Joining the global fight against lead contamination and lead poisoning
Ancient rituals.
Modern formulation.
Held to a Canadian standard.
Kajal, surma, and kohl have been worn across cultures and generations for thousands of years. We're formulating them to a modern standard, developed with cosmetic scientists.
Kajjala Black is our first step.
The product
Kajal · Surma coming soon
Held to a Canadian standard. True to the ritual.
Kajjala Black
Surma · Coming soon
Packaging concept render · final product photography to follow
Developed side by side with Seneca Cosmetic Science students, from ingredients chosen specifically to avoid the heavy-metal contamination that comes with traditional mineral sourcing. Built for the waterline and other traditions, for the way this has always been worn.
Formulated to the standard
Formulated to minimize lead and heavy metal content and to meet Canadian safety standards.
Vetted cosmetic-grade ingredients
Vetted cosmetic-grade ingredients, designed to minimize heavy-metal exposure and developed to meet Canadian cosmetic safety guidance.
Suppliers we vet
Raw materials sourced from trusted suppliers, held to our own standards from the first step forward.
Made for everyone
Made for anyone who lines their eyes, and made with the South Asian, MENA, and African diaspora communities who know this practice best, where kajal, surma, and kohl reach beyond cosmetics into ritual and daily life.
Our standards
What we will not compromise on.
We believe in holding a high standard at every step, not only in the formula.
Formulated without
Parabens, BHA, and BHT. Formulated to minimize lead and heavy metal content.
Cruelty-free
Formulated without animal testing.
Child-labour-free supply chain
We hold our supply chain to this standard, from raw material selection forward.
Sustainable packaging
A preference for sustainable, recyclable components, chosen with the communities we serve in mind, including places where waste infrastructure is limited.
100% women-owned
Founded and owned by women, in Toronto.
Why we made this
The label does not tell you
what is inside.
What you're sold
Traditional eye cosmetics sold in diaspora markets and online are often made with galena, a lead compound, and can carry very high levels of lead.
What that leaves you with
Something your family has used for generations, no way to know what is in it, and no better option to switch to.
Building on the warning
Health agencies, researchers, and advocates have done the hard work of surfacing this risk. What has been missing is an honest, trustworthy replacement. That is the part we are working to add.
Health Canada recalled two imported kohl products sold in Canada after lead was found above the limits in its guidance on heavy metal impurities in cosmetics. More than 1,100 units had already been sold here between January and August 2026.
A New York City Health Department investigation, published in the CDC's MMWR in 2024, traced lead poisoning across five members of one household to a single imported surma: 390,000 parts per million lead.
In 2025, Pure Earth tested 56 kohl, kajal, and surma products from online marketplaces. Twenty-nine exceeded the 10 ppm maximum the FDA recommends, nine measured above 100,000 ppm, three above 350,000 ppm.
The FDA and Health Canada both report high lead under every name, kohl, surma, and kajal alike. The word on the packaging is not always a safety indicator.
What lead actually does
Lead is a cumulative toxin, and there is no level of exposure known to be without harmful effects. It builds up in the body and affects the brain and nervous system, the blood, the kidneys, and the bones. In young children the effects on brain development can be permanent, and the risk is greatest during pregnancy and early childhood. Other heavy metals, such as cadmium and mercury, carry their own established harms.
Small amounts, used daily for years, compound. That is why the standard matters. Read the World Health Organization's fact sheet on lead and health.
Health Canada and the US FDA both recommend a maximum of 10 parts per million for lead as an impurity in a cosmetic. The surma in the New York case measured 390,000 ppm, thirty-nine thousand times that maximum.
Sources: Health Canada, Recall RA-82595, September 2026 · NYC Health / CDC MMWR 2024 · Pure Earth, Lead in Traditional Eyeliner, 2025 · US FDA · Health Canada · Health Canada, heavy metal impurities in cosmetics · Bloomberg Philanthropies
The tradition
A tradition worth preserving.
