Ficus enters an increasingly crowded premium body care landscape populated by brands such as Nécessaire, Cyklar, Iota, Gente Beauty and Tronque. Ahluwalia foresees the category further bifurcating between consumers willing to shell out for higher-efficacy products and those sticking with lower-cost basics.

Ficus is targeting women in their 30s, 40s and beyond who’ve already upgraded their skincare and aesthetics routines, although she acknowledges convincing consumers to spend $84 on body cream requires a differentiated value proposition. She argues Super Flower Nourish Cream’s concentrated formulation and value on a price-per-ounce basis relative to competitors justify the premium price tag.

“You have to be very compelling in what you are offering because it’s a big ask for women to spend money to cover their body first thing in the morning,” says Ahluwalia. “Longevity is definitely where the growth is going to come from.”

Ficus is self-funded, with roughly $100,000 to $150,000 invested into development. As it tests the market, the brand initially ordered fewer than 10,000 units from its manufacturer. Ahluwalia opted to launch with a single product partly because of the costs associated with erecting a broader assortment, but also because a survey of 300 women indicated consumers still prefer streamlined, one-and-done body care products.

Ficus has nearly completed development on three additional launches, and a scalp treatment could eventually join the lineup, although the brand’s emphasis will remain on body care. However, Ficus isn’t trying to recreate the kind of elaborate multistep regimens common in facial skincare. Instead, future releases may revolve around different usage occasions, including bath products.

Ficus has partnered with Ember, an investment and advisory platform that typically works with consumer companies generating between $2 million and $20 million in revenue, but occasionally incubates earlier-stage startups. The brand tapped labs in Seoul and Los Angeles to formulate and produce Super Flower Nourish Cream, a process complicated by tariff hikes and the limited number of manufacturers able to handle highly concentrated formulas. It anticipates generating around $50,000 in its first quarter of availability. Next year, it could fundraise from friends, family members and angel investors to secure capital to fuel growth.

Ahluwalia named Ficus for the ficus plant, which she says is associated with resilience, wisdom and wellness. Launching direct-to-consumer, she envisions the brand expanding later into bathhouses, med-spas and dermatologists’ offices, where consumers may already be thinking about body wellness and preventive care. Longer term, she hopes to place the brand in beauty retailers such as Credo, Bluemercury and Sephora. For now, Ficus hasn’t delved into paid media, instead relying on brand collaborations, retail pop-ups and organic word of mouth to raise awareness.