All photos courtesy of Claudia Sulewski.
Interview may receive compensation from purchases of products through these links.
How the hell do you make soap go viral? If anyone can answer that question, it’s Claudia Sulewski. A veteran in the beauty space, the skincare maven was an early content creator in the glory days of YouTube makeup vlogs. Years spent competing in the endless online ocean of lip kit reviews, Halloween makeup tutorials, and skincare hauls primed her for the impending oversaturation of the influencer beauty brand market. So her segue into creating her own body care brand shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Cyklar, which offers a range of products like body washes, exfoliating sprays, lotions, and oils, has achieved virality and the stamp of approval from stans and skeptics alike, and I was determined to find out why. The day before my conversation with Sulewski, I casually sauntered into my nearby Sephora to see what the hype was all about. But much to my dismay—and I’m sure the delight of its founder—the end cap was a bit of a disaster with sticky surfaces and hand cream tubes flattened within an inch of their lives. So I had no choice but to go straight to the source. Below, Sulewski and I dish about dermaplaning, wedding beauty, and the Cyklar must-have to prepare for your late-night rendezvous.
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THURSDAY, 3:30 PM, MAY 7, 2026, LOS ANGELES
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ARY RUSSELL: I’m so excited to be talking to you.
CLAUDIA SULEWSKI: Oh, my gosh, thank you.
RUSSELL: You started off in the peak era of beauty vlogging on YouTube. What lessons did you take away from your early beauty vlogging days to now?
SULEWSKI: Authenticity and consistency will be the two things that allow you to continue to grow and evolve online.
RUSSELL: How do you think that the beauty industry has changed from when you first started as a content creator to now being a founder of your own company?
SULEWSKI: For starters, the trends are moving at such a fast rate these days because of all these different platforms. Back in the day when you thought of beauty marketing, it was mostly billboards and that fragrance ad that you’d walk past in the airport. Nowadays, there’s so much opportunity on TikTok and Instagram to reach new audiences.
RUSSELL: Do you do any beauty treatments, like microneedling, peels?
SULEWSKI: Okay, so my toxic trait is that I’ll spend however much money I need to spend on a skincare product. But for some reason, I never do treatments. I’m that person that my notes app is just a graveyard of recommendations. I’ve never done laser or microneedling.
RUSSELL: Is it just because you don’t have time for it?
SULEWSKI: I’m waiting for the time in my life when I’m going to make it a higher priority. I thought 30 would be it, and so far I haven’t had that urge. I have dreams of trying out PRP and trying out Clear + Brilliant laser.
RUSSELL: In LA, they’re always ahead of beauty and skincare before they’re trending worldwide. Is there anything you’re hearing about through the grapevine?
SULEWSKI: I’m really curious about the blood spinning, PRP.
RUSSELL: I can’t. Oh, god.
SULEWSKI: I know. I just used the wrong words.
RUSSELL: “The blood spinning.”
SULEWSKI: [Laughs] The idea of injecting something foreign, I have no judgment against that. Maybe one day I’ll do that stuff. But there’s something about taking your own blood, something from your body, and spinning it that makes sense to me. Then there’s PRN, some other version that’s similar that people will inject under their eyes or their nasal labial folds. This is the area that’s keeping me up at night. I’m so influenced by TikTok.
RUSSELL: Many such cases.
SULEWSKI: Do you know that Medicube Collagen Volume Multi Balm that people are using that has volufiline?
RUSSELL: No, I mean, I only know the face mask that gets clearer as the night goes on.
SULEWSKI: Love that mask. They came out with some product that’s like a stick and it helps to volumize and plump any area that you put it over. I’ve been using that on my nasal labial folds.
RUSSELL: Does it work?
SULEWSKI: The jury’s still out on that.
RUSSELL: We talked about your skin, which is the foundation–no pun intended–for a good base. Your base has that “my skin but better” look. What foundations and concealers are you using?
SULEWSKI: I am so into light layers right now, not starting with a full face of foundation. I love the Mary Phillips underpainting technique.
RUSSELL: What’s that?
SULEWSKI: She has a palette that’s really great for this too. I’ll just start by contouring and bronzing the areas that I want to warm up. From there, I’ll start coverage and I’ll spot conceal. More often than not, I’m just using concealer and skipping foundation completely. With that, you can see your skin through the makeup. Less is more. I used to use a really big brush and matte-ify the whole face.
