Priyanka Ganjoo Of Kulfi Beauty Opened Up About South Asian Representation In The Beauty Industry

When you browse done the aisles of Sephora, you'll find popular, innovative, and beloved quality brands. Brands similar Rare Beauty, Fenty Beauty, and Rhode Beauty, to sanction a few, but there's 1 marque that's changing the crippled successful the industry, done affluent civilization and inclusivity astatine the forefront: Kulfi Beauty.

Kulfi Beauty is the precise archetypal South-Asian owned quality marque to beryllium carried by Sephora, and that's lone 1 of their precise awesome feats. Known for their brightly colored packaging, inclusive selling campaigns, and fashionable products, Kulfi Beauty's ngo is to supply cosmetics that nurture self-expression and joy.

According to Kulfi, it's a "playful quality marque with color-forward cleanable cosmetics inspired by South Asian culture. Our imaginativeness is to alteration our customers to nurture a joyful narration with quality by challenging quality standards and celebrating self-expression. This shows up successful each facet of our originative execution: from our branding and selling campaigns, to the products and shades we develop. Our solemnisation of inclusivity has profoundly resonated with our consumers, and is synonymous with our marque identity."

In grant of AAPI Heritage Month successful May, we sat down with Kulfi Beauty's laminitis Priyanka Ganjoo to chat done South Asian practice successful beauty, gathering a planetary quality brand, and more.

Where did your emotion of constitution travel from?

Priyanka: I really didn't adjacent deterioration constitution until my precocious 20s, and it was due to the fact that I ne'er felt that determination was a harmless abstraction for maine to play with makeup. I conscionable didn't consciousness similar I was 1 of the beauteous girls who was allowed to play with constitution successful my community. Growing up successful India, constitution was seen arsenic thing you did to pull men oregon to marque your tegument look lighter, truthful determination was a batch of judgement coming with it. So, I really didn't autumn successful emotion with it until my precocious 20s, and that was due to the fact that I started moving successful the quality manufacture connected the concern side. I was moving astatine Estée Lauder and past astatine Ipsy, which is simply a quality subscription service. In my clip successful these companies, I was surrounded by radical who emotion beauty, brands, and innovation. Through that experience, I started putting connected products similar glitter shadiness and highlighter connected my face, and realized however amusive it tin be. That rediscovery process is truly erstwhile I genuinely fell successful emotion with makeup. And then, adjacent though I had each this entree from being successful the space, I inactive struggled to find products that truly complemented my undertones, and struggled to find brands that felt relatable and approachable successful the mode that they represented South Asian stories successful particular. That's benignant of what led maine to starting Kulfi.

What does practice successful quality mean for you?

Priyanka: I deliberation the astir important happening is to amplify the radical who are already doing the enactment and uncovering a platform. One illustration that comes to caput is erstwhile we launched Free The Brow, which is our brow gel serum, we had a TikTok casting call. Tanya, who was our exemplary for that campaign, was recovered done that casting call. She has a beauteous unibrow, and she was truthful assured connected set. We got the astir gorgeous photos from that shoot, and I privation I had seen that representation increasing up erstwhile my brows were being made amusive of. Being capable to showcase this young pistillate who's truthful assured successful her quality successful our campaigns similar that, to me, is truly powerful. Being capable to bash that with aggregate radical with antithetic stories, antithetic backgrounds, and antithetic features is an astonishing experience. So if you look astatine our societal accounts oregon our website, we absorption connected the people, not conscionable the marque — they are radical that travel from each walks of life, and that's truly however we privation to turn representation.

Within the quality industry, determination are decidedly improvements to beryllium made regarding inclusion and diversity, which is wherefore Kulfi Beauty is specified an important marque successful the space. And so, however bash you deliberation the manufacture has improved connected inclusion and diversity, and what would you emotion to spot brands bash much of?

You mentioned Sephora, and of course, we person to speech astir it! Kulfi Beauty disrupted the quality industry, and you made past arsenic the archetypal South Asian owned quality marque to beryllium carried wrong the store. I privation to congratulate you connected that, and I would emotion to know: How does it consciousness to execute specified a milestone?

Do you person proposal to stock connected gathering assemblage and the value of it?

Priyanka: In May, we really did a ace amusive lawsuit called the Kulfi Girl Walk. We fundamentally invited our friends and assemblage to get unneurotic successful Central Park and spell for a walk. You could amusement up arsenic you are, travel aft work, and person a ace chill time. And honestly, that's truly the essence of however we're reasoning astir community. We privation spaces wherever radical tin travel bent out, speech astir quality and different things, and conscionable person a bully clip together. Having that transportation and knowing that we tin make those spaces is truly important. It doesn't person to beryllium thing with Kulfi specifically, but I privation to make that abstraction wherever you tin amusement up arsenic you are. You don't person to conscionable a definite modular to beryllium qualified to beryllium a quality influencer oregon to beryllium labeled arsenic important. That's truly important for america due to the fact that I had the acquisition of feeling excluded increasing up. So for us, our cognition with creating assemblage is precise overmuch of showing up arsenic you are and attending events. We adjacent person Kulfi Besties, which is our ambassador program. We person a radical chat determination that our squad runs, and radical tin conscionable speech astir their interests and link with each different and beryllium themselves.

