How An Air Force Veteran Got Into Body Care And Landed The Brand Cashmere Moon At J.C. Penney

A United States Air Force veteran, Tisha Ayers is a pro at learning things on the fly.

That skill came in handy when she geared up to launch clean body care brand Cashmere Moon in 2021 with no prior beauty experience. “You’ve got to learn on your feet a lot of the time,” she says. “For my first deployment, I had to get in there and figure things out quickly, so I feel like I was prepared for this, but it’s definitely been a learning curve all around.”

The idea for Cashmere came to Ayers while she was pregnant with her son and suffering from dry skin. She and her husband scoured store shelves for a product that would keep her moisturized and prevent stretch marks. They ran across two options: lotions with consistencies too thin for Ayers’ taste, and shea butter and cocoa butter products that skewed too greasy. Ayers was interested in a product in between the two.

Ayers recounts, “[My husband and I] started researching what’s good for the skin, what helps keep it moisturized and what things to avoid, and over the course of some months, we were able to perfect the formula that we started using.”

Based on that ideal in-between formula, Cashmere Moon sells four Whipped Body Creams in 2-oz. and 8-oz. jars for $12 and $30 each, respectively. They’re the brand’s hero products, and mango coco milk and jasmine vanilla are bestselling scents. A $14 Lavender Rose Glow Oil and a $24 Whipped Hand Lotion round out the product lineup. The formulas are vegan, and eco-conscious Cashmere Moon packages its products primarily in glass and paper.

Ayers named her brand Cashmere Moon because it evokes comfort and luxury. Cashmere covers the luxury part, and she landed on moon after cycling through several celestial-aligned words. “To me, it just went well together, and it was soothing,” she says. “The products focus on body care, and I want to make sure that people realize that self-care and body care is just as important as your daily facial skincare routine.”

Adhering to the name’s attributes, Cashmere Moon’s branding and packaging is upscale, minimal and inviting. In neutral tones, it doesn’t shout at consumers. Ayers worked with Julia Dennis, owner and creative director of Bungalow Creative, to bring her vision to life.

She and her husband invested $15,000 to start Cashmere Moon. The money went toward photography, the designer and e-commerce setup. Ayers considers the investment worthwhile and says spending on the look of the brand early on has “allowed people and retailers to at least give us a try.” She adds, “The products themselves keep people coming back.”

Cashmere Moon has partnered with indie retailers, including Freshwater Design Co. in Ayers’ hometown of Augusta, Ga., which it entered in its infancy. Ayers says, “They are still one of our retail partners and that means everything to me because that means customers like our products enough for them to continue reordering.”

The brand caught the eye of Thirteen Lune and broke into J.C. Penney stores in March last year as part of the e-tailer’s partnership with the chain. Ayers connected with Thirteen Lune’s s mission to highlight BIPOC-owned brands and believes it aligns with her business goals. Cashmere Moon will soon roll out to 600 J.C. Penney stores nationwide.

J.C. Penney is Cashmere Moon’s first major retailer. It’s a partnership that she calls a dream come true. It’s also strategic in that it’s enabling the brand prepare for other major retailers like Target, Ulta Beauty and Sephora, which Ayers has her eye on.

“We’re making sure that we have things in order as far as logistics and a manufacturer, those things are important to get into place as we continue to grow,” she says. “This partnership has been helpful in gearing us up for the expansion that is definitely to come in the future.”

Expansion is imminent for Cashmere Moon’s assortment. Ayers plans to release new products to coincide with the summer, when people are going to be traveling more. The products will stick to the body care realm. “I want to stay in that space,” says Ayers. “I feel like that’s our lane.”

She aspires for Cashmere Moon to be become a brand that people think of when they think of the body care category. “I don’t think body care gets as much attention as it deserves,” says Ayers. “It’s kind of one of those, yeah, we sell this, and you can find our body cream or our body lotion.”