This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast featuring candid conversations about how today’s trends will shape the future of the beauty and wellness industry. See more series→
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify
Preetika Swarup has gained a huge fan following thanks to her successful career as a model. Swarup, a Columbia Business School graduate, founded skincare brand Prakti in 2021. The brand was designed to blend Ayurvedic traditions with modern skin care ingredients. It was soft launched with his one product: exfoliating powder.
Currently, the brand has six products and sells directly to consumers, but expansion into retail is planned for next year. In this episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Pritika talks about balancing modeling and brand building, introducing Ayurvedic ingredients to U.S. consumers, and giving back through Operation Her Smile, where she serves as her global ambassador. Discuss what to do.
The following excerpts have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
About deciding on a model while building your brand
“When I was building my practice, I was finishing school, and it was also a pandemic. It was mostly online, so I was just trying to focus. As a founder and as an entrepreneur, I was serious. I was thinking of giving up my modeling career because I wanted to be accepted. Sometimes those things don’t exactly work together… That’s when it all started to get very interesting. It was connecting and realizing that my career was really contributing to the brand. Even before we launched, we got a tremendous amount of press and people knew what we were doing. I was wondering who they were, what they were going to announce, and how this concept started, and it was great to be able to put it all together. [of my] Prakti launch experience. ”
Differences between Eastern and Western beauty ideologies
“In the East, beauty is seen in a more holistic way: beauty from within. My first memory of beauty is my mother saying, ‘Beauty comes from within.’ It depends on how you’re feeling and what you’re putting out into the world, and you can only be your best if you’re feeling your best. ” It goes hand in hand with looking your best and maintaining your inner glow, as the saying goes. I think in the West, many beauty products and companies focus on treating physical concerns like hyperpigmentation, acne, and discoloration. That’s great, but [internal and external concerns] need to be addressed. There are so many other things to focus on, like inner beauty, overall health, and reaching a state where you can feel your best and perform at your best. These products I created meet all those needs. ”
About making Ayurvedic products, ingredients and philosophy accessible
“It was important that we had access to this amazing holistic health system that has been proven to exist for thousands of years. We need to improve our overall health and well-being. We need to look at the beauty in a broader sense when we feel our best, meditate, and breathe. Abhyanga face massage while doing skinship can improve your self-confidence and your dreams. The key is to improve your overall health and well-being.
Ayurveda and Indian culture and the openness and excitement we’ve seen [to these things] The last few years have been great. But that wasn’t necessarily the case when I first started the brand. Even when I was talking to companies and raising money, a lot of people said, “You can’t do that.” Talking about these materials that were not mainstream is also a foreign concept in the educational process. … There was a sense of, “Well, this is going to be a little difficult.” But I was even more excited to do it because I knew it was something people needed. That’s what lit a fire in me. ”
