Squigs Beauty, the Ayurvedic-inspired brand changing the game

Nikita Charuza is a fashion and beauty editor turned entrepreneur who recently launched a beauty brand inspired by Ayurveda, a traditional Hindu system of medicine. 

Here, she shares how her cultural background and insider knowledge of the beauty industry helped her build the brand from an idea to an industry-disrupting reality and her upcoming goals for the year ahead.

Inside Retail: How did the idea for Squigs Beauty come about?

Nikita Charuza: I’ve been a fashion and beauty editor for over 10 years and the idea for Squigs was in the back of my mind for the last four or five years. During my time as an editor, I had the amazing opportunity to test out thousands of products and despite having some of the best at my fingertips I found myself going back to these incredible Ayurvedic creations we [my family and I] would make when I was younger and that’s when I realised something was there. I never understood why there couldn’t be an Ayurvedic-based beauty brand that was fun, bold, and bright but still had efficacious ingredients. 

IR: How do you believe your prior experience in the editorial realm may have aided you in your journey of launching and running your beauty brand?

NC: My prior experience as an editor within the fashion and beauty industry most certainly guided my journey into launching my brand. I got jaded from being with the space and being one of the only South Asian editors in the field at the beginning of my career. I got to attend these once-in-a-lifetime red-carpet events and meet some of the biggest celebrities, and yet I looked around feeling so isolated because no one there looked like me. That coupled with writing about the the concept of “beauty” day in and day out also made me start to reflect internally.

I made it my mission to uplift other BIPOC brands because I truly believe there should be more of us within the space. Being an editor as well as a big beauty product lover myself, I got to see firsthand what people were looking for in a brand and that’s when I had my “aha” moment for Squigs.

IR: What have been the biggest highlights and setbacks you’ve experienced in building the business thus far?

NC: We’ve only been around for around a year and a half and I’m truly so proud of where Squigs has been able to come so far. 

One of the biggest highlights for us this year was winning Allure’s Best of Beauty Award for the Best Hair Oil, which also fell under the Clean category which got us to a total of five beauty awards so far. 

We also launched in stores in Urban Outfitters as one of the only Ayurvedic brands to be on shelves and we got into Ulta Beauty’s inaugural Muse Accelerator program which was amazing. As far as setbacks, there have been plenty as well but I try not to dwell on things that aren’t in my control. One example of a setback that happened before we even launched was that Squigs was supposed to launch back in 2020 right before the pandemic hit which ended up pushing the launch by a year.

IR: Squigs Beauty is based on the principles of Ayurveda. In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in Ayurvedic-inspired beauty companies. What factors do you believe led to these developments?

NC: I believe it stems from people finally taking a moment to put themselves and their mental health to the forefront. 

Ayurveda is all about living your happiest and healthiest life and our mission of Happy Headcare encompasses this ideal. We want you to think of your head in a different light. A lot of Ayurvedic ingredients are not only used in skincare and haircare but even in food. There are so many brands out there using certain ingredients like turmeric and amla in the products they use daily but don’t realise the history of where it stems from and Squigs is my way of reclaiming that a bit. 

Most importantly because we believe in Happy Headcare, a percentage of proceeds will be donated to a mental health charity every year. If you don’t take care of what’s inside your head, what’s the point? 

IR: What are your areas of focus for the brand over the next 12 months? 

NC: I’m excited to say that we are continuing to expand our Happy Headcare range with innovative new SKUs that are expected to launch in 2024. We are proceeding to build out our product pipeline around products that our community is constantly asking us for and I can’t wait to share it with everyone soon. 

IR: What does a day in the life of a brand owner look like for you?

NC: Each day looks very different as we’re still a bootstrapped business and I wear many hats within the company. I start my day getting my two-year-old ready for the day and usually begin work by 9 am. 

Some days I’m in back-to-back meetings and other days it’s dedicated time to build out strategy surrounding different tentpoles. The one thing that’s a non-negotiable for me is that I always end my day by 5:30 pm and spend uninterrupted time with my daughter until she goes to sleep. I then try to unwind for the day but of course, sometimes that doesn’t always happen and I have to work into the night. But I truly don’t mind it because I just believe so strongly in our mission of Happy Headcare and want it to be bigger than the brand itself. 

IR: What is a piece of advice that you wish you would have been able to give to yourself when you were at the beginning of your business journey?

NC: I find myself going back to a saying my mom would always tell me when I was younger and it truly has never felt more applicable as a business owner and first-time mom myself. 

“Day by day, life is hard. Inch by inch, it’s a cinch.”

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