Claudia Sulewski on Cyklar’s rebrand 1 year after launch

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.

Below are highlights from the episode, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

On self-funding

“When I first launched, I was entirely self-funded, which, of course, is very scary. And if you had talked to me at the time, I was such a different version of myself, just filled with so much fear. I also would like to mention that I feel so lucky to have been able to self-fund something, and I have YouTube to thank for that — just saving my money for all these years to be able to create a product and test the waters by myself without an investor in that early stage. When I first had the idea, I started doing research. Of course, I didn’t have a lab, and I needed to find someone to help me create this product, so I hired a team to create one product with me, and I’m so proud of that body cream. We created a beautiful thing together. … I’m so grateful for that initial approach because I learned a ton about what goes into owning a brand. When I first launched, I was the one that was answering every single customer support email and just signing off with a different name, because I thought it would be weird and unofficial if it said, like, ‘XOXO. Best, Claudia’ … I think I was using the name Lauren.”

On meeting The Center’s founder, Ben Bennett, and taking on investment

“We had a colleague in common that connected us. And it was one of those phone calls that was supposed to probably be a 10-minute call, and then three hours later, we were like, ‘Oh, my gosh. What’s going on here?’ I feel so lucky that we connected. Choosing a partner to continue to grow and build your brand with is maybe one of the most important steps you take, because you need to be so aligned on your values and what direction you want to go [in]. So I feel so lucky to now be a part of The Center brands and have such a wonderful team that really fills out all of those categories and all those pockets that I know I am not the best at. … I wouldn’t take anything back about my first launch, but it was very intense, it was very stressful, and it did not leave any room for play. I’m saying this in such a position of gratitude for all of that, but — it’s no joke.”

On making fragrance a bigger part of the brand

“One of the most common comments I would see on the [original product] was just talking about the fragrance and how much people loved it. Straight away after launching, I recognized that, and I thought, ‘OK, my audience is really passionate about something that smells really good,’ which was very exciting to me because I’d always dreamt of having a focus on fragrance. With this relaunch, I wanted to sort of reset the vibe and provide more fragrance options for those who maybe want something a little bit more woodsy or a little more bright and fresh — and allow that to also expand into color. This relaunch is more colorful than the first one, which I’m very excited about. That was also something I realized after launching. I was like, ‘Huh. … I’m craving color.’ So, we’ve relaunched the Nutrient Rich Body Cream. It’s now in a sugar cane tube, making it much easier to take it anywhere with you, throw it in a bag — even the application processes easier. That was another thing I learned: It’s an easier product to use if it’s in a tube and you don’t have to put your fingers into it.”