How do you make a sunscreen cool?
In the digital age, maybe the answer is designing some aesthetic packaging, launching a popular Instagram page, and running a lifestyle-based influencer campaign to make people think: Okay, if all the hot and cool internet people never forget to put on their sunscreen (this one specifically) before living their best lives, maybe I should buy some too (this one specifically) to manifest that good life and good skin.
But once they've bought it, how do you get people to wear it?
The answer this time is simple: Make a really really good product.
Bask Suncare did both.
Bask is the internet's new favorite body sunscreen. While most people are waking up to the crucial importance of wearing sunscreen on your face — mostly for vanity reasons, because even though botox and fillers are more and more popular, prevention is still the best medicine — it's easy to skimp out on protecting the whole rest of your body.
But Bask Suncare makes you … actually want to put it on — and then reapply.
They've currently debuted two products:an SPF 30 Body Lotion and SPF 30 Non-Aerosol Spray — as well as a trendy beach towel and dad hat.
Everything about Bask is the epitome of cool. The packaging appeals to the millennial and Gen Z crowd with its Instagrammable aesthetic that would not feel out of place with the Coconut Girl crowd. Like all good products, it makes for a great prop in the background of an Instagram photo — whether it's strewn across a beach towel alongside the book and whimsical jewelry you're sporting to show how eclectic you are, or peeking out of your reusable tote bag because you're an Environmental Activist and captioned your Earth Day post: "Love Your Mother." Whatever your brand, Bask fits right in.
But they're about more than just the aesthetic.
While it has curated a brand aesthetic of coolness and aspiration, overall, Bask Suncare is about enjoying your time in the sun while staying safe. Their mission is simple: "We're a celebration of feeling good: in the sun, in your skin, and with your people. Sunshine has always helped us do that. But sunscreen hasn't. So, we created a great-feeling SPF formula that's lightweight, non-oily, easy to apply, and better for you and the environment."
With its ethical and effective formula, there's a lot to love about Bask. Here are some of our favorite things about it:
It’s made from clean ingredients
With the advent of more clean, vegan beauty options in demand, Bask answers the call for clean but effective body care. After the Johnson & Johnson Neutrogena sunscreen recall, people are waking up to the harmful ingredients they put on their skin. Bask is made without carcinogens and is both clean and vegan.
This consideration for you and the environment is far from the industry standard. According to Bask: "More than 80% of the sunscreen products available for purchase in the United States have Oxybenzone and/or Octinoxate in them. These ingredients are bad for our bodies, and have also been linked to potential environmental disruption."
So keep your body and the environment from taking in gross chemicals!
Super satisfying
It's the age of ASMR, and I would be lying if I said the satisfying element of a product is always a big sell — and Bask delivers. Part of what makes most sunscreens suck is that they remind you of school trips and sports days being slathered in gross goop. Both the spray and lotion from Bask Suncare are incredibly satisfying to put on. The cool, fine mist and the non-sticky lotion work together to keep you safe without making you feel gross.
Sweat and Swim resistant
You can't really live your best life and have your best carefree summer if you're visibly sweating out chalky sunscreen. But getting burned and exposed to harmful rays isn't the alternative — it's finding a sunscreen that actually stays on. Just because Bask is so noticeable when it's on doesn't mean it's just sitting pretty. You can work up a sweat or swim for up to 80 minutes before needing to reapply.
They’re really for a cause
In this day and age, when marketing to more conscious and engaged consumers, brands will purport their diversity or commitment to other causes as a marketing tool without actually putting their money where their mouth is.Bask Suncare is different.
According to their website, they're committed to ending skin cancer, saying: "We personally know the toll it can take, and we don't want other families to have to experience what we did at the hands of the most preventable cancer. The best way to fight this disease, in our eyes, is to make suncare fun and enjoyable. We made the packaging beautiful and fashionable, the formulas effortless and luxurious, our messaging fun and approachable. All so you can seek the sun safely."
They also partner with The Skin Protection Foundation (SPF), building awareness and donating to help make sunscreens more accessible for everyone.
Overall, Bask Suncare is passionate about keeping you safe — so they pulled out all the stops. But if the aesthetic, effectiveness, and cleanness don't appeal to you, they still want you to wear sunscreen, even if it isn't theirs.
But good luck finding a better product, especially one that makes you feel how being in the sun should: like you're living your best life and you're happy, fun, sexy and cool.