Prior to the pandemic, celebrity hairstylist Sean James (whose clients include Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Hardwick, Cole and Dylan Sprouse, to name a few) was in the process of developing his own haircare line. He had spent years working for major beauty brands such as Fred Segal Beauty, Fred Segal Hair, Fred Segal Salon, Phyto, Kerastase by L’Oreal, Rusk, and Garnier.

Most recently, James was art director for FHI Heat, where he was involved in package and product development. After being laid off due to the pandemic, James decided to pursue his longtime dream of creating his own product line, Beach Blvd. When there was a national shortage of hand sanitizer, he shifted gears and developed a high-quality hand sanitizer that would efficiently kill germs while providing a sense of luxury.

Tastemakers and Trendsetters: Sean James

“After working for all of these companies, I had dreamt about doing my own product line for many years,” says James. “Before the pandemic, I had been developing a haircare line, which included a beach spray and a paste. When COVID-19 hit, I felt that releasing a hand sanitizer would be the right thing to do to help the community.”

Beach Blvd’s debut product, The Shore Thing, is formulated with 70% ethyl alcohol and is light scented with a signature blend of lavender, lemon, and bergamot essential oils. In addition to cleansing hands, the spray can also be used to clean different surfaces as well. For every purchase, a hand sanitizer is donated to at-risk communities.

The brand’s latest product, Coast Is Clear, is also a hand sanitizer that is lightly scented with notes of caramel, orchid, and jasmine. It is available for pre-order here. The hand sanitizers are sold individually, as well as in sets of two, three, and 10 bottles.

Celebrity Hairstylist Sean James on Working with Dylan and Cole Sprouse

Since the brand’s launch, Beach Blvd has quickly become a favorite among celebrities, stylists, and makeup artists in Hollywood. Jamie Lee Curtis, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Grammy-nominated musician Rufus Wainwright are among the A-listers that are fans of the hand sanitizers, and it has been the product of choice on numerous Hollywood sets including NBC’s “The Wall,” the new season of “The Morning Show” on Apple TV+, among others.

“We’re so grateful for all the people that have been posting our products on their Instagram feed and stories,” shares James. “We love to repost people’s enthusiasm for the product, and we really appreciate everyone’s love and support for our locally made small business. We hope that our product is uplifting, because a sense of smell is connected with memories, and we hope that we bring you some great connection to some great memories. I like to think of our product as a bottle of sunshine or #SunshineInABottle.”

We chatted with James, who shared the inspiration behind the brand, future plans, and more.

When was Beach Blvd founded and what’s the meaning behind the name?

Beach Blvd was founded in 2019 as a self-care brand inspired by beaches around the world. The aim of our brand is to bring a bit of that beach holiday vibe to everyday life. Inspired by my life living in beach cities across the globe, from the sunshine and Gold Coast of Australia and Hawaii (where I originally was going to move) to Santa Monica where I worked for 20 years, Venice where I’ve lived most of my life, and my career in Hollywood, I wanted to bring that energy to my brand and to customers across the country. It’s where the beach meets the boulevard.

Tell us more about your products and what makes them special.

Our products are luxury lifestyle antibacterial sanitizer sprays aimed at staying safe during these times. They are 100% made in the USA with the highest quality ingredients. Our debut product The Shore Thing is made with organic essential oils. The formulation is lightweight and doesn’t leave any residue. What makes them most special, however, is the focus on scent. Our signature scents were formulated in partnership with local small batch perfumers who we worked closely with to create uplifting, universally pleasing scents inspired by the beach. Killing germs with a hint of luxury is our goal.

Do you have a hero product?

The hero product at the moment is The Shore Thing. It’s a lavender, bergamot, and lemon-scented spray made with the best quality essential oils and medical grade alcohol 70% alcohol (which is 10% higher than the amount recommended by the World Health Organization).

What’s your favorite product from the line?

I’m very excited for our newest scent, Coast Is Clear, launching in February. The scent has notes of caramel, orchid, and jasmine and is reminiscent of a warm summer day.

Where are your products sold?

Our products are sold on our website and at Outside the Box in Woodland Hills. Now that salons are back open, Beach Blvd is sold at two of the best salons in Los Angeles: Matthew Preece Salon in Santa Monica and the West Hollywood location of Chris McMillan Salon. And as of February 8, we will be sold on Amazon.

What's next for the brand?

What’s next for the brand is our hair paste and beach spray. We have had the paste ready to go since 2019 and we were supposed to release it in 2020, but then COVID-19 hit and it felt weird to release a hair paste when there was a pandemic going on, so I held off. But now that it’s been going on for so long, I thought why not? What I really want to create next is a baseball cap, a T-shirt, and an oversized 1980s-style sweatshirt. It will be very beachy surf wear that is super high quality and made in the US.

For more information and to purchase, visit the website and follow on Instagram: @beachblvd.co

[Images courtesy of Sean James]

Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk