I'm Super Skeptical About Celebrity Skincare Lines—but Savannah James May Have Just Converted Me
Half of my job as a beauty editor in 2025 is testing out celebrity beauty brands. My inbox is full of emails announcing the next new popstar, actor, model, nepo baby, or random Hollywood someone coming for my beauty routine. At this point, I'm definitely more than a bit tired of it...I'm frickin' exhausted. But two names in one subject line piqued my interest: Savannah James and Nick Axelrod-Welk.
You might know her as the wife of LeBron James; I know her as a hometown hero. Like her, I also hail from Northeast Ohio (a mere 20 minutes from where she grew up and met her husband in high school), where we know of the James family as so much more than basketball stars, but also philanthropers, parents, and entrepreneurs. Nick Axelrod-Welk, on the other hand, is somewhat of a modern-day beauty pioneer. He cofounded Into the Gloss, the editorial platform for Glossier, and worked as their editorial director before cofounding bodycare brand Nécessaire and homecare line Homecourt with Courteney Cox.
Now, the two are joining forces on Reframe Beauty: A skincare line that takes a clinical approach without the same cold exterior. Launching with three products on May 15, Reframe Beauty is meant to be a brand for everyone. They partnered with Howard University's College of Medicine to run a first-of-its-kind clinical study on every single Fitzpatrick skin tone, ensuring that all products were not only safe but effective for the deepest skin tones that are often left out of medical conversations.
Ahead of the launch, I spoke with Savannah about what it was like launching a new beauty brand, the story behind her obsession with skincare, and her go-to self-care practices amidst being a (very) busy person.$115.00 at $95.00 at $135.00 at
I've been an avid beauty lover. I'm a Sephora VIB Rouge. I love browsing the aisles and looking at all the latest and greatest and trying all of the things.
What really started this journey was my daughter. She told me she wants to be like me. It was so sweet, but so terrifying. And her reasons were super cute. "Mom, you do your makeup so well!" But that hit me like a ton of bricks, and I really had to reevaluate who I was outside of being a mom and wife. I kind of took a step back. I started to go on a personal development journey and realized that I want to make my mark in the beauty space. It's always been super fascinating. It's ever-evolving, and I think that I can contribute to the industry.
I like to work from the foundation up. So with this brand, I wanted to start the foundation and be able to build on top of it. I love going to my aesthetician. I love going to dermatologists to be recommended things that I know will work for me, because they usually have a higher level of active ingredients. They work, but they don't look great. But then, while I'm in Sephora and I'm seeing all these amazing, beautiful products, I don't really understand how they work or what they'll do for my skin. Then, I'm thinking about my daughter, who is using products that don't necessarily speak to me.
I kind of wrapped all of those things into thinking about what I want this brand to be, and I feel like we've executed that with highly clinically studied products.
I want it to be digestible to the real world. It's clinical skincare for the real world. Skincare that you can understand. We want to keep things really simple. I'm very much still learning. I'm very curious, so I'll stay on an ever-evolving journey of knowledge and curiosity. So, even with this product, I am not an expert, but I surrounded myself with experts to be able to help me gain knowledge.
I wanted to make sure that we were coming out of the gate with an accredited institution. Yeah, there are many ways to do clinical trials and studies, but we wanted to make sure that ours was going to solidify that we're really putting our money where our mouth is, and making sure that we are creating a product that is going to work across the Fitzpatrick scale was important.
Exactly. So we've been very intentional with that. That's another reason why I wanted to create this brand is because I didn't feel spoken to in that way as well. I wanted to make sure that everyone felt seen.
He's brought in his expertise, his vision, his edge—all of those things are what we have been able to collaborate on and bring life to this brand. He has been amazing to work with because he's very blunt and dry. This is gonna work, this isn't right, he'll say, and I appreciate that. Like I said, I'm still evolving, so getting education from him has been invaluable.
The name did not come easily. When naming my children, it just flies off the top of our heads. But because this meant so much to me, and I also wanted it to mean something to other people, it was so hard to think of a name. I was going back and forth on whiteboards. But I do my best thinking in the shower. And one time, in the shower, I thought of it and knew, oh my gosh, this is the name.
It's basically just coming from the fact that we want to reframe the way that clinical skincare is looked at in its approach. We're making sure that the entire Fitzpatrick scale is accounted for, making sure that we are really intentional with our clinical studies, and also just the way that we're looking at skincare. When you think of clinical, it's not pretty or fun. But we're fun and cute. I wanted to reframe the way people look at skincare in that way.
Since formulation, these are the only products I've used. We've gone through so many iterations of what works, what doesn't, and different textures. But I have a very simple routine, and that's part of the reason why we started with three products, because we want you to be able to try things and just incorporate a product or two into your regular routine. You don't have to buy a 12-step system to feel confident. Any incorporation of these products will work.
Every day, I wash my face and use our Pigment Processor serum. I'm a skin picker, so I've got some hyperpigmentation I want to work on fading, and this has an overall brightening effect on my skin. I follow up with our Compression Complex, which is our day cream. It has amazing hydration benefits, but also some really cool technology that keeps all the good in but blocks blue light. It's also instant gratification and has an immediate snatching effect, which I love. At night, I'll use our Circadian Cream, which is our night cream, after washing my face and using my actives (I love peel pads with chemical exfoliants). And this locks in everything and puts my skin to sleep.
