Medimix is an Indian Ayurvedic personal-care brand best known for its green 18-herb bathing soap. The brand originated in Chennai and traces its roots to Dr. V. P. Sidhan, an allopathic doctor who worked for the Indian Railways and came from a family with a tradition of Ayurvedic practice. Medimix was commercially launched in 1969 and has since expanded from a single herbal soap into a broader portfolio covering skin, body, hair and hygiene care.1

The company’s own history identifies 1969 as the pivotal year in which Dr. Sidhan developed the iconic green soap based on the family’s Ayurvedic tradition and a formulation involving 18 herbs.2

Quick facts

Origins: the 1960s

The story of Medimix began before the brand itself existed. Dr. V. P. Sidhan was working as a doctor with the Indian Railways in Chennai. Among the people he treated were railway conservancy workers who experienced various skin problems, at a time when they often worked without adequate protective equipment.

Although trained in modern medicine, Sidhan came from a family associated with Ayurvedic practitioners in Thrissur, Kerala. He used traditional Ayurvedic oils to help address the workers’ skin problems. He eventually sought a more convenient way of delivering these formulations and incorporated the oils and herbs into a bathing soap.

The early soap was reportedly produced in Sidhan’s own home. Its reputation spread through word of mouth and pharmacies, eventually creating demand beyond the people for whom it had originally been made.

1969: Medimix is born

1969 is generally regarded as the founding year of Medimix. The original product was a green herbal soap based on an Ayurvedic formulation containing 18 herbs and natural oils. The brand name is commonly described as a combination associated with “medicine” and “mix,” reflecting the product’s original medicinal/Ayurvedic positioning.

The soap initially occupied a distinctive position in the Indian market: it was neither simply a traditional Ayurvedic preparation nor a conventional mass-market toilet soap. It presented Ayurvedic ingredients in a convenient, everyday bathing product.

From kitchen production to commercial brand

Medimix’s early production was remarkably small-scale. According to accounts of the company’s history, Sidhan initially made the soap himself, with help from his family and early employees. As demand grew, production moved from the household environment to dedicated manufacturing facilities.

Interestingly, handmade production became part of Medimix’s identity rather than merely an artifact of its early years. The company developed labor-intensive techniques and mechanical innovations that allowed the traditional manufacturing approach to continue at a larger scale.

During the 1970s, advertising through radio and billboards helped establish Medimix as a recognizable Ayurvedic soap, particularly in South India.

The Cholayil connection

Medimix is closely associated with Cholayil, the company founded around the Sidhan family business. Today, Cholayil Private Limited is the company behind the Medimix brand, and the company describes Medimix as its flagship brand.3

The company’s business expanded considerably beyond the original soap. It subsequently developed additional personal-care products and acquired other brands, including Cuticura in 2001.

For many years, Medimix was essentially synonymous with its original herbal soap. Over time, however, the company expanded the brand into multiple personal-care categories.

Today, the official Medimix range includes products such as:

• Ayurvedic soaps
• Body washes
• Face washes
• Shampoos
• Conditioners and hair-care products
• Hand washes
• Body lotions
• Body scrubs
• Hygiene products

The current official online catalogue lists products including Classic 18 Herbs Soap, turmeric and argan-oil soap, several body washes, face washes, shampoos, hand washes and body-care products.4

The iconic 18 Herbs Soap

The Medimix Classic 18 Herbs Soap remains the product most strongly associated with the brand.

Its identity is built around three ideas:

1. Ayurveda — connecting the product to India’s traditional system of medicine and wellness.
2. Herbal ingredients — particularly the traditional 18-herb formulation.
3. Everyday skincare — translating an Ayurvedic formulation into an inexpensive, mass-market bathing soap.

The company itself describes the original soap as an amalgamation of 18 herbs rooted in the Ayurvedic tradition.

The recognizable green bar has consequently become one of the strongest visual identifiers of the brand.

Medimix positions itself around the idea of bringing Ayurvedic knowledge into modern everyday personal care.

Its current brand communication emphasizes “The Goodness of Ayurveda” and describes its products as using natural/herbal ingredients. The company also states that its contemporary range includes products formulated without ingredients such as parabens and SLES in relevant products, alongside claims such as vegan and cruelty-free positioning.

