Veteran-Founded Beauty Brand Cashmere Moon Nourishes Both the Skin and the Soul

When Tisha Ayers was pregnant with her second child, her stomach was so dry. “I was gaining weight so quickly and my skin was stretching probably faster than it was ready to,” says Ayers. “I just had nonstop irritated dry skin all the time.” She teamed up with her husband, who has chronically dry, eczematic skin, to seek out a solution.

“We were underwhelmed with the lotions that were already out there. They gave some moisture, but you always had to reapply and I didn’t wanna have to go through that,” says Ayers. “I knew that we could have used just pure butters like cocoa butter or shea butter which have long-lasting moisture, but for me, the texture is just not there. The smell is just not there. Where’s the middle ground?”

The two of them wanted a lotion that was easy to apply and would leave their skin feeling moisturized, soft, and cared for all day long. So they did their research and created a whipped, light-as-air blend of shea butter and cocoa butter souped up with humectants like aloe vera and skin-strengtheners like vitamin B5.

“It took quite a few months, but we were able to solidify a formulation and just started using that,” says Ayers. “And then we started passing it out to family and friends and they liked it and kept coming back. I thought ‘Maybe, there’s something here.’ So we started Cashmere Moon and it’s just been, honestly, it’s just been a great ride since we launched in June of 2021.”

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The Whipped Body Cream is the brand’s hero product. Although it feels amazing, it also smells divine. This is super meaningful for Ayers, who didn’t get to dabble much in scent and expression during her days in the United States Air Force. “In the military, you’re told what to wear, you’re told most of the time even what to think,” says Ayers. “If someone tells you that your perfume distracts your neighbors, you can’t wear that. Or if you’re out in the field and your lotion is attracting bees or other insects, you can’t wear that.” Now that she’s in the Army Reserves, she’s been able to explore what makes her feel good. And she loves smelling good.

“Shea butter has this really earthy scent and while there are people who love that scent, it just wasn’t me,” says Ayers. “I wanted to create a range of scents but still make sure that they complement the scent of the shea butter because there is a high concentration of shea butter in all of the whipped creams.”

So she created four luxe scents for the Whipped Body Cream. Mango Cocomilk (“It’s more of a vacation stent, reminds me of Miami.”), Jasmine Vanilla (“It’s for the ladies that like a more perfumey scent.”), Peppermint Eucalyptus (“It smells like a spa.”), and Watermint Clementine (“It has more of a softer, fresh scent.”).  Buy them individually ($12 to $30) or try minis of each ($40) in the above kit.

Each scent can be used with Cashmere Moon’s Lavender Rose Glow Oil ($14 to $34), which Ayers designed to be layered.  “We made the scents of the creams and the oil light so they can be mixed and matched,” she says. “The cream is more for long-lasting moisture, where the oil provides anti-aging benefits,” says Ayers. It has antioxidant-rich pomegranate seed oil to protect the skin from environmental stressors, collagen-boosting squalane oil to firm skin, and brightening rosehip oil to even-out hyperpigmentation.

And just last week, the brand introduced an Exfoliating Body Brush ($24) to kickstart the self-care before you even turn on the shower. It uses strong plant fibers to promote cell turnover, leaving your skin soft, supple, and smooth.

Creating Cashmere Moon has forced Ayers to be more intentional about her “me time,” and she wants it to do the same for you.

“The longer I’ve been working on the business,  I realized how much more important it is to have those like inward moments to just moment to just be with myself,” says Ayers. “Not worrying about business, not worrying about kids, not worrying about the military. Just focusing on who am I and who I want to be.”