It looks like making time for myself. I'm a firm believer that you cannot work from a cup that's half full in any capacity. So I enjoy my moments. I tell my kids all the time, if you can't find me, don't look. I love hanging out with my friends, and I love self-care practices, getting a lymphatic drainage massage, or sitting in the sauna—little things like that. That's where I find my balance and my peace.
I know it doesn't seem like a beauty practice, but drinking water. I'm a water girlie. Yes, I do drink coffee on a daily basis, but I make up for it with how much water I drink. I think detoxing is really important. I love sweating things out, getting lymphatic drainage massages.
I don't know if it's that crazy, but I think that something that's really beneficial is moisturizing while you're wet. That's one thing that I read once, and I was like, oh, that makes so much sense. And I've done it ever since.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.You Might Also Like
Here's What NOT to Wear to a Wedding
Meet the Laziest, Easiest Acne Routine You'll Ever Try
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Furry Travis Kelce and the great men's grooming debate: To wax, shave or leave body hair be?
64% of Americans find back hair on men unattractive. Travis Kelce is a lot of things. He's a three-time Super Bowl champion, a family man, a successful podcaster and a famous boyfriend to superstar Taylor Swift. He's also hairy and not shy about it. Photos from the football player's latest GQ profile featured his bearlike appearance. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was photographed in a Florida swamp driving an ATV, riding in an airboat and cuddling reptiles while wearing couture jackets without shirts, putting his full hairy chest, shoulders and stomach on display. Kelce's back, which did not get captured by the magazine, is also covered in fur, which was revealed when paparazzi pics in May of the 35-year-old sparked headlines, memes and a fresh conversation about male body hair. 'I looked at this [photo] and I'm like, get your back waxed, dude,' comedian Jared Freid shared on an episode of The JTrain Podcast while commenting on trending pop culture conversations. He's one to talk. 'I've been getting waxed once a month for the last 15 years of my life,' Freid tells Yahoo. 'When it comes to grooming, it's a very normal thing.' He's not an anomaly. While not every man talks about it, many trim, shave or wax parts of their body beyond the face. Smooth-chested actors, glossy Calvin Klein models and increasingly groomed beachgoers all hint at the trend. But the grooming conversation still carries stigma, especially when it moves beyond beards and mustaches. The quiet business of men's grooming Whether hair removal is a rare task or a routine, most men are doing it to some capacity. In fact, shaving trends and products are a part of the current boom in the market of men's grooming. The conversation around it, though, can still be touchy. While Gillette ads showing men shaving facial hair have been normalized over the years, examples of hair removal on other parts of the body are seen less often, and mostly as a joke. Take The 40-Year-Old Virgin, for example, where Steve Carell's chest wax was turned into comedy gold. 'That scene is a disservice. It's not that bad,' says Freid, who believes the portrayal of pain and embarrassment has kept men from getting a wax themselves. That doesn't mean that they aren't doing anything about their furry bodies. 'There's still pressure, especially on social media, for men to be hairless,' Patrick Aramouni, a 36-year-old fitness and food influencer, tells Yahoo. 'There's definitely a stigma, mainly because a lot of guys have no idea what they're supposed to do with their body hair.' When he first noticed his own growing at 16 years old, he didn't get any guidance on how to groom it, or if he was even supposed to. Eventually, it was a conversation with a friend that influenced him to do so. 'He insisted that shaving my chest and abs would make me look more ripped ... I gave in,' says Aramouni. TV personality Derek Zagami says classmates teased his early hair growth in middle school, even stuffing razors in his mailbox. His mom would use Nair on his upper lip and brows, but it wasn't until he was swimming competitively that he started removing hair from other parts of his body. 'Obviously, that makes you faster,' the 31-year-old recalls thinking. Now, he enjoys the look of keeping his chest and leg hair trimmed — and he's noticed that other men feel the same, given the appearance of bare arms, legs and backs at the gym. How are they doing it? Zagami has never been a fan of using shaving cream with a razor, but he's graduated from the hair removal cream to an electric shaver. He usually grooms when he has a specific occasion and focuses on keeping hair short, rather than removing it completely. 'I don't like leg hair as much, so I trim it and clean it up a little bit. Chest hair, I hate because you look like you have more weight on you when you're not trimmed,' he says. On a regular basis, he can get away with grooming just the top part of his chest and even focusing on his arms rather than his underarms. But if he's going topless, it's all got to be taken care of. 