Pritika Swarup-Glamour
For Pritika Swarup, beauty runs deep. Not only is it the center of her two jobs as a model and the founder of Prakti Beauty, but she also thinks of self-care as a beauty ritual, passed down through generations of the women in her family.
These rituals inspired her personal approach to skin care and her own products, which modernize traditional Indian formulas. “I believe in holistic beauty,” she tells Glamour. “My earliest memory of beauty is that beauty comes from within, so it can’t be addressed in just the physical sense. I think in the West we talk a lot about pimples and hyperpigmentation and all these things that obviously show on the outside. But it’s also important to address that inner spirituality and beauty. That’s what I learned from my mom.”
Swarup has practiced Ayurveda her entire life, and the philosophy that the mind, body, and spirit are all in alignment is the driving force for Prakti. When it comes to her own routine, Swarup can sum it up in three words: “Simple, clean, effective beauty. If I have more than six steps in my beauty routine, it’s too much,” she says. “I think that women nowadays have so much going on and they just really want products to be multifunctional. And so that’s really what I look for with my products.”
However, she is a beauty lover—and a brand owner—through and through, so she’s done her fair share of testing. “I’ve pretty much tried everything on the market, but I realized that my skin responds better to the purest, most effective products. All of the Prakti products are basically clean to the Credo standards and are all cruelty-free and vegan. That’s what I took from my personal preference in that area.” These values also apply to the products she uses from other brands. “I actually never go into Sephora,” says Swarup. “Before I actually bring a product into my routine, I do a lot of research. I want to understand about the company too: Is it women owned? Are they sustainable? What type of ingredients are they using?”
When it comes to what the products actually do, Swarup looks for something that can balance her combination skin without irritation. “My skin’s really sensitive, so I try to look at products that obviously aren’t going to leave my skin red or it’ll get red if I accidentally scratch my face. It’s just that sensitive. I also have concerns about sun damage and just environmental pollution—living in New York, it’s been something for me to think about.”
Above all, Swarup goes back to her core belief that products should make you feel good, inside and out. “I think that skin care should be this self-care ritual that’s a sensory experience that you’re very excited about. It’s not a chore. It’s time for yourself to take care of all of your needs. I really try to make that a priority and I do.”
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