After experiencing a severe sunburn from a two-day shoot under the scorching sun, Winnie Harlow decided to make her own sun care line.


Cay Skin was inspired by an unfortunate moment during a shoot in the Bahamas.” Ranted the 27-year-old supermodel during an interview with Byrdie. “It happened in 2018. I was shooting in the Bahamas sun for two days, and no one [on set] wanted me to reapply sunscreen because the ones we had left a blue or purple cast. When I finished the two-day project, I got back to my hotel and my skin was so red and tight." The experience was overall traumatic as she had to be given several injections to relieve the pain and inflammation. 




Protecting her skin from the sun had always been essential, especially with her vitiligo skin condition. Winnie claimed that ??there wasn’t a product out there that could give her the look she wanted with the protection she needed. It became important to her to create a line with an SPF formulation that’s comfortable to wear and that could work for everyone. Eventually, the idea of Cay Skin came to life.




After two years in the making, the line is ready to present four products: Body Oil, Lip Balm, and two variants of Facial Lotion, with SPFs ranging from 30-55. All are expertly formulated to be gentle, lightweight, protective of the sun, and comfortable to wear without worrying of white casts.




After gracing countless runways and magazine covers, Winnie herself had changed the face of fashion and beauty, as a supermodel and inclusivity activist embracing her vitiligo. She continues to voice inclusivity in her new beauty venture; The line is intended to consider all people in more ways than one, so a lot of thought went into the brand image and product formulation. The brand opted for a neutral palette, stepping away from the typical girly look, and lightweight, vegan formulas are put into use.




As a Jamaican-Canadian, the line partly embraces her Caribbean heritage; ‘Cay’ is short for the Caribbean, meaning little islands, and the formulation is infused with island-based ingredients such as hydrating nectars, sea moss, and aloe vera. The formula also contains high-performance skincare actives like Niacinamide and Hyaluronic Acid, and are all reef-safe, vegan, cruelty-free, silicone-free, non-comedogenic and dermatologist tested.




“I wanted to make sure it was good to use for people who have sensitive skin, who have vitiligo, who are light, dark, any color under the sun,” said Harlow. “I wanted it to be beneficial for everyone because everyone needs sun care and protection from the sun.”




Cay Skin is available to purchase at Sephora since last April. Are you excited about this new launch?