Elle

Winnie Harlow’s New Beauty Brand Caters to All Skin Types

“Sunscreen and skincare have always had such a strong force in my life.”

No matter how extensive or streamlined your skincare routine, the most important and not-to-be-missed step is wearing sunscreen. Every. Single. Day. Skin tone and type aside, protecting your exterior from harmful sun rays is an absolute must. But it’s no secret that finding formulas that don’t look like a chalky mess isn’t always the easiest task. If you have sensitive skin and need to avoid certain ingredients, the struggle gets even more real. All of the above is precisely why model Winnie Harlow is dedicating her new beauty brand to foolproof suncare.

Cay Skin, Harlow’s SPF-centric line, was birthed from her personal experiences with sunscreen. “I remember being in Jamaica and my dad slathering sunscreen on me with his rough hands and it leaving a blue color to my skin,” she recalls. It was those days at the beach where her earliest memories of wearing sunscreen reside. And since then, applying protective lotion has been a no-brainer practice in her daily routine. “Sunscreen and skincare have always had such a strong force in my life.”

A combination of summers in the Caribbean, living with the autoimmune disorder and skin condition vitiligo, and a sunburn that left her needing medical attention is what led Harlow to create Cay Skin. The product range includes sunscreens, body oil with SPF 30, and a sunscreen-laced lip balm. The formulas also tap ingredients from her family roots in Jamaica, like sea moss and hydrating tropical plant nectar.

 Harlow says that while her Cay Skin lineup was made for every skin tone, her hope with this launch is to squash the myth that darker skin in particular doesn’t need SPF protection. “No one has enough melanin to protect from the sun’s rays. I wanted to make sure that people understood that this is for everyone under the sun.” Literally.