Our Story
From the hills of Verona, made with joy
In 1989, Franco and Linda Canteri founded Lakshmi on the hills of Verona and named it after the Indian goddess of beauty and abundance. More than thirty-five years later, the practice they began remains the same: Ayurvedic-inspired formulations developed through modern Italian cosmetic science.
It began with a journey
In 1988, Franco and Linda Canteri traveled to India for one of the first Ayurveda courses of their generation, the group now remembered as the Pioneers of Ayurveda. They came home carrying a question that would shape the rest of their lives: what happens when the wisdom of Ayurveda meets the rigor of Italian cosmetic formulation? Lakshmi was founded on October 2, 1989, to find out.
Formulated in our own laboratory
Lakshmi's formulas are developed in our laboratory (La Verde Vita), part of Lakshmi Holding, in Tuscany, with analysis carried out by Genesis, the group's own analysis laboratory. Since 1989 this work has produced more than 300 products, each one built on the same bridge: Ayurvedic botanical tradition on one side, modern Italian cosmetic science on the other.
Personalized by dosha since 1999
Ayurveda reads skin through three constitutions: Vata, which runs dry and delicate; Pitta, which runs sensitive and reactive; and Kapha, which runs rich and congestion-prone. In 1999 Lakshmi built its skincare lines around these doshas, so every ritual answers your skin's actual constitution instead of an average.
The Lakshmi Garden
Since 2017, Lakshmi's home has been the Lakshmi Garden in Bosco Chiesanuova, inside the Lessinia Regional Park above Verona. The building is bioarchitecture: FSC-certified pine, photovoltaic power, rainwater cisterns, and a botanical garden of damask rose, jasmine, lavender, and helichrysum. The company that works there is 79 percent female, and the technical department is entirely female, thirteen technicians strong.
An annual return to the source
Since 2014, the Ananda Lakshmi Ayurvedic Retreat in Kerala, India has anchored the brand to authentic Ayurvedic practice, with Panchakarma, Ayurveda's classical purification protocols, led by resident Ayurvedic medical staff. The Lakshmi team returns to India every year, so the tradition informing the formulas is lived, not borrowed.
Begin your ritual
Your skin has a constitution. The dosha quiz reads it, and your ritual follows from there.
Made with joy. Franco and Linda Canteri, Founders