A St. Thomas University grad had a simple idea: sunscreen made with Black users in mind

For Newburgh, New York, native and St. Thomas University alumna Shontay Lundy, wearing sunscreen is a necessity, not an option. The experience of living in sunny Miami during graduate school showed her just how important sunscreen is for managing skin health.

“If there was one location where people needed sunscreen all of the time, it was Florida,” she said.

Lundy, 41, is the founder of Black Girl Sunscreen, a skin care company that specializes in sunscreen and other products for Black women that can be used by people of all backgrounds. The brand is now sold by major retailers across the country, including Target, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Ulta.

Since launching in 2016, Black Girl Sunscreen has differentiated itself by eliminating the white residue that often remains on darker skin tones with other sunscreen brands. Lundy’s goal was to create a sunscreen that flattered her complexion. Above all, she believes a cosmetic product should not make its wearer feel ugly.

Lundy earned her master’s degree in business administration from St. Thomas University in 2006. While others come to Miami to vacation and enjoy the sun, it sparked her creativity, she said. Not being satisfied with the options available on the market at the time, she sought a sunscreen that wouldn’t leave white residue on her skin.

“It was about finding a product that could make us feel good and look good,” she said. “It was about hydration, being moisturized and not being ashy.”

Just as Black Miami residents have not always had sunscreen options best suited for them, they have not always had access to the city’s famous beaches. In 1945, a protest by Black Miamians led to the founding of Virginia Key Beach, a beach designated exclusively for people of color.

Lundy said her grandmother emigrated to the United States from the Bahamas in the 1930s and made her home in Overtown. She and her family lived in Miami during a time when they weren’t allowed on public beaches.

“They couldn’t go to the beach because of segregation,” Lundy said. “It’s ingrained into people that stay in certain communities that that’s not a place you can go.”

Lundy acknowledged that for people like past generations of her family, that history meant that beach trips were seldom and sunscreen was not part of their routine. Looking to change that, she got to work on a product that Black people would use and love when they wanted to bask in the sun and enjoy beach life. Today, her family members, some of whom still live in the Miami area, regularly use Black Girl Sunscreen.

Since its launch in 2016, the brand has emerged as a leader in skin care products and has helped pave the way for other companies to tackle skincare issues that affect people of color, such as hyperpigmentation. Many cosmetics companies have also recognized that Black consumers have a significant amount of buying power.

“We’ve enabled those folks to speak to Black and brown people,” Lundy said. “The Neutrogenas of the world now have faces of color. We think it’s because we’re super vocal about our needs.”

Lundy does not recognize other companies as “white brands” or “Black brands” and considers them peers rather than competition. She believes her true competition comes from people who say they will never wear sunscreen. Hearing people say that sunscreen is for lighter-skinned people or that a person’s ancestors never wore sunscreen ring hollow with her. Lundy believes people of all skin types should use sunscreen, including those with dark enough melanin to hide immediate signs of sun damage. “If you get burned, you won’t realize it,” she said.

In February, Lundy began sharing her journey and perspectives via an iHeartRadio show called “Shamelessly Shontay.” The show airs every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. EST and features guest interviews and Lundy sharing insights from her entrepreneurial journey with her listeners.

“It serves as inspiration that they can do something just as well,” she said. “It always felt like things were so out of reach for me when I was growing up.”

As Black Girl Sunscreen prepares to celebrate its eighth anniversary in November, Lundy’s immediate goal is to continue making the products accessible all over the world. Her products are currently available in nearly 20,000 stores across America, and she wants that number to increase to 30,000. The brand is also preparing for expansion into international markets such as Canada, Europe and Africa.

“When young people see our products on the shelves, they see they can do this as well,” she said. “It’s something they can do, too. For Black Girl Sunscreen, it requires a lot of education, work ethic and patience for me and my team of 90% Black and brown people, as a Black female-led company with employees.”