This represents an evolution of the original proposition:

Traditional Ayurvedic knowledge → modern personal-care products

Rather than presenting Ayurveda exclusively as a treatment system, Medimix has historically attempted to make it part of ordinary bathing and skincare routines.

Medimix occupies an interesting position within India’s personal-care market.

It competes in the mass and mass-premium personal-care space while differentiating itself through Ayurveda and herbal ingredients. This gives it a distinct identity from conventional multinational soap brands that traditionally emphasized fragrance, beauty, moisturizing or lifestyle benefits.

Its major brand assets are:

• Long heritage — more than five decades.
• Ayurvedic credentials — rooted in the founder’s family tradition.
• The 18-herb formulation — a distinctive product story.
• The green soap bar — highly recognizable packaging/product identity.
• Indian origin — strongly connected to the country’s traditional wellness culture.
• Affordable accessibility — Ayurveda presented as an everyday consumer product rather than an expensive specialist treatment.

One of Medimix’s biggest strategic changes has been its movement from being essentially a soap brand to becoming a broader Ayurvedic personal-care brand.

The company now markets products for different stages of a consumer’s personal-care routine, including cleansing, facial care, body care, hair care and hygiene. Its international site, for example, lists multiple variants across soap, body wash, face wash, shampoo, moisturizer and intimate hygiene categories.

This expansion allows Medimix to compete for a larger share of consumers’ personal-care spending rather than depending primarily on the bathing-soap category.

Although Medimix is fundamentally an Indian brand, its products have also been marketed internationally. Historical company accounts describe exports to numerous countries, while the company currently maintains international-facing operations and product pages.5

The international strategy essentially takes the same core proposition—Indian Ayurveda + herbal personal care—to consumers outside India.

Medimix has received recognition in Indian brand surveys and industry rankings. For example, company and historical sources note its inclusion in Economic Times Brand Equity trust rankings. The brand has also promoted recognition such as its inclusion among the Economic Times Iconic Brands of India 2020.

Such recognition is significant because Medimix’s success has historically depended heavily on consumer trust and heritage, rather than simply competing through modern cosmetic positioning.

There is some complexity around Medimix’s corporate history because the wider Cholayil business has evolved over several generations and business responsibilities have been divided.

The brand remains associated with Cholayil Private Limited, while the broader business interests connected to the founding family have included the AVA Group. Historical accounts describe different family members taking responsibility for different geographical markets and business operations.

For a simple brand-level understanding, the safest description is:

Medimix is an Ayurvedic personal-care brand of the Cholayil business, originating with Dr. V. P. Sidhan and his family.

A useful way to understand Medimix is to compare its brand proposition with the broader Indian soap market:

The important part of the Medimix story isn’t simply that it sells herbal soap. Its differentiation comes from how early it entered the Ayurvedic personal-care space.

Medimix began in 1969, decades before “natural,” “herbal,” “clean beauty,” and “Ayurvedic skincare” became major contemporary consumer trends. Its original proposition therefore gave it a heritage advantage when these concepts later became increasingly attractive to consumers.

The brand has consequently been able to frame its heritage as proof of authenticity: Ayurveda wasn’t added to Medimix as a recent marketing trend—it was the foundation of the brand from the beginning.

As of 2026, Medimix continues to operate as an Ayurvedic personal-care brand under the Cholayil business, with a substantially broader portfolio than its original soap. Its official website describes the modern brand around Ayurvedic skin, body and hair care, while its catalogue demonstrates its expansion into numerous product categories.

Medimix is an Indian Ayurvedic personal-care brand founded in 1969 by Dr. V. P. Sidhan, an Indian Railways doctor from a family of Ayurvedic practitioners. What began as a handmade herbal soap developed from Ayurvedic oils and herbs became the iconic Medimix green 18-herb soap. Over more than five decades, the brand has expanded from its original bathing soap into face care, body washes, hair care, hygiene and other personal-care categories. Closely associated with Cholayil, Medimix has built its identity around Ayurveda, herbal ingredients, Indian heritage and accessible everyday skincare, and has extended its presence beyond India through international markets.

1. Medimix Ayurvedic
2. Medimix: The origin – Cholayil
3. PDF) Medimix: A 50-Year Journey of Entrepreneurial Innovation and Brand Leadership in Ayurveda Personal Care
4. A vision and a bottle of medicinal oil turn 50 – the Medimix story
5. Buy Medimix Ayurvedic Skin, Body & Hair Care Products Online in India