Shontay Lundy on Black Girl Sunscreen and Sun Protection

Way too generally, the best beauty stories go Untold, entirely primarily based on a person’s skin shade, religion, gender expression, incapacity, or socioeconomic status. In this article, we are passing the mic to some of the most formidable and gifted voices in the field so they can share, in their own words, the impressive tale of how they came to be — and how they’re making use of elegance to adjust the planet for the better. Up up coming: Shontay Lundy, founder of the POPSUGAR Elegance Award-winning brand name Black Female Sunscreen.

I grew up not possessing a whole lot of knowledge of pores and skin care. I was washing my face with Dove just before the age of 23 when I went to my very first dermatology appointment, and that was for a few unique causes. The girls all around me — my grandmother and my mother — weren’t seriously into skin care, and I failed to actually want much. I, thankfully, failed to have troubles with acne breakouts — I would get a pimple in this article and there, but my pores and skin was rather clear.

When I started functioning in corporate America, with the regular paycheck and health insurance policy came a copay of like $30 to go to the skin doctor. I went, and she asked me what I washed my face with, and when you convey to a health care skilled that you clean your confront with cleaning soap, they cringe. So she was like, “Okay, very well, I have a cleanser for you.” I was hooked on that cleanser eternally, and then it was discontinued. I experienced to promptly pivot and discover a cleanser and moisturizer that I was rocking with for 10 decades. It was not until finally I became a girl of the sunlight — touring a lot, enjoying outdoor actions, and just discovering that glow from in just — that I determined I had to start out guarding my pores and skin from the solar. I created Black Female Sunscreen, and that was the initial time I wore sunscreen in a everyday capability.

“It’s not about promoting sunscreen, it can be about being aware of the execs, the drawbacks, the added benefits, and the hazards of putting on and not wearing sunscreen.”

Some individuals are on missions to get started attractiveness models with a roster of products and solutions, but my story was a minimal bit distinct. Black Lady Sunscreen started off off with just one products (now we have 3). I experienced this product, and I wanted females of shade to be in a position to get sunlight safety that wouldn’t depart them with a white residue. Quick forward to 2015, and our influence resonated with the community to do a little something different than what we were being elevated to do. To change the behavior of an grownup is extremely complicated. It’s exciting, but at the exact same time, we perform really difficult. I truly think that, irrespective of what you do, if you work pretty challenging, then the reward will occur. We are pleased that people are turning out to be educated on solar basic safety, and that’s really what we wanted at the close of the day. It is not about selling sunscreen, it truly is about figuring out the professionals, the downsides, the gains, and the hazards of not carrying sunscreen.

Pitching my idea was fairly stress-stuffed simply because you will not know what an investor is hunting for or what’s heading to pull at their heartstrings. It could be the social affect it has, it could be your product or service by itself, it could be your demographic, it could be because you might be exceptionally rewarding. I imagine the unknown was the hardest portion, as properly as discovering somebody who aligns with who we are and knowledge that Black Girl Sunscreen is not for all people, and which is Ok!

Black Girl Sunscreen, to me, serves as motivation, inspiration, and empowerment. It truly is truly the local community that we’re building. The community telling their mates and their cherished ones about the professionals of solar security. The BGS group, we’re in all places we can be. That could be at events, trade shows, attractiveness expos — it’s acquiring these conversations on online video and television to interact with persons. Because not everybody will have an open up head to this product, but you are unable to just do a one-and-completed. It has to be continuous and dependable.

Image Resource: Courtesy of Milan Media Team