Growing up in Virgina, model, entrepreneur, and founder of Prakti Beauty Pritika Swarup's mother was her ultimate beauty icon and role model. "She's the one that really taught me the beauty comes from within, that it's about balance, that it's very much connected between mind, body, and consciousness," Swarup says, citing her mother as an example of someone who emits a "radiance from within." From a young age, her mother instilled in her beauty traditions from Indian culture: scalp oiling, turmeric masks, and adaptogenic supplements. She would concoct homemade face masks with ingredients like chickpea flour and honey for Swarup's acne-prone skin throughout her teenage years, and bring her to India every summer. It all led to Swarup creating her own beauty brand, Prakti.
Prior to Prakti, Swarup was working in an investment firm and had experience working for cosmetic companies. "I saw that there was such a difference in how beauty was approached. In Eastern practices, it's very much about a holistic, all encompassing approach focused on skin barrier and the balance of your skin health. It was about results, but it was also about ritual," she says. "In the US, I realized that it was very much about efficacy, it was more clinically driven, but not as much about skin balance and making sure you're strengthening your barrier." Long story short, Swarup was driven to integrate these two ideologies and Prakti was born.
For our next Things I Finish, Swarup gives us a glimpse into her empties, from product that successfully tames her eczema to the lip oil that replaces multiple steps in her routine.
The Skincare Product You Finish:
Prakti SundaSkin Essential Hydrating Serum
"I love trying new things, but our SundaSkin hydrating serum is my go-to. I go through bottles because I use it in the morning and the evening. It's a water-based texture and it really hydrates, it plumps, it helps even skin tone and you can wear it under makeup so it actually doesn't break down any makeup. I think it's really hard to find a product that you can layer without pilling. It has white snow mushroom, it's got niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, licorice root for brightening. It's just a packed formula and probably one of the products I'm most proud of because it's really versatile. It has the powerful Ayurvedic botanicals, but then it's got a lot of actives and it's also very, very good for sensitive skin."
The Fragrance That You Finish:
Victoria Beckham Beauty Portofino '97 Eau de Parfum
"We've been doing a lot with Victoria Beckham Beauty and I've attended her shows for a while. I think at one of the shows she gifted this perfume and now I just keep coming back for it because it's just really sexy and it creates this whole mood. Before I go out, I really feel myself when I put this one on."
The Hair Product You Finish:
Kérastase Elixir Ultime Hydrating Hair Oil
"I use the Kérastase hair oil when I'm doing a slick back book because it adds a lot of shine and gloss and I think it's nice for some frizzy baby hair. So I go through that one a lot."
The Lip Product You Finish:
Prakti KhusKiss Nourishing Lip Oil
"Our Prakti KhusKiss Nourishing Lip Oil. We have four shades of that. I'm obsessed with the blushing lotus shade and I pretty wear it on my day-to-day. With that you don't even need a lip liner or a lipstick because it has a medium coverage. It's not full coverage, but it's just enough where you see the lips and it's just really nourishing and hydrating. It gives you a little bit of a plump and a little bit of color."
The Body Care Product You Finish:
OSEA Unadria Algae Body Butter
"I use a lot of body care products because I have eczema, so it flares up randomly at times. I love the OSEA body butter—it's definitely on the thicker side. It comes in a tub and it's formulated with different algae ingredients. It's really nourishing and it's not sticky. I usually use it when I'm showering at night. I just lather it all over and it does actually help with my eczema."
The Movie You Finish:
IMDB"How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. It's a classic. I've watched it probably 20 times and it makes me feel really good. And also when I'm not in New York and I watch it, it gives me that injection of New York energy. Movies were so good at that time. Not that they're not good now, but the early 2000s were just an epic, special time."
The TV Show You Finish:
"Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen. I just binge-watched that. I watched the entire thing in one night. When you start watching it, you think that something very different is going to happen. When you start it, you have this really eerie feeling and it draws you in and you think something very different's going to happen. Then it's a real 180. I was three episodes in and it was 2AM and I was like, I have to finish this."
The Meal You Finish:
Instagram.com/pritikaswarup"I finish every meal. I don't like to waste food—I think that comes from my mom. I I love Italian food and Indian food. When I go home and my mom cooks for me, she'll cook me Chole, which is chickpeas, but it's in a really nice spicy tomato sauce. With that, I always go for seconds and thirds."