The world’s number two best female tennis player, Naomi Osaka, announced the launch of her own skincare brand called KINLÒ skin. Osaka pulled the name from her Haitian and Japanese heritage, with both KIN and LÒ meaning ‘gold’ in Japanese and Haitian Creole, respectively. The brand was made for people with melanated skin tones and will offer sun protection and restorative products.
“I’m super excited to announce my new skincare line which is full of products to help protect and rejuvenate people of color/darker skin tones,” Osaka said in an Instagram post, “I hope these products will help people out and inform you guys.” In an interview with Business of Fashion, the award-winning athlete stated that she only recently started wearing sunscreen because she thought she didn’t need it. This lack of education surrounding the need for SPF, regardless of skin tone, was a driving factor in starting KINLÒ.
According to a 2019 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), non-Hispanic Black Americans are more likely to have lower survival rates when diagnosed with skin cancer. The Skin Care Foundation states that Black patients with melanoma have an estimated survival rate of 67 percent, while White patients have a survival rate of 92 percent.
The reality is that sunscreen protection is an absolute must for all skin tones in order to help prevent these types of cancers and other skin concerns.
“What drew me towards this project is having memories of being a kid and not knowing how to protect my skin. I only started wearing sunscreen recently,” explained Osaka. “This is a public health need. I used to tell people that I didn’t need to wear sunscreen — but even if you have melanin, you need to take care of your skin, and I am passionate about that.” KINLÒ will include a lip balm, protective body spray, eye cream, and an SPF 40 tinted face lotion and SPF 50 sunscreen. Each item will retail for less than $20, making it an incredibly affordable collection.
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Boitumelo Masihleho is a South African digital content creator. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Rhodes University in Journalism and Media Studies and Politics and International Studies. She’s an experienced multimedia journalist who is committed to writing balanced, informative and interesting stories on a number of topics. Boitumelo has her own YouTube channel where she shares her love for affordable beauty and lifestyle content.
