Claudia Sulewski on Cyklar's rebrand 1 year after launch

Claudia Sulewski's career started at age 11, when she launched her YouTube channel with a video about applying her mom's blue eyeshadow. Today, the channel has 2.46 million followers. On Instagram, Sulewski also has 2 million followers, and she has yet another 1.1 million on TikTok. Last year, she translated her success as a creator into the launch of her brand, Cyklar, which she bootstrapped and debuted with one product, a body cream.

In March of this year, Cyklar received investment from The Center, the brand incubator and investment firm that runs Phlur, Make, Prequel and Saltair — it sold Naturium to E.l.f. Beauty in August 2023. Now, Cyklar is relaunching with a wider product range, including four body washes and four body lotions, which will be sold direct-to-consumer.

On this week’s episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, Sulewski discusses self-funding the brand to get it off the ground, deciding to take on investment and emphasizing fragrance in the brand's second iteration.