'I have to call my boyfriend in to do the back.' Zagami has started considering other alternatives like waxing or even lasering certain parts of his body for more permanent hair removal. Freid is ritualistic when it comes to his full back wax. 'I like doing it and I can't see why any man wouldn't,' he says. Back hair remains the most controversial While methods of hair removal are varied, there's one thing that the men I spoke with agreed on: Back hair is a no-go. Hence, the response to Kelce's patchy back. He's far from the only man to be seen with a hairy back, but he stands out in having it on display when people have made their preferences against it known, especially as somebody in the public eye. While a 2021 YouGov poll found that 64% of Americans find back hair on men unattractive, hairless backs shown across popular media had already confirmed how most feel. So much so that Seth Rogen's furry back became a notable part of a sex scene in the movie Neighbors. Aramouni doesn't see that stigma changing. He shows off his well-maintained chest, arm and leg hair on social media, while a shot of his back will reveal that it's bare. 'Honestly, I don't think I'll ever be able to justify having hair on my back,' he says. Freid says back hair makes him feel dirty, and having it waxed off ultimately helps him to feel more confident. 'I know that it's a better day when I get that done,' he says. The bottom line For as many negative reactions to Kelce's back, there were also positive ones normalizing body hair. Even among subreddits dedicated to male grooming, there remains a balance between men who are unbothered by it and those who feel uncomfortable with it. 'In a public setting, it is still more widely acceptable to not have hair in areas like your back as a man,' Andrew Glass, the cofounder of wax brand Wakse, tells Yahoo. 'But I think now with the rise of the dad bod and the Travis Kelces of the world, it's becoming more of an accepted thing.' Still, cultural pressure isn't disappearing. Just as women have long faced beauty standards tied to hair removal, men now navigate their own version — whether they embrace it, quietly maintain it or go fully smooth. For Kelce, the buzz will fade. But for plenty of men, the conversation his back hair sparked is just beginning. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
《Mortal Kombat 1》、《Sword of the Sea》、《Lies of P》！8 月 PS Plus 會員基本、升級、高級檔新遊戲看這裡
Yahoo編輯團隊致力為你精選優質產品及優惠價格，文章中部份商品、平台與Yahoo有合作關係，定價及供應量均會隨市場變動，請以平台最新資料為準。 《 Mortal Kombat 1 》、《Sword of the Sea》、《Lies of P》！8 月 PS Plus 會員基本、升級、高級檔新遊戲看這裡 PS Plus 的 8 月份會員免費、升級及高級檔新遊戲陣容已全數公開。會免這次的主打作品是《Lies of P》，而升級和高級檔則有《Mortal Kombat 1》、《Sword of the Sea》坐鎮。 基本會員 8 月限免： 《Lies of P》（PS5、PS4） 《Day Z》（PS4） 《My Hero One's Justice 2》（PS5） 除基本會員限免遊戲，升級和高級會員可再獲以下作品： 《Mortal Kombat 1》（PS5） 《漫威蜘蛛俠 重製版》（PS5、PS4） 《word of the Sea》（PS5 首發入庫） 《地球防衛軍 6》（PS5、PS4） 《萊莎的鍊金工房３ 終結之鍊金術士與秘密鑰匙》（PS5、PS4） 《聖獸之王》（PS5、PS4） 《Harold Halibut》（PS5） 《珊瑚島》（PS5） 高級會員可再獲以下作品： PS 經典《生化危機 2》（PS5、PS4） PS 經典《生化危機 3》（PS5、PS4） 《死亡擱淺 2》（5 小時試玩） 會免遊戲從 8 月 5 日起有效，升級、高級檔新增遊戲則將從 8 月 19 日起入庫，想體驗的朋友到時記得去下載。 立即前往 PlayStation 官網了解 廣告 廣告 👉 備戰《黑神話：悟空》！PS5 合用大容量 SSD 網購優惠 緊貼最新科技資訊、網購優惠，追隨 Yahoo Tech 各大社交平台！ 🎉📱 Tech Facebook： 🎉📱 Tech Instagram： 🎉📱 Tech WhatsApp 社群： 🎉📱 Tech WhatsApp 頻道：
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Demi Lovato Brought Back These Controversial Pants From the '50s
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Never has Demi Lovato looked better, and never has a dry cleaning run looked this chic. Yesterday, the singer was seen out in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, picking up a bright fuchsia party dress while in a classic 1950s-style getup that included a skintight crop top and even tighter pants. The top was a cream, long-sleeve piece with an elegant twisted detail at the chest. The slinky piece left Lovato's abs bare, and then, her pants took the spotlight. These were inky, stretchy, vintage-style cigarette pants with belt loops at the top and a silhouette that hugged the pop star's legs. The off-duty look nodded to the cult-classic film Grease, and Lovato looked like the ultimate Pink Lady. She further played into the nostalgia with her accessories: black, pointy leather slingbacks from Saint Laurent, and oversize, black shield-style aviator sunglasses. Her only jewelry was her massive diamond engagement ring from husband Jutes. Lovato's stop in New York City comes as she made millennial hearts skip a beat on Sunday night, when she joined the Jonas Brothers on stage during the opening night of their 20th-anniversary tour, JONAS20. She and ex-boyfriend-turned-friend Joe Jonas even made us heal a little as they performed Camp Rock classics including 'This Is Me' and 'Wouldn't Change a Thing.' Lovato is also back to making music. Earlier this month, she released her latest single 'Fast,' and a new album is expected in 2026. You Might Also Like 4 Investment-Worthy Skincare Finds From Sephora The 17 Best Retinol Creams Worth Adding to Your Skin Care Routine Solve the daily Crossword
