In this article you’ll learn: 

1. Why UV rays are a public health issue 
2. The surprising insight Dr. Steve learned from his sunscreen survey 
3. Nick and Dr. Steve’s skincare playbook 
4. Why this SPF product took three years to make 

There are a lot of SPF products out there, so why are we making another one?

Good question. The short answer is that with this SPF30+ moisturizer, we’re providing a one-step skincare regimen that anyone can do. But there’s a longer answer too. 

Why sunscreen matters  

Damage from UV rays is a legitimate public health issue: One in five people will get skin cancer by age 70, and melanoma is one of the leading causes of death for young people. 

You can’t stay indoors all the time, so sunscreen is king — year round. But I’d always felt that the market had too many choices, and as a dermatologist I needed to understand what consumers were doing, what products they liked and why.

The sunscreen survey says...

So in 2016 a few colleagues and I conducted a study, and analyzed comments made by purchasers of the top ten sunscreens on e-commerce platforms. In short, we learned that people buy sunscreen for one main reason: how it feels on their skin. Secondary was whether or not it works. 

The study got some attention from the media, I was quoted in an article and that’s how Nick Allen found me. He called and told me he was thinking about starting a men’s skincare brand and we began to talk about personal care products in a wish-list sort of way: evidence-based, scientific, honest, and transparent. 

The first rule of Geologie 

Broadly, what we wanted to do with Geologie is begin with the understanding that men’s skin is different from women’s skin, and that all men's skin is not the same. This personalization aspect was a dream for me, and would become the cornerstone of the Geologie experience. 

Next, we talked about how every ingredient in each regimen must be effective, creating a standard where every one of my colleagues would look at the label and say “that's some good stuff, that's a really good product.”

Then we dove into the idea of an SPF product, leaning on the insights I had gathered. Because sunscreens don't work on people who don't apply them, wearability was a major focus, on par with ingredient potency that offered not only SPF protection but also moisturizing and anti-aging benefits. 

SPF three years in the making 

It wasn’t easy to do. Balancing ingredient potency and purity, concentration, the feel and smell out of the bottle, consistency, viscosity, and color into a product that people will love to use every day that's both safe and effective — that was the challenge, and that’s why it took us three years to produce this product. 

This SPF30 is arguably lighter than the SPF10, the perfect delivery mechanism for healthy doses of Hyaluronic acid and Niacinamide to moisturize and fight wrinkles. 

Those initial conversations I had with Nick seem like a lifetime ago. But now here I am, four years later and I’m telling my guys all the time, sensitive skin or not, acne prone or flaky — if you’re doing nothing else for your skin, use the SPF30+ and that’s all you need. 

It’s been a long time coming. Have any questions? Get in touch.