My mom, Piper, and my daughter, also Piper. Both are triplets.
Larkly was born from a promise to my family.
We try to keep things light at Larkly. After all, we’re on a mission to get people excited about sunscreen. Doom and gloom won’t get you there - it’s gotta be fun. But to understand why Larkly exists, I have to bring up the heavy stuff. So fair warning!
Larkly started selling sunscreen in 2020, but the company really started in 2006, when my mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Melanoma. As I’m sure many of you know, watching a loved one fight teaches you just how vicious a disease can be.
No part of that stage of our lives was easy. Thankfully, Mom healed up ok. However, while we were deep in the trenches, what I struggled most with was the fact that it all seemed so … avoidable. I was sure I wasn’t the first person to feel that way.
Did you know that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime? What happened to Mom could happen to me. Or god forbid, my kids. I kept asking myself - we know how to prevent this, so why don’t we do more?
The doctors had chalked up Mom’s case to a sunburn she had suffered when she was young. Years later, as a mom of four, things started clicking. Trying to get my kids to apply sunscreen almost always led to tears and frustration.
They just weren’t interested. No matter how hard I tried, there were burns. Not just at the beach, but during baseball games, lacrosse matches, and even while skiing in the snow. The exact kind of burns we knew how to prevent. UV rays don't take holidays, so why were we?
In hindsight, the sunscreen battles were understandable...
As the kids got older, it became clear that chasing them around town with a vat of SPF wasn’t the solution. I needed something that they would be excited about using. I went looking for a fix, but the off-the-shelf stuff just wasn’t right. Most products were packed with synthetic ingredients that I didn’t want anywhere near my kids.
The solution had to be natural, it had to be easy, and it had to be fun. It was the only way I would feel confident that they were protected. When I made the decision to create Larkly, it wasn’t just about launching another sunscreen; we were addressing a deeper need that the world didn’t yet have a solution for.
...but with Larkly, the battles quickly went away
We designed Larkly with my kids in mind. To make applying sunscreen a daily routine, it had to be as easy as brushing your teeth. Brushing… now there’s an idea! After months of research, we settled on a playful, effortless brush-on application, made to feel soft against the skin. The brush dispenses a high-quality, natural, FDA-approved SPF 30 mineral powder that doesn’t grease your skin or sting your eyes. The powder chamber is fully refillable, so we can do our part to look out for the planet that our kids are inheriting. In the end, we came up with something high quality that I knew would keep my kids safe from the sun and that they would actually want to use.
Straight away, it was clear that Larkly was a game-changer.
Gone were the sunscreen battles. The burns too! It wasn't just the young ones either – my parents, friends, and relatives inquired, intrigued. Even my husband and son started using it (despite being a little reluctant to admit it!).
Everyone seemed tired of those messy, greasy sunscreens. People liked Larkly for different reasons, but above all, they seemed to find joy in using it. Everyone in my life was finally enjoying putting on sunscreen. It dawned on me - we’d created something that the people we loved, loved to use.
We realized pretty quickly that we needed to bring this product into the world. If even my teenage son was enjoying putting on this sunscreen, then who else might? So we took a leap of faith, and we started Larkly.
I had never started a business before, and things were a little rocky at times! But we had the one thing that can keep a business going through those early days - a product that people love.
Before I knew it, we were being featured in Southern Living, Elle, and even the news! It felt like a fever dream. We won awards, including the NewBeauty award for Best Mineral Powder Sunscreen in 2021. We were selling in Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Saks Fifth Avenue, Free People, and Urban Outfitters. None of it felt real. It was as if all we had to do was take the plunge and put Larkly out into the world, and the world welcomed us with open arms.
We wanted to make sure that we were building the company in a way that deserves that kind of response. We’re women-owned by first-time entrepreneurs. We’re impact-first and proud to be a certified B-Corporation. We’re Leaping Bunny Certified, representing the fact that we don’t test on animals, and never will. At the end of the day, Larkly is driven by a purpose beyond commerce. We do everything we can to make sure our company reflects that.
So here we are, bringing Larkly to you.
To us, Larkly is more than sunscreen; it's our labor of love. It’s accompanying our most cherished family memories and giving the gift of safety to the ones we care about. Our families don't just use Larkly; they relish it. This very joy is what we aspire to bring to your daily ritual.
Above all else, we’re humbled to share in this journey with everyone who has brought Larkly into their lives along the way.
We're here to make lives better, to protect memories, to create stories.
We hope you’ll join us on this journey!
-Kerri
Love Larkly? I’d love to hear from you! Larkly is a small, US-based business, and we’re always curious about how we can keep our customers happy.
You can reach me by email through kerri@larkly.com. I can’t wait to hear from you!
