While most celebrity-owned beauty brands might come off as money grabs and a way to stay relevant in the fast-moving media landscape, Savannah James’ new skincare brand, Reframe, out today, comes from pure intentions. “I was inspired by my daughter,” James tells me at the Equinox Hotel in NYC.
Although I’m sure she was exhausted after slaying the Met Gala red carpet and hosting a banging after party of her own earlier that week, you wouldn’t be able to tell by her glowing, pore-free skin and vibrant energy. She continues, “we were sitting down having a normal conversation and she was like, ‘mom, I want to be just like you.’”
And we don’t blame her daughter, Zuri, either, as James has proven to be quite the muse, with signature blonde hair and flawless makeup looks. To top it all off, she’s an incredible entrepreneur and philanthropist via her podcast Everybody’s Crazy and organizations like Women of the Future and the I PROMise Makeover. “Her reasons for wanting to be like me,” such as the fact that her mom wears cute clothes, dances, and does her makeup, “were very little girl, very cute,” James says. “But that conversation scared me a little bit and inspired me to go on a personal growth journey. I reflected on what brings me joy and happiness outside of supporting the kids and LeBron,” she says. This, coupled with meandering around Sephora and often not finding products that met her needs, “made me realize I wanted to be a part of the beauty world in a meaningful way.”
This dream has been made a reality thanks to help from Howard University’s College of Dermatology and beauty industry vet Nick Axelrod-Welk, who’s helped launch successful brands like Glossier and Nécessaire. For their first drop, the team launched the Pigment Processor Daily Brightening Serum, which aids in dark spot and irritation elimination. Then, there’s the Circadian Cream Overnight Collagen Seal that’s jam-packed with collagen, perfect for helping your skin recover while sleeping. Lastly, the Compression Complex Facial Sculpting Cream is guaranteed to make you look snatched with its hydration and oxygen technology. “I love that this product protects the skin from blue light,” she says. “In this day-and-age, we’re constantly looking at our screens. These products keep all the good things in and the bad things out.”
Not only that, the brand proves a clinically-backed line can also have fun and vibrant packaging. “Clinical and luxury skincare can be pretty sterile,” she says, which is the opposite of James. “I love art, I love museums, I love music. I wanted the packaging to reflect this,” she says. “We all deserve to look at something beautiful everyday.”
Given there’s so much noise in the beauty industry, “we want to move really intentionally,” James says. “I don’t want to inundate consumers with a million things.” James also adds, “although I’m a Black woman, I definitely made this for all people to try,” she says. “We were really intentional with making sure that we cover the Fitzpatrick scale in our clinical trials so that people know this product was made for them.”
In the midst of this new chapter, she recognizes the importance of prioritizing her mental health. “The most important thing for me has been to make space,” she says. “I like to say, nobody is going to be good if I’m working from a glass that’s half empty. So I intentionally take my little moments and stand by them,” be it a lymphatic drainage massage, driving around and listening to music, or her skincare routine. “This might be controversial, but I don’t wash my face in the morning,” she adds with a laugh. “But I take this time and I don’t feel bad about it. It’s okay to have balance, even when life gets busy. I’m not one to be burnt out. I don’t work well that way.”
That said, she’s carving out a moment to stop, smell the flowers, and celebrate her accomplishment. “I’m excited to see everything that we’ve done behind the scenes come to light,” she says. “It’s really been a labor of love and I’m excited to see what people think of it. I think the way we’re approaching the clinical and luxury skincare world is needed.”
