To Ayesha Curry, clean, quality products and cultural representation are a must. This is especially true for her skincare line, Sweet July Skin. With their newest product, Coffee Fix Peptide Eye Cream, the brand builds upon its ethos of incorporating natural ingredients—such as hibiscus, coffee, and soursop—from her homeland of Jamaica.
The eye cream targets the most sensitive area of the face using star ingredients like peptides, squalene, hyaluronic acid, turmeric, hibiscus, and of course, Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. The product weaves together science-backed modern technology with tried and true methods passed down by Curry’s grandmother, to create an eye cream that aims to reduce puffiness and fine lines, hydrate, and revive the eye area for a brighter, more energized look. “We’ve approached every single formula like a recipe,” she explains.
After testing out the eye cream myself for just under two months leading up to a conversation with Curry, I can say that the consistency is a personal highlight. Partial to creams and moisturizers with thicker consistencies and longer-feeling hydration, I really enjoyed the way the product feels on my skin. My initial thoughts: genius no-fuss packaging for storage and travel, a fragrance-free formula safe for sensitive skin, and a rich texture that feels smooth going on and leaves my skin feeling supple.
While the eye cream comes after a slew of favored facial products, it was one of the first items the brand started to develop. Curry’s overall lifestyle brand, Sweet July, expanded into skincare in 2019, experimenting with formulation before the overall launch in 2023. Now, after years of research and testing, the eye cream is ready for consumers to try.
Curry’s go-to method for the eye cream is to use it as the last step in her routine, and as a primer before makeup. She points out that oftentimes facial products advise to avoid the eye area due to sensitivity, ultimately leaving it uncared for. Meanwhile, this one is gentle and nourishing on the delicate skin and maintains skin elasticity and barrier protection. To this point, another hack she loves is using the eye cream on other sensitive, dryness-prone areas of the skin—such as underneath or around the nose during winter time, and the orbital bone area.
The most gratifying elements of venturing into skincare, to Curry, are experiencing the brand’s efficacy in real time and having the ability to integrate cultural storytelling into skincare. “As a team we get really excited to infuse so much of the island’s influence, and my Jamaican culture into the products. [The best part] is when you get to hear and see that people are loving the products that you put your heart, soul, time, effort and money into.”
Additionally, Sweet July Skin prides itself on clean and vegan formulas as a baseline. “I recall doing a pop up at the mall out here [in the Bay Area], and a woman came in and said, ‘I’m a cancer survivor, and I’m in remission, and I don’t buy a lot of things to put on my body, because I’m just so scared. When I saw that these products were clean and vegan, I was so happy, because I often can’t find that.’ That for me, was everything,” Curry says. “That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
This journey has, in many ways, allowed Curry to reconnect with her family history as well. The more she researched for her brand, the more she realized just how connected everything was. “I hold on to the little things I know about my ancestors so deeply to make sure I’m passing it down to my children. Growing up, I vividly remember, especially in my teenage years, my grandma telling me, ‘cut a slice of tomato and put it on your pimple, it’ll go away’. Or, in Jamaica, any ailment you have, there’s always some sort of special tea that they can make, whether it’s soursop, goldenseal,whatever it is,” she explains. “When we started to think about the skincare line, the research and the studies prove that everything she was saying was right.”
