Winnie Harlow on Launching Her First Skincare Brand CAY Skin: 'It's My Own Child'
March 2nd, 2022 | PEOPLE
Winnie Harlow on Launching Her First Skincare Brand CAY Skin: 'It's My Own Child'
Mar. 2, 2022 /People Magazine/ -- Supermodel Winnie Harlow is stepping into the role of beauty entrepreneur by launching skincare brand, CAY Skin.
Winnie Harlow is using her years of modeling experience to fuel a brand-new beauty venture.
On March 1, the 27-year-old supermodel released her first skincare brand, CAY Skin, and she spoke to PEOPLE about the process, and why sun protection is paramount. The name CAY Skin was inspired by the Caribbean beaches. "I wanted it to represent me and my roots," Harlow says. "We went through a few [names], but they just didn't feel true to me. So I started thinking about different things that would be beautiful to name it that had to do with the Caribbean." Harlow landed on the word cay, a loving nod to "the small pockets of islands" there.
Touting itself as "a skincare brand for everyone under the sun," per the press release, CAY Skin products include (below from left to right): Isle Body Oil ($32), Universal Mineral Face Lotion ($34), Isle Lip Balm ($14) and Isle Face Glow Lotion ($32). All are dermatologist-tested and 100% vegan, cruelty-free, reef safe. The assortment is currently available on cayskin.com and will be available on sephora.com on March 22 and in-store on April 1.
Harlow has long understood the importance of wearing sunscreen. "It really started from me being in Jamaica with my family and having vitiligo and my parents being so adamant about me wearing sunscreen." But she explains that she was ultimately motivated to create the skincare brand after an outdoor photoshoot left her with a severe burn.
"I had a two-day shoot in the Bahamas from sun up to sundown on each day and at certain points, they didn't want me to reapply sunscreen because it was leaving a purple or blue cast on my skin and [that] wasn't pretty," Harlow tells PEOPLE about the experience.
"I kind of understood it, but I was worried that I was going to burn. And lo and behold, that end of the second day, I was burnt to a crisp," she says. "They had to call doctors to give me injections for inflammation and for pain."
CREDIT: COURTESY CAY SKIN
As a result, Harlow says, "I reached out to my team and I was like, 'Listen, sunscreen has always been something that's been really important to me and it shouldn't be not important just because it doesn't look good. So I want to create something that is going to be protective for the skin, but also make you make you look gorgeous and feel good wearing it."
From there, CAY Skin was born. After the pandemic left Harlow with more downtime, the model put all of her time and energy into testing products, finding investors, and getting the brand up and running. "Over the past two years, [there was] a lot of sampling and smelling and feeling – and breaking out from products because I was my own Guinea pig," she says.
CREDIT: COURTESY CAY SKIN
A self-defined "product junkie," Harlow was especially inspired to create sunscreen for all skin types that didn't leave a white cast. "I had to try a lot of different things, especially because I wanted to create a line that was mineral-based," she says. "It was trial and error. And if I saw even a slight bit of white cast, I was like, 'Guys, it's not working. We need to start from scratch. We need to go back to the factory and sort it out.'" When asked about how involved she was with the process of creating the line, she quickly replied, "I am the process."
CREDIT: COURTESY CAY SKIN
"Honestly, it's my own child," she adds, noting that "It's so different for me. My whole career [has been] going to different places and shooting for a brand that's already established. But this has been me creating the product over two years and now being the creative director for the shoots and casting models and picking hairstylists and makeup artists. Every step of the way I have my hand in it. So it's been a lot more work, but more rewarding because it's a product that I created."
Harlow says that stepping into this entrepreneur role has been "really fun and really rewarding." "Just holding the products in my hand finally, after seeing them for so long on the computer as drafts [and] having it all finalized and then finally on a bottle and in my hand was so insane to me," she says. "At a certain point I carried [the face the sunscreen] ️Isle Glow in my purse for a month after I got it because I just was so happy to see it in my bag. Anytime I went in there, I'd pick it up sometimes to just look at it and be like, 'Wow, I created this.'"
In fact, Harlow is excited to create more products down the line. "I already have things in the works," she teases. "There's only so many products you can launch with, but I think when creating a product line, you always have to be thinking about what the next thing is. And I've been thinking about what the next thing is since I created these products themselves."
CREDIT: COURTESY CAY SKIN
Ultimately, with CAY Skin, Harlow hopes the products "protect" skin while also helping people "feel confident" in it as well. "I love to show skin. I don't think that's any secret. But I also take protecting my skin very seriously," she said. "I know my fans will even check me sometimes if they see my skin looking a little bit too pink. Just being able to have something for all those fans who for so many years have been protective over my skin or have asked me what I use and being able to create a product for them that is so close to my heart and represents where I'm from as well."