Lined eyes appear in some of the oldest records we have. In ancient Egypt, kohl was ground from minerals and worn daily. Across South Asia, families made kajal at home from lamp soot. In many communities, surma carries its own long devotional history. It has been worn for protection, for ritual, for eye health, and simply because it is beautiful.
The name changes from place to place. The practice does not. It crossed oceans, borders, and generations, and it is still being passed from one hand to the next.
“I wore these products my whole life. For ritual, for classical Indian dance recitals, during pregnancy, each morning. I never knew what was in them.”
Kruti Desai · Founder
Keep the ritual. Raise the standard.
Continue the chain
About us
Women-founded. One standard.
Two of us grew up wearing this, and used the same imported products for years without knowing what was in them. One of us spent a career in consumer product quality and compliance. We are building this because wanting something safer should not mean giving something up. We each have daughters. We want them to carry this tradition forward, without carrying the risk.
Kruti Desai
Founder
Wore grey market kajal for years, the same as most of these communities do, without knowing what was actually in it. Fifteen years in strategy, data, and transformation: numbers, benchmarks, and evidence are her first language.
Natasha Bartlett
Co-Founder/Product
Fifteen years in consumer product quality and compliance. She understands the product end to end, from sourcing and standards, to the product available on the shelf.
Chetna Sharma
Co-Founder
Community Engagement
Brand Strategist
Grew up with the same tradition and the same unverified grey market products. Over ten years in capital markets and banking, along with brand strategy experience in the eyewear space, she knows the difference between a brand that is known and a brand that is trusted, and she knows that in these communities, trust is not given, it is earned conversation by conversation.
Questions
What people ask us.
What is Silsāra?
Silsāra is a Canadian beauty brand formulating kajal, surma, and kohl to minimize lead and heavy metal content and meet Canadian safety standards. Founded in Toronto, Silsāra is developing cosmetics that honour traditional formulations while raising the safety standard for the category.
What are kajal and surma?
They are two names for the same tradition of lining the eyes, worn across South Asia, the Middle East and Africa for thousands of years. Kajal is the South Asian name, and surma is used across South Asian and Persian communities (also sormeh). The same practice is called kohl across MENA communities, and tiro, tozali or kwalli in parts of West Africa.
The preparations vary. Some are made at home from lamp soot. Others are ground from galena, a naturally occurring lead sulfide. Where galena is used, lead is not a trace contaminant, it is the base of the product, which is why the concentrations found can be so high. The US FDA reports that lead sometimes accounts for more than half the weight of these products. Products sold under any of these names may also contain antimony and other heavy metals.
We shouldn't have to choose between heritage and health.
Why reformulate an ancient tradition?
Many traditional eye cosmetics sold in diaspora markets are unregulated and contain toxic materials like lead sulfide, antimony, and galena, often undisclosed, and without any safety testing. Lead is a cumulative toxin, and there is no level of exposure known to be without harmful effects; in young children the effects on brain development can be permanent. Silsāra reformulates kajal and surma to meet Canadian safety standards while preserving the cultural heritage and beauty these products represent.
What happens next
Three steps, and the chain stays unbroken.
Join the waitlist
Tell us what you wear now and where you buy it. It costs nothing and it shapes what we make.
We do the work first
Before anything is sold, the formula is built on vetted cosmetic-grade ingredients from trusted suppliers, designed to minimize heavy-metal exposure and meet Canadian cosmetic safety guidance.
Wear it, and pass it on
Kajjala Black arrives at your door. Same ritual, new standard. Our goal is to give back to the communities carrying the heaviest burden of lead exposure, many of them low- and middle-income countries. That starts with you.
Be first
The chain continues with you.
Join the waitlist for first access to Kajjala Black, and word when Surma follows.
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Contact
Write to us.
General & press: hello[at]silsara.com
Wholesale & retail: hello[at]silsara.com with subject “Retail”