If a child of the 70's/80's can learn to love sunscreen then you can too!

beautiful tan woman in a black bikini in a 1980's ad for sunscreen

If a child of the 70's/80's can learn to love sunscreen then you can too!

Oh how I remember those sweaty summers on the coast of GA/SC flipping through ALL the magazines: Vogue, Bazaar, Fashion, Glamour, People, US, etc....looking at white straight teeth, skinny bodies, clear faces and TAN skin! Flipping and lingering on each page, imagining yourself in these fabulous clothes and stunning locations only to go look in the mirror and see a pubescent body, braces, short frizzy curly hair, acne and very fair skin passed down from my ancestors who roamed the British Isles and maybe were on a Viking boat or two.....No, I could not have stepped into those magazines.....

But the page that always made me pause was the Ban de Soleil ad. Most of the ads highlighted the beautiful model Kriss Ziemer with the most exquisite tan, perfect complexion and a stunning bikini. In the 80's they came out with an orange gel moisturizing suntan oil (up to SPF 15) to create the “St. Tropez Tan.” They had me hooked! The next time I was in Wender & Roberts I bought an overpriced tube of this magic orange gel and planned my transformation.

But the look had to be complete...Norma Kamali had created her iconic one piece bathing suit with the high cut hips and low cut armholes. Of course no parent was going to pay for this or allow it at the local pool, so I found a Jantzen suit of similar look with much more coverage, rolled up my bandana into a headband to keep my frizzy halo of curls off my forehead to maximize my soon to be bronzed face, and began to apply orange oil all over my body.

Remember, I spent most of my summers in a bug covered island off the coast of Georgia so my Ban de Soleil had to mix with OFF! bug spray....not the St. Tropez vibe at all. I tried all summer to get tan...eventually all the sunburns coalesced into a less pale version of my self and all though disappointed, I realized my genetics would never really allow me to be anything close to the caramel color being sold as the beauty standard.

Flash forward to motherhood and education about sun damage, I applied SPF 50 or higher to my children as soon as it was safely age appropriate. I have a daughter more fair than myself that was probably never sunburnt, or without a white tint to her skin from zealous over application of many sunscreens by her mother. But did I apply all this sunscreen to myself? Nope...I still had those crazy words in the back of my head from the 80's about a “base tan” preparing your skin. So I continued to have the occasional sunburns well into my 40's.

Starting in my 40's my dermatologist became my most frequent doctor visit as all my sun behaviors began to show up as skin cancers on my body. Sunscreen became more of a priority, but in my 50's I have had to have two significant MOH’s (micrographically oriented histographic surgery) to address both basal cell carcinomas and melanoma on my face. Although the surgeon was amazing, there are still two large scars that remind me each day that sunscreen is a necessity.

Why was I opposed to sunscreen? First and foremost, my skin sensitivities made me have an allergic reaction to the chemicals in many of the sunscreens available, and the mineral sunscreens had a tendency to be heavy, thick and leave a large white film.

Much documentation has been released about the pros and cons of chemical based sunscreens: life span, hormonal disruption, efficacy, chemical load, etc. This is not a place to debate the pros and cons, but I knew that I had to create something different for myself and my Kindred Skincare Family that was chemical free.

The NIH has studies about the use of red raspberry seed oil and carrot seed oil for UVA protection, but to have true protection from the sun, you need full spectrum, and for me a barrier sunscreen was the best solution. I took the beauty and lightness of our Morning Moisture and added 20% non nano zinc oxide, which is the amount recommended by the FDA for protection. There are four versions of Morning Moisture for you to choose from:

  • Morning Moisture SPF - which has no tint

  • Morning Moisture SPF Light - addition of 4% mineral powder & TiO2 for coverage and color

  • Morning Moisture SPF Medium - addition of 4% mineral powder & TiO2 for coverage and color

  • Morning Moisture SPF Dark - addition of 4% mineral powder & TiO2 for coverage and color

My daily regimen includes Morning Moisture Light, and the one thing that lingers from my 80's experiences is my love of a “matte” look, so I dust a little loose mineral powder onto my face to complete my look and add just a smidge more protection.

Barrier sunscreen only works if the “barrier” is in place, so reapplication is key if there is perspiration or activity that may remove the sunscreen. My goal each night when I cleanse with Oil Cleanse is to see the mineral powder from my Morning Moisture Light on the washcloth as I clean, knowing that my sunscreen was firmly in place all day!

Our sunscreens have been tested in FDA labs for efficacy and I have received many photos over the years of our sunscreens in harsh, sunny locales (like the Galápagos Islands) and positive feedback has arrived along with the images. Barrier sunscreen works very well if applied correctly.

My interest has changed over the past 40 years from sun obsession to sun protection and I have come to love my Morning Moisture SPF Light application each morning...the fresh smell, the smooth look, and the opportunity for excellent skin health. So I ask you to join me in daily application of sunscreen for both face and body, even though we will not have a “St. Tropez Tan!”

Thank you for being on this journey with me.

xo, Frances


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