Animal testing is something that all brands should stop doing: Nimisha Popat, Hair Care Square

'Been there done that' is my USP says, Nimisha Popat, Beauty and Lifestyle Blogger, Hair Care Square. Hailing from a family closely related to Ayurveda, Popat believes in providing natural hair remedies to her audience.

In conversation with Social Samosa, Popat shares it all.

Looking back, where did it all begin?

I was about to appear for my CA-Finals and honestly had no idea that something called ‘blogging’ even existed. Until one day a close friend asked me for help with his content. He was working for an online news portal struggling to meet his deadlines.

What's in the name? 

I helped him out and the piece was an instant hit. He then not only encouraged me to start my own blog but he actually made the first one for me.

It
defines the niche. My peeps know exactly what will be served on their plate
when they arrive.

Apart from capturing the essence, the name rhymes and has a nice ring to it - Hair Care Square

What is your USP in this cluttered space? How does your content
give you an edge?

‘Been there done that’ is my USP.

I actually have gone through almost all of the hair and skin problems and have tried and tested a lot of things on the way to find the solutions. A lot of times I just landed in a bigger mess. Hence, I created this space to share all those experiences.

I share what exactly I did while I was struggling with the mentioned problems

Soon after I started HCS, People started reaching out to me to seek solutions for their queries. This led me to start an entire series where I share solutions to their problems. The faith of my audience has been the backbone of my blog.

Please take us through your content creation process. How do you
stay relevant and relatable?

Being born in a family where Ayurveda is believed to be the best healer, I somehow inherited that and now I practice mostly home remedies.

For content, I keep asking my audience what are they struggling with and what next to do. This is followed by rigorous research work from my end.

I then start testing home remedies or products on myself like a Guinea pig and share about its success and failures. If it works successfully, the content related to it makes it to my blog.

How do you make moolah with your efforts?

Brands, sponsorships, affiliation, and ads. These are all good but what drives me forward are the messages in my inbox saying how my blog or remedy worked for them. There is nothing else that can match that feeling for me.

How do you maintain editorial objectivity with the influx of brand briefs?

Cruelty free is the key aspect for me.

Any time a brand reaches out, I check whether they are cruelty-free or not. Initially, I used to work with brands that were testing on animals but now no matter how much they pay, I simply reject it.

Being a dog mama, I feel animal testing is something that all brands should stop doing. It’s just inhumane.

Also read: Motherhood is not the end of the adventure: Shweta Thota, Mom Blogger

One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile

Actually there are countless instances that I recall but the one that stood out the most was my blog making to the list of ‘Top 40 Hair Blogs on the Planet’. 

Also read: Create your Niche: Shilpa Arora, ChicLifeByte

Weirdest brand brief/request ever

I have a post on my blog where I shared my one-year hair growth journey. In that post, I wrote about things I did and the products I used to help my hair growth.

So, once a well-known hair care brand reached out to me saying they will pay me a certain amount of money if I share that I have grown my hair using just their products.

This was actually weird and hilarious at the same time. I didn’t even know how to react. I simply had a good laugh and moved on from it.

If not blogging, you would be?

Chartered accountant
no doubt.

The day I finally took the leap of faith and switched my career from CA to Blogger was the scariest one for me. Almost everyone in my family still gets mad at me for switching the stream. But my parents and husband were very supportive of it and still are!

A day in your life...

I am someone who
believes Tea is the best therapy.

So the first thing I do is pour myself a hot cup of tea and enjoy it accompanied by my phone. I search for motivational quotes to start my day with some positivity, followed by checking my emails, messages, and comments. Post that, I reply to them.

After all of this is done, I start focusing on the content for that day. It is followed by planning, scripting, editing, clicking a lot of pictures, shooting some videos and sharing some behind the scenes with my Instagram audience. And then comes the biggest challenge to clean the mess I have created in the entire day. Well, this pretty much sums up a day in my life.

Message/tips for upcoming bloggers

Listen to what your audience needs. Just be true to your audience and it will all work out. And if you are new, stick to your guns for at least a year before you think of giving up.

Your Favorite Influencer

Safiya Nygard,
Prajakta Koli (Mostly Sane), BeYouNik and Shreya Jain.

The Future you foresee for your Brand

We are in the process of adding real-life hair stories by regular people and their journeys related to it. We are also thinking of launching our haircare brand soon.

But it’s still all a long way down the road. Right now I am kind of living in the moment and enjoying my blogging journey one day at a time.