How Nikita Charuza Got Top Press Coverage Without a PR Agency
Nikita Charuza started her career as a beauty editor, lending her the perfect POV for launching her own beauty brand, Squigs. Just months after their launch in 2022, Squigs has been featured by all of the biggest publications—Vogue, Byrdie, Refinery 29, and Allure.
Squig creates products for the skin on your head and face (scalp care is booming rn, fyi!) and is leaning into Ayurveda to make formulas free from from synthetic fragrances and dyes. Eight months after launch, they became the first South Asian brand to get into Ulta Beauty's Muse Accelerator program.
Nikita has done such a great job making the Squigs brand look like a crazy expensive VC-backed business. In reality, she's self-funded and took 4 years DIY-ing to get the brand to looking exactly how she dreamed.
“People shouldn’t get discouraged that there are so many expensive agencies out there. Take your time and literally draw out how you want your brand to look, and take it step by step from there.”
Soon after launch, Squigs was picked up by Urban Outfitters—selling out of their award-winning hair oil fast.
Nikita's cutting through a noisy beauty space and getting a lot of traction for a self-funded brand that's also super young.
Press has been a successful tactic for Nikita—and all her early PR wins (coverage in Vogue!) happened without an agency.
Nikita’s tips for reaching out to press:
Keep your outreach short and concise.
Include in your pitch email: what is your brand, what do you stand for, and links to your website.
Offer up samples to editors.
Be polite in your follow up. Following up in a week is OK, but never spam an editor.
Squigs has also had success on TikTok. They're posting a good mix of video and photo content, which is an emerging trend. This year, Squigs also joined True Beauty Ventures' 2023 Bridge Mentorship program.
