After more than a decade creating content, YouTube star Claudia Sulewski is launching a brand of her own.
Friday, her self care brand Cyklar launches direct-to-consumer with its first product, Body Cream, $58.
“The whole brand is meant to be genderless,” said Sulewski, who has 2.45 million subscribers on the platform. “It’s inclusive, it’s sustainable, and [those are] the pillars that led the way of every decision.”
While Sulewski had done collaborations in the past, including one with Nordstrom’s private label brand BP., she wasn’t ready to do her own thing until about three years ago when she started developing the brand.
“I’ve been making videos online for over a decade and have watched so many friends and peers create their own brands,” she said, noting she started her YouTube when she was 13. “For a while I was resistant because I felt like I didn’t know enough yet. I wanted to wait until the time felt right, in that I can afford the time to make sure that I’m making the right decisions.”
It was this deliberate approach that led to some key differentiators for Cyklar. For starters, Sulewski wanted to create a brand that prompted users to be more sustainable. As a content creator, she was used to having products pile up, so she chose refillable and reusable packaging that is compostable.
“What I’ve never found too much of is packaging that’s very minimal and encourages you to use it and reimagine it however you want to when you’re done with it,” she said. “Of course, refills are not a new concept, but what is still relatively new is compostable refills.”
Sulewski worked with On Repeat, a packaging manufacturer, for the compostable refills, which will launch soon. The jar also features simple glass packaging with minimal branding, so it can be repurposed. This emphasis on recyclability also informed the name of the brand.
“The word itself is inspired by the word cycle and continuing to use your products and your vessels, keeping the cycle going,” Sulewski said.
In terms of the product, the concept for the Body Cream popped into her head in the shower. The hero ingredient is banana flower extract, an upcycled ingredient typically discarded from bananas
“The flower itself actually has really great hydrating properties and it’s a prebiotic,” Sulewski said. “It’s got antioxidants in it.”
The formula also includes niacinamide to hydrate and desert cactus flower, a gentle exfoliant. Sulewski said this and all future Cyklar products would also be vegan, cruelty-free, dermatologist-tested, paraben-free, sulfate-free and silicon-free.
The scent, named Crescent after Sulewski’s childhood street, which was surrounded by forests, was also key to ensure the brand was genderless. It includes a base of velvet woods, moss and cedar with a few lighter floral notes to “round out the edges,” according to Sulewski, who called creating the scent the most fun part of the development process.
Sulewski plans to continue expanding in the body care space, with additional products coming soon. “I view Cyklar as a self care, lifestyle brand,” she said. “I definitely want it to fall under that general category.”
Sulewski filmed the entire process of developing Cyklar and will be promoting it across her channels. According to industry sources, the brand is expected to reach $1.5 million in first-year retail sales.
Source: WWD