Your marque is astir celebrating South Asian beauty. What does that look like?

What would you archer your younger self, knowing that you’ve created a marque wherever inclusion and civilization are of the utmost importance?

Priyanka: I would archer myself to beryllium benignant to myself. Even now, I inactive find moments wherever I'm unlearning things. For the longest time, I was camera-shy, and I deliberation it was due to the fact that I had programmed myself to judge determination aren't radical who look similar maine who tin beryllium quality founders. And truthful astatine each stage, you're ever unlearning these decades of programming of Eurocentric standards and not feeling similar you're enough. What I would archer my younger aforesaid is you are enough. You tin amusement up arsenic you are. You're bully capable to beryllium a founder, beryllium whoever you privation to be. And it's not a linear journey. Some days you consciousness truly bully astir yourself, and immoderate days you privation you looked different. Because of the nine we unrecorded in, it's precise brave for america to proceed showing up arsenic we are and not consciousness pressured to conscionable a definite standard. That's thing that I ever deliberation about, due to the fact that I truly bespeak connected my ain travel and however comfy I've go successful my ain tegument since launching the brand. Because each clip we bash a campaign, it makes maine consciousness similar my features are thing I tin celebrate.

What proposal would you springiness to individuals who are presently struggling with loving themselves and feeling confident?

Priyanka: What helped maine is uncovering radical who look similar maine connected the internet, and who spoke astir self-confidence connected their platforms. The net tin beryllium a scary place, but it tin besides beryllium a fantastic spot successful presumption of gathering community, whether it's brands similar ours oregon idiosyncratic contented creators. What's astonishing is adjacent erstwhile I deliberation astir the South Asian creator abstraction erstwhile I was successful my 20s, we hardly had immoderate representation.  Now, determination are truthful galore intersectional creators who correspond truthful galore antithetic ways of being retired connected the internet, and truthful uncovering those creators tin beryllium truly adjuvant for me. Also, uncovering different founders who are going done the aforesaid journeys, similar struggling with immoderate of the aforesaid challenges, has been truly helpful.

Last period was AAPI Heritage Month! How bash you consciousness we tin amended uplift the voices of our assemblage and dispersed emotion and appreciation for different cultures?

Priyanka: It's important to amusement up — whether that's showing up successful presumption of pursuing people, not conscionable contented creators, who are diverse, amplifying their voices, going to their concerts, and truthful on. For example, determination are truthful galore beauteous Asian American brands that person everything from sparkling h2o from Sanzo, to spices from Diaspora Co, to olive lipid from Brightland. So literally, my pantry is filled with each these Asian American brands, and I'm conscionable truly proud. They're truly large products, and I'm truly arrogant to see them successful my day-to-day life. So, that's 1 mode we tin beryllium much intentional with our enactment and beryllium much mindful of our choices. Can we spell retired of our mode a small spot to probe and find these brands that are making a difference? And it's not conscionable for May — it's passim the year, which I cognize is simply a speech we often have. We person to enactment and amusement up each day. 

What made you determine to instrumentality the leap and commencement your ain business?

What was your family's effect erstwhile you decided to commencement your ain business?

Why “kulfi”?

Priyanka: Because it's ice cream, and 1 of my favourite memories increasing up was eating kulfi connected a blistery summertime day. And that's what constitution should beryllium — fun, playful, and thing to beryllium enjoyed.

BuzzFeed: Love that! Actually, erstwhile my fellow looked astatine my surface portion I was browsing the Kulfi Beauty website, helium was like, "Kulfi, similar the crystal cream?" And you're truthful close that constitution should beryllium amusive and playful. I decidedly privation to devour immoderate now, to beryllium wholly honest!

Priyanka: Same, it's cleanable for this weather. I mean, blistery summertime upwind is highest kulfi-weather!

What is your favourite merchandise from Kulfi?

What quality inclination bash you deliberation volition beryllium the adjacent large thing?

Priyanka: I'm waiting for maximalism to travel back. I consciousness similar we've had a batch of cleanable beauty, and hey, I similar cleanable quality connected immoderate days, but sometimes you privation immoderate colour and much personality. I'm waiting for radical to conscionable clasp much colour and clasp being comfy expressing their individuality done color. So, I'm excited for that to travel back.

Share a connection with your supporters and customers!

Priyanka: Oh, my god. Honestly, conscionable a immense convey you. I conscionable consciousness truthful grateful to beryllium capable to bash that. I deliberation of maine 10 years ago, and this would beryllium my imagination — to bash thing I love, person this affirmative impact, make products that radical love, and bring joyousness into people's lives portion astatine the aforesaid clip doing it arsenic work. So, conscionable a immense convey you to person the privilege to bash this.

What is simply a South Asian crockery that you deliberation is S-tier?

What is adjacent for Kulfi Beauty? What’s adjacent for Priyanka?

Priyanka: What's adjacent for maine is that hopefully you'll spot maine much connected our feed. That's what our societal squad wants, but I besides privation to get much comfy being successful beforehand of the camera and telling much of our communicative successful our ain words. For Kulfi, our imaginativeness is to beryllium a planetary brand. Right now, we're successful the US and successful Canada, and truthful expanding globally is thing that I privation to bash successful the adjacent twelvemonth oregon so. Stay tuned for that! We'll person immoderate breathtaking announcements astir it.