RUSSELL: That’s me. I want to look airbrushed. I envy girls who can do the dewy look, but I just end up looking greasy.
SULEWSKI: I hear you. You have to get used to the feeling of a greasier, moisturized face. For some reason, if I’m having a no makeup day, I can have 10 different products on my face and that doesn’t bother me. But as soon as you start putting on makeup, it does feel crazy.
RUSSELL: You become really aware.
SULEWSKI: Especially once it starts getting hot out, the less you can wear, the better.
RUSSELL: Do you have any beat-the-heat makeup tips?
SULEWSKI: If I’m doing full glam or I’m doing my own makeup for a shoot and I need it to last a long time, that ONE/SIZE setting spray that literally comes out like hairspray. Then, on a day-to-day basis, I really like City Set by Saie Beauty. That one’s like a fine mist and is good for every day.
RUSSELL: Your eyebrows are so major. Are you waxing, threading, laminating? How are you getting that perfect shape?
SULEWSKI: You’re going to find a consistent theme here. I don’t get my eyebrows done.
RUSSELL: You’re killing me. Jesus.
SULEWSKI: [Laughs] You know what I’ve started doing? A makeup artist convinced me the other day to take one of those little razors and just start shaving the tail end to raise and lift my brows.
RUSSELL: I’ve heard that.
SULEWSKI: I’m just avoiding plucking at this point because it doesn’t grow back. Many people learned that in the 90s.
RUSSELL: That tool is used for dermaplaning too, no?
SULEWSKI: Yes. Have you ever done that?
RUSSELL: I’m scared it’s going to grow back thicker. Do you do dermaplaning?
SULEWSKI: I hear that it doesn’t, but I also haven’t done it yet because don’t you have to be really careful about it?
RUSSELL: You can’t have an active breakout. I was watching one of your most recent vlogs where you were settling into your new place. How extensive is your arsenal of makeup and skincare?
SULEWSKI: It’s all organized within my vanity space. Just before moving back in, I did a very intense deep cleanse of everything because makeup expires much faster than any of us would like to admit.
RUSSELL: I’ve been using 2016 makeup.
SULEWSKI: The other day I stumbled upon my Urban Decay Naked palettes and I was like, “I’ve had this since my childhood bedroom in Chicago.” I unfortunately had to part ways with those palettes.
RUSSELL: Make some hard decisions.
SULEWSKI: I have a healthy amount that allows me to really explore. I feel very lucky in that I’m on a lot of PR lists and I get to try new things and that can get overwhelming. So I’m often donating to friends and family and shelters.
RUSSELL: Is there a part of your makeup routine that has stayed consistent? And then, is there a part of your makeup routine that you used to do all the time that you’re just like, “That doesn’t align with who I am anymore”?
SULEWSKI: What’s stayed pretty consistent is I love the Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. They just updated their formula, and it’s great.
RUSSELL: Which is scary. Sometimes an updated formula will ruin the whole thing.
SULEWSKI: I’m very excited about the trends that are currently happening. It’s all about emphasizing your natural features and adding faux freckles. I love that we’re in a huge blush era. There’s a YouTube video of me doing a makeup tutorial back in high school and I was adding blush across my nose. I’m like, “I want to create a little burn.” And at the time, I was roasted. Cut to, we’re all doing it.
RUSSELL: Ahead of her time, literally a pioneer. But you have to stand strong because everything is cyclical.
SULEWSKI: It’s a pendulum. You know the sharp black-winged eyeliner?
RUSSELL: Yeah.
SULEWSKI: That was huge for a very long time. I struggled with it always and would just do it because it was big. That is something that I’m happy to leave behind. On a day-to-day basis, if I’m adding an eyeliner, I love to just use a black or dark brown eyeshadow with a brush and just flick it out. I’m all about just what’s the most natural, chill version?
RUSSELL: You’ve got so much shit to do. Speaking of which, can you talk about the scientific research that went into creating these products? Were you meeting with dermatologists to see what reacted best with skin?
SULEWSKI: I work with many different contract manufacturers and labs to ensure that we’re making the best possible version of whatever that product is. For example, our Vitamin C Body Oil, making sure that we were working with a contract manufacturer that can source a very high quality, oil-soluble vitamin C. What I’ve been having so much fun with is finding that intersection between a high-performing formula that is going to deliver on those results, but also leans into the luxury of a beauty product in the fragrances that we’re adding and focusing on what that formula feels like. How does it pump out? What does the packaging look like?
RUSSELL: When you were creating it, were there any failure moments where a formula or a smell didn’t work like you thought it would?
SULEWSKI: All the time. To own a beauty brand is to be putting out small fires constantly, which is important. You learn as you go. There are so many formulas that we’ve started and had to either push out and launch much later or just altogether scrap it.
RUSSELL: Yeah.
SULEWSKI: We have some core fragrances that are spread across different formulas, different products, and all of those fragrance ingredients react differently to other ingredients. So to make sure that we’re achieving the right strength, for it to project in the same way across all these different products, is also a very interesting battle.
RUSSELL: I wanted to do a quick, little rapid fire giving you scenarios and you can maybe tell me what products or scents would pair best.
SULEWSKI: Okay.
RUSSELL: Sunday beach trip with the girlies to Malibu.
SULEWSKI: I’m going to say Naked Neroli Deodorant. I like to describe it as summer in a bottle. It’s floral and it’s so just blissful and sunny and really beautiful. Because we’re going to the beach, it’s going to be really hot. We’re going to be sweating. For that reason, I would suggest the Ceramide Milky Essence. It is our lightest moisturizer. It just spreads really evenly and soaks in within seconds.
RUSSELL: Late-night booty call with your toxic situationship.
SULEWSKI: I fear it’s got to be Cedar Supreme Perfume Oil. One of my favorites, it’s an underrated fragrance of ours. It’s very woodsy. I like to describe Cedar Supreme as the sexy cousin to our Sacred Santal. There’s vanilla in there and it’s just such a sexy scent. And if we’re going on a booty call, we need to be able to discreetly roll some perfume oil behind the knee, in the elbows, sexy zones.
RUSSELL: Finally, attending an important client dinner.
SULEWSKI: I’m going to suggest one of our Nutrient-Rich Body Creams in Bergamot Bond. Bergamot Bond is citrus-y. It’s really vibrant, very invigorating. It is very broad, appealing, and very spa-like. This is an exfoliation step, but I’m going to say the Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Body Spray. It is an all-in-one product that you can use not only to treat rough skin, but it helps with KP, any bumps or uneven skin texture, as well as you can spray it on your scalp.
RUSSELL: Really?
SULEWSKI: For dandruff. You can spray it on your feet for cracked heels, ingrown hairs. Glycolic acid, super star ingredient.
RUSSELL: I would also add a nice hand cream for when you’re shaking hands, of course.
SULEWSKI: Wait, that’s so good.
RUSSELL: You’re engaged. Congratulations.
SULEWSKI: Thank you.
RUSSELL: Who do you have on your wedding beauty board? What are going to be your Holy Grail wedding day products?
SULEWSKI: There’s so much planning that still has to be done that I haven’t even gone that far. I do know that I want to just look like myself on the day. I want to make sure that I’m just representing who I am at this moment in my lifetime. So I’m going to go quite natural and also long-lasting. We’ll be crying, we’ll be sweating.
RUSSELL: If you’re having a bachelorette party, what are going to be the bachelorette trip must-haves and also the honeymoon must-haves?
SULEWSKI: For Bachelorette, it’s about survival because I want to make it a party. I’m picturing Liquid IV, sunscreen, all the things that are just going to protect us from any elements.
RUSSELL: Exactly.
SULEWSKI: For honeymoon, I’m just leaning into love and romance. I’m just going to wear Rosebud throughout my whole honeymoon.
RUSSELL: Does Finneas have a favorite scent of Cyklar products?
SULEWSKI: He goes back and forth. Most consistently, he loves Naked Neroli and he really loves Core Vetiver, which is one of our perfume oils. I’m constantly replenishing his Naked Neroli deodorant.
RUSSELL: If he runs out, he knows where to go. Whenever I see Cyklar at the store, it’s always empty. [Laughs]
SULEWSKI: I’m so sorry. It’s a good sign. Anytime I go into a store, I see the hand cream is literally flat, like a tube of toothpaste. I’ll see that the body wash bottles are sticky. I love it. Get dirty. Play. Smell everything. I want a messy end cap.
