure

Clean ingredients, zero waste, less is more. Nothing hidden behind a pretty label.

Radiant

Impact, openness, glow from the inside out. Skin that remembers what it was always meant to do.

I didn't set out to build a skincare brand.

I grew up in India with whole herbs in the kitchen, not in a beauty cabinet. A freshly made herbal paste that went into a curry could go on my skin for brightening or clearing a pimple. Nobody called it skincare. It was just life.

Over the years I tried to find something similar for my kids. Clean, herb-based, the kind of age-old concoctions I'd grown up with. Nothing came close. Then a handmade gift from a friend arrived during the 2022 holidays and quietly changed everything. Not because I suddenly loved skincare, but because I realized that what I'd grown up with, what many others growing up across Asia had known for generations, had been forgotten. Or worse, turned into something synthetic and sold back to us.

That felt like something I could fix.

Today I make face sticks by hand with my team. On the good days, which are most of them, it feels like exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Happy. Self-directed. Free. Sharing.

Skin is just the beginning.

— Leena Valleru, Founder

How it began

The journey from gift to moment

2022

A gift that changed everything

A handmade bar soap received during the holidays sparked a question — why don't more people have access to this? The Nalupu / Ubtan recipe from India, 5,000 years old, became the foundation.

2023

First batches, pressed by hand

Small-batch production began in San Francisco. Every stick pressed by hand, sourced from traceable ingredients, packaged with zero-waste intent. The Glass Skin Miracle Cleanser was born.

2024

Jazba Collective · Farmers Markets · Craft Fairs

Petals & Pods found its community — at farmers markets, handmade craft fairs, and through the Jazba Collective Accelerator. Real customers, real stories, real skin transformations.

2025

Two Sticks. Two Skin Stories.

The Brightening One-Step Glow Cleanser joined the collection. Expanding the range while refusing to scale the soul of what makes each stick special — hand-pressed, small batch, always.

Now

Exploring more ancient recipes

We are yet to explore more recipes. A formula creator intern from Milpitas is joining to research and revive time-proven skincare traditions from diverse global cultures. The journey has just begun.

The people behind the sticks

Meet the team

Leena Valleru

Founder

Explorer of self-knowing. Conscious living advocate. The vision, the recipes, and the heart behind every stick we press. San Francisco — London.

Lokesh

Virtual Assistant

The operational backbone that keeps everything running smoothly — from communications to coordination — so the founders can focus on what matters most.

Dhruv

Growth & Tech

Architect of the digital experience. Brings strategy and craft to every pixel of the brand's online presence.

Photos will be updated soon — reach out at hello@petalsandpods.com

What drives us

Our principles don't change
with the seasons.

Earth first, always

Every ingredient, every package, every decision is filtered through one question: does this honour the earth we come back to?

Ancient wisdom, modern trust

We don't invent — we revive. Time-proven recipes from diverse global cultures, brought to modern skin with full transparency.

Buy less, choose well

Anti-consumerism isn't a marketing line for us. One stick, two uses, morning and evening. Less is genuinely more.

Business as conscious living

We are living proof that commercial success and ethical practice are not at odds — they are the same path, walked with intention.

Skin is justthe beginning.

The world wecome back to.