DUNE It Differently: The SPF Brand Raising the Bar

DUNE Suncare™ is proving the sunscreen category isn’t as “saturated” as we thought...

Let’s face it: Most aisles in beauty are oversaturated as f*** now. There are way too many brands and an endless assortment of SKUs that all kinda do the same thing. But according to Emily Doyle, co-founder and CEO of DUNE Suncare™, sunscreen is the exception.

“The sun care category is actually really antiquated in the U.S.,” she tells me. “It isn’t saturated with innovation the way people think it is.”

We’re sitting at Soho’s Twenty Twenty Club, where Emily has carved out time to talk to me about DUNE’s origin story. Within minutes, it’s clear she’s not your typical SPF founder. Sunscreen has historically been treated like a functional, slightly unsexy category, but Emily is warm, funny, and disarmingly candid. She’s the kind of person who makes a clinical topic feel human.

At one point, she casually drops: “Did you know Bob Marley passed away from melanoma found between his toes?”

Emily explains that what initially drew her into sun care wasn’t the U.S. market at all, but what she was seeing overseas. Korean and Japanese brands were already formulating clear gel SPFs—lightweight, elegant, and packed with skincare benefits that went far beyond basic UV protection.

At the same time, she and her co-founder, Mei, were living two completely different sunscreen realities.

Mei, based in Santa Monica, an avid surfer, and, as Emily describes her, “a beautiful, darker-skinned Chinese lady,” was constantly battling white cast, poor blendability, and formulas that simply weren’t designed with her skin tone in mind.

Emily, on the other hand, is “very pale” (her words) and based in New York City, and was frustrated by the lack of skincare benefits and SPF that you’d want to reach for. 

Those two perspectives became the foundation for what DUNE would eventually become. But the real catalyst came unexpectedly.

The Phone Call That Changed Everything

In March 2020, Mei flew to Puerto Rico for what was supposed to be a quick weekend surf trip tied to the Corona Beer Surf Festival. By Saturday, the world shut down. (Doesn’t the festival name feel a bit foreshadow-y in hindsight?)

“She called me in a panic, bawling, crying,” Emily remembers. “She was like, ‘I don’t think we have jobs anymore.’”

Funny enough, it wasn’t the first time Mei had tried to recruit Emily as a co-founder. But this time, the stakes were higher, and Emily was ready for this pivot. 

“At the demise of our jobs, we took government checks, sold 401ks, and I sold most of my Disney stock,” Emily says. “We were put in touch with one of the best labs for innovation in the country.”

Two years later, the duo launched the first clear-gel sun care line in the U.S., with clinically proven skincare benefits. 

Building a Bar-Setting Sun Care Brand 

From day one, DUNE was designed to be inclusive and accessible—two words that are often used interchangeably in beauty and thrown around to sound good, but rarely executed together.

“We lean very heavily into inclusion across all skin tones, gender groups, non-binary identities, and age groups,” Emily says.

But inclusion alone wasn’t enough. DUNE also set out to avoid becoming one of those premium-priced SPF brands sold in tiny bottles—wildly out of touch for a product you’re meant to use daily.

“Everything is our highest-quality SPF priced below $30