Local Love: EV Looks eyecandy soothing eye coolers

 

Local love is a continuing series on Style Wylde where we feature San Francisco Bay-Area-based companies that are creating innovative products we adore. This week we feature Danville based EV Looks, a local company that  is all about adding a little fun to your beauty regime. 

Around these parts eye-bags are a constant.  From attending nightly events to long hours editing photos our peepers are red and tired more often than not. So anytime a company comes up with a new way to soothe and relax our tired eyes we are interested in giving it a try. Case in point: EV Looks eyecandy coolers, the reusable, chill-able veggie-inspired soft gels that do wonders to not only de-puff and soothe your eyes, but worked wonders on our allergy/eye strain headaches as well. 

Convinced eyecandy was a product we had to share with readers, we wanted to learn more about the company, EV Looks, that creates these little miracle workers so SW caught up with co-founder and head of product development at EV Looks, Evonne Fawley for a quick Q&A.

SW: Reading your FAQs, I see that you and Valerie, who is the head of marketing and business development, are siblings. How did you come to go into business with your sister?  Is it difficult to work so closely with a member of your family? 

image courtesy of EV LooksEF: My sister and I have talked about building a business, providing a service, developing a product, and working together as a team for as long as I can remember. We are truly friends as well as sisters—we have similar interests, professional backgrounds, and always seem to look "out-of-the-box" for cost-effective solutions. On the whole, I believe our skill-sets complement each other well, and many division of labor issues fall easily into one of our two camps. If I were to identify a ‘con’ to working together, it is that we are both equally vested in the company and have exciting ideas for growing the eyecandy product line and EVLooks…so much so that we need to work to keep each other on track, focused on our goals, and not get carried away with the next ‘shiny object’.

SW: What inspired the design behind eyecandy coolers? What attracted you to the 'cucumber' shape as opposed to a traditional eye mask?

EF: We have both tried a traditional gel eye mask in the past, and although they work to soothe eyes and headaches in a similar way, there is absolutely nothing cute about strapping a Velcro or elastic band around your head while you are trying to enjoy a spa moment. We have also both used chilled cucumber slices to de-puff our eyes. But again, having a cucumber handy in the fridge isn’t always realistic. So the shape and design of our eyecandy coolers was really the result of a quest to blend ‘practical’ with ‘cute’, and making one of our 4 colored sets of eyecandy resemble cucumber slices was a natural way for us to pay homage to the classic ‘chillin’ cucumber.

eyecandy comes in a variety of colors/Image courtesy of EV LooksSW: How has being located in the Bay Area impacted your business creatively and economically?

EF:Being born and raised in the Bay Area, and having worked here for decades, we have witnessed several waves of up-turns and down-turns and the resiliency of the area continues to impress and inspire us. Bay Area folks are some of the most driven, creative, giving, and resourceful around—and EVLooks has been the fortunate recipient of that generosity. As consumers, people in the Bay Area are savvy in how they spend their money, yet they have proven that they are also always on the look-out for new, sassy, affordably-priced products that make great and unique gifts. We think we hit that sweet-spot perfectly!

SW: As eyecandy coolers have started to attract serious buzz both on the web and in print media, do you have any plans for expanding your product line?

EF: Absolutely! In April, we introduced the first of four planned spa bucket gift sets, called ‘chill.’ The eyecandy chill. spa bucket includes a set of our Classic Chillin' cucumber eyecandy, a luxe spa square, and a decadent 4 oz. bottle of eucalyptus and mint revitalizing body soak. The other 3 spa buckets will feature the pink, tangerine, and blue sets of eycandy coolers, and will also debut a new eyecandy-branded rejuvenating bottled spa treatment. The full spa bucket line will be available later this summer, with several other product introductions planned pre-holidays. For us, the fun is really just beginning. We are so excited to keep bringing affordable and unique products to market that enable consumers to feel wonderful, look hot, and "be eyecandy for the world". That last part is our motto

eyecandy can be found at a variety of retail locations throughout the bay area, or online at the official eyecandy webshop.