Costs went up. The promise doesn't.

This was a hard week, and we're sharing it too.

Between our first samples and the final quotes, raw material prices went up. The numbers came back higher than we planned. Not a disaster. But enough to reopen a budget we thought was closed.

When this happens, there are two quiet options. Raise the price. Or lower the quality — cheaper filters, thinner tubes, a few ml less in each tube, and hope nobody checks. No one posts about doing this. You just find out later, on your skin.

We started 78 Labs because this has happened to us too many times.

So we're taking a third option, the slow one: negotiating. We're going through every cost — materials, packaging, shipping. Pushing where we can. Paying where we must. It's boring work, and it moves only as fast as other people reply. This week, it costs us time, not quality.

What this means for you: your first bottle on the waitlist is still ₹499. That was a promise, not an estimate. It won't change.

We'll set the regular price as low as honest quality allows, and share it when we launch.

The extra cost is ours to carry, not yours to pay. That's the deal.

Not on the waitlist yet? It's free.

— Aashish & Rishitha, 78 Labs