It always starts the same way—with a casual “what if” chat, usually way past midnight, when ideas flow faster than logic. With Nitibha Kaul, those late-night conversations often danced between beauty, self-expression, and her dream of building something that was truly her own.
Today, that dream is Alt+K Beauty, a brand that’s skincare first with a hint of tint and 100% a reflection of Nitibha’s belief that makeup should be good for you. But getting here wasn’t just about one person’s vision. It was a collective hustle, an ecosystem of strategy, creativity, and countless brainstorms that turned a creator into a creator-preneur.
The Spark: From Conversations to Concept
Alt+K Beauty was born out of a reachout from the The Beauty Co-lab team received in Dec ’22 and Nitibha’s own frustrations with makeup that often felt heavy and harsh—especially for someone who had dealt with acne for years. For her, beauty needed to feel good, look good, and fit seamlessly into an on-the-go lifestyle.
As her strategist and agency partner, my role was to help translate that vision into a brand built on the idea of skincare-first, makeup-second. With Beauty Co-lab’s expertise in building unique beauty brands—from market insights to activation—those late-night notes and ideas slowly came to life as Alt+K Beauty.
The Audience as the First Investor
One of the biggest strengths of creator-led brands is their built-in community. Nitibha’s followers weren’t just spectators, they became Alt+K’s very first focus group. From testing concepts to giving feedback on shade ranges, their voices were woven into the brand’s DNA.
To make this happen, we invited people to join through a simple questionnaire, eventually building a tight circle of testers that included Nitibha’s followers, friends, family, our Pocket Aces team (myself included), and our partners at The Beauty Co-lab. I personally spent months trying and re-trying formulas, consolidating feedback, and with the help of The beauty Co-lab team, refining every detail. After nearly two years of testing and iterations, Alt+K beauty finally launched with products designed not to chase trends but to solve real problems.
The result? Products that weren’t chasing trends, but solving real problems for real people. When your audience feels like they’re part of the journey, they’re not just buyers, they’re believers.
Balancing Authenticity with Business
Here’s the hard truth: when you’re building a creator-led brand, every detail feels personal. And it should. For Nitibha, even the tiniest design tweak or product name mattered. As a strategist, my challenge was to balance that deep emotional connection with the practicalities of scaling a business.
The key was to never dilute Nitibha’s voice. Alt+K Beauty had to feel unmistakably her—whether you discovered it on Instagram, a store shelf, or in a campaign. Authenticity wasn’t a tactic; it was the brand’s backbone. My role was to bridge Nitibha’s vision with our creative partners at Brave New World, helping them truly understand her intent and emotion, and then shaping it into a brand archetype. From brand identity to pack design to product names, every element was the result of countless brainstorming sessions and careful curation always aligned with her vision and what her audience genuinely wanted.
Small Team, Big Vision
What most people don’t see is the chaos behind a launch. Alt+K beauty wasn’t built by a giant corporation but by a small, passionate team wearing multiple hats. Some days we were marketers, other days supply chain troubleshooters or testers debating whether a formula felt right. Emma Hagemo, Stanley Teng and Pranjal Kukreja from The Beauty Co-Lab were instrumental in shaping the products, distribution and supply chain. The team at Brave New World brought the brand alive creatively, from our mission to taglines to logos to packaging.
At Clout, Pocket Aces, my team and I shaped the brand from every angle—social media, PR, managing schedules and everything in between. Some days I was testing foundation shades, other days I was building strategy decks. AND being a director and model for our branded shoots!
Those moments taught me that while structure sets the foundation, it’s flexibility and creativity that truly fuel a creator-led brand. When resources are tight, creativity becomes the most valuable currency.
Marketing with Stories, Not Just Ads
Traditional beauty launches lean on massive ad spends. But with a creator brand, the story itself is the campaign. Nitibha’s launch wasn’t about flashy campaigns—it was about her own journey with beauty, her own struggles and solutions.
Every reel, every post, every behind-the-scenes clip was a window into her world. That relatability turned product drops into conversations and launches into celebrations. Alt+K Beauty has truly been a brand for the people by the people and so it was only fair to have our Alt+Krew to also be part of our social media campaigns and journey. After all, real reviews, real stories and real results are in fact the recipe to success.
Emotions Are the Strategy
The more I worked on Alt+K Beauty, the clearer it became: with creator-preneurship, emotions aren’t a hurdle—they are the strategy. From choosing shades that reflected Nitibha’s personal favorites to copywriting that echoed her tone, the emotional imprint was everywhere.
That’s what makes creator brands powerful. They don’t just sell products; they sell stories, values, and a little piece of the creator themselves.
My Takeaway as a Strategist
I’ve shaped and ideated plenty of creative influencer campaigns for brands like Garnier men, Limca, Nykaa and so on but this journey was different. Helping Nitibha bring Alt+K Beauty to life taught me that creator-preneurship isn’t about KPIs and spreadsheets alone. It’s about nurturing a dream, giving it structure, and helping it grow without losing its soul.
Creators don’t just build businesses—they build movements. And as strategists, our job is not to tame their vision but to give it wings.
From Brainstorms to Brands
When I look back, I smile at how it began—with scattered ideas, late-night voice notes, and endless ‘what ifs.’ In just 6 months, we’ve seen nearly 3k orders, 30 days of billboards across prime Delhi spots, and 3 Grazia Indie beauty superstars award nominations for all our SKUs. Alt+K Beauty proves that when creators dream and strategists build, the result isn’t just products … It’s a story, a community, a movement.
Because sometimes, all it takes is one late-night brainstorm to spark a brand that feels unforgettable.
– Authored by Navneet Kaur, Associate Manager, Brand Solutions, Clout
