Beeza is making over the medicine cabinet starting with menstrual cramp remedies.
Relaxing Body Lotion, the new wellness brand’s first product, is designed to topically deliver relief for pain from periods and a myriad of bodily ailments from headaches to muscle tinges. The CBD-infused formula is the first of several offerings from Beeza that strives to be an alternative to commonplace over-the-counter drugs.
“My dream is for someone who’s getting their period to try my product before they take Midol or something else hard on their kidneys,” says Beeza founder Alexandra Yerike. “I’m not against people taking medicine, but there are things that can be solved holistically, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be. I think everyone is so quick to grab a pill in America.”
Beeza has its roots in Yerike’s grandmother Dorothy Miles’ garden in San Francisco. There, the Las Vegas native and current Los Angeles resident found splendor in a panoply of plants she and her grandmother would transform into a therapeutic oil. Yerike regularly doled out the oil to friends, and they pleaded with her to sell it, but she was occupied with other pursuits. Yerike owns nanny concierge company Miles of Nannies.
I want products that solve my problems, not products that sort of work. When things are busy, I can’t be keeled over crying. This helps me live my best life.”
Two years ago, a trip to India, where traditional herbal treatments are routine, convinced her that a time-tested concoction could attract people looking to lessen their dependency on pharmaceuticals. But readying Yerike’s grandmother’s recipe for the market wasn’t an overnight process. She was turned down by lab after lab for her business being too small. Once she secured a lab, she decided to transform the oil she’d been accustomed to into a lotion for easier application. She also decided to add CBD to the formula to maximize pain reduction.
For personal reasons, Yerike insisted the product satisfy its pain-fighting promise. “I’m someone who has horribly debilitating periods, and it causes problems for that week of my life. A lot of my friends have problems around it to, and I want to solve problems. I want products that solve my problems, not products that sort of work,” she says. “When things are busy, I can’t be keeled over crying. This helps me live my best life.”
Yerike put Relaxing Body Lotion in a sleek mint green .65-oz. tube so women can transport it in their purses. They can use the applicator to rub it into their lower abdominal area and not get their hands messy. Beeza is working on a larger size for customers requiring big helpings of the lotion for substantial pain. The name Beeza, which was Yerike’s childhood nickname, conjures up Ibiza and vacation. The brand talks about its products providing a vacation from pain.
“I want to formulate my products so a girl making minimum wage can have access to them. It’s not just for the 1%. It’s for everybody.”
Relaxing Body Lotion is priced at $19.95, which is more than Midol, but certainly not the most costly pain relief product available. It’s important to Yerike to keep Beeza’s products as inexpensive as possible. “I want to formulate my products so a girl making minimum wage can have access to them. It’s not just for the 1%. It’s for everybody,” she says. “Some lotions are $90. Unless you’re making a ton of money, most people can’t afford that.”
Yerike’s ambition is to place Beeza in drugstores across the country to spread its products to the masses. So far, the brand has landed at clean beauty boutique Shop Good and CBD e-tailer Fleur Marché. In beauty and wellness stores, period care is a rising category and a smattering of brands such as Shea Brand and Whoopi & Maya are introducing cannabis-centered products for cramp relief.
“Beeza’s product resonates with us for many reasons. Alexandra is a female founder with a great brand story, laser-focused on delivering a product to women for a very specific female need. At Fleur Marché, we can really relate to that,” says Fleur Marché co-founder Meredith Schroeder. “Beeza is unique in the category it’s going after, and special in its approach to developing a product that is plant-based and inspired by her grandmother’s natural healing remedies.”
Beeza has a packed product pipeline, and Yerike figures she’s tinkering with about 10 products to build its assortment. “There’s more to come in the wellness realm, and it will all be products that we really use and need,” she explains. “And it will all be affordable. I don’t want to be bougie. I’m practical and for the people.”
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