Before she could drive a car around her neighborhood, Riya Daga had been behind the wheel of a racecar. She fell in love with the sport at 14 years old and has been racing ever since.

However, as she reached speeds high enough to wear fireproof gear in her cockpit, she realized the sweat and heat of racing were taking a toll on her skin.

“The more intense [driving] was, the more my skin was sweating, and then from the sweat, especially if you don’t take care of all of your skin, not only do you break out, but you just start feeling really icky and not really fresh,” said Daga, a junior majoring in business administration. “Which, of course, does impact your performance as well.”

Daga said she would spend lunch breaks in the bathroom trying various cleansers to help her skin, but the process was time-intensive and she felt the products weren’t adequately supporting her skin. So, Daga decided to take the leap and founded her own skincare line, P1 Skincare, designed specifically for athletes on the move. 

At a trade show, Daga met the manufacturer who would go on to produce P1 Skincare. Later, she visited the manufacturer who was already developing a moisturizing stick. When Daga saw the product, she said she thought it was “perfect” and was inspired to jump into creating the final product. 

“The future of skincare is going to be in functionality. So I was like, ‘If anyone else develops [a moisturizing stick], I know I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life,’” Daga said. 

P1 Skincare, founded in 2021 and launched in 2025, currently consists of three products: a moisturizing stick, facial wipes and a facial mist. All three can be used without running water and without the need to touch one’s face. Daga said one of her earliest victories with the brand came when she reached out to one of her first repeat customers, who told her P1 Skincare’s moisturizer was now the only one she wanted to use.

“That felt so surreal,” Daga said. “You launch a brand, you put something into the world, and then seeing that someone you don’t know at all is genuinely using the product and it’s changed their routine.”

Natalia Lima, a senior majoring in public relations and advertising, is a friend of Daga’s and a user of P1 Skincare. Lima said both she and her mom appreciated the compact size and portability of the products, and that it was incredible to watch Daga build the brand as a student.

“She will be working around the clock,” Lima said. “Especially with the laws changing, with tariffs and all that. She’s figuring that out on her own. She’s figuring out her patent on her own. She just got a group of interns that are helping her, but really, for the majority of the time, it was her doing a one-woman show.”

Rafael Bracero, a part-time lecturer of communication, teaches a graduate class on digital advertising in which students create and launch marketing campaigns for real clients. In his three years teaching the course, P1 Skincare is the class’s first client with a student founder. 

“[Daga] is fantastic. She’s incredibly talented, an intuitive, analytical marketer, even though she’s still a student. So, it’s really impressive to see that,” Bracero said. “She’s definitely somebody to keep an eye out [for]. She’s gonna do great things.” 

Tamara Katthain, a graduate student studying digital media marketing, leads the marketing team working on P1 Skincare as part of the class. Katthain said everyone in her group wanted to work with P1 Skincare, and they are currently working on launching P1 Skincare on the TikTok shop.

“It’s really cool to work with a brand that’s in the earlier stage of creation, because I feel like that sometimes gives the opportunity to have even more of an impact on the brand, and see that dream come true along with her,” Katthain said. 

Daga encourages entrepreneurs to take risks and start building brands they are passionate about, but also to not be afraid to pause the process if need be. Daga said there is a lot of pressure in the start-up community to launch products quickly, but that she was glad she took the time to perfect her product. 

“One of the biggest mistakes that I’ve seen myself making this time is just not doing anything,” Daga said. “There’s kind of a beauty in that slower journey and just enjoying [the] process. Because I feel like the early days of any company … it’s such a fun time, if you let it be fun.”

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that P1 Skincare launched in 2021. The article was updated April 8 at 7:42 p.m. to reflect that P1 Skincare was founded in 2021, but launched in 2025. The Daily Trojan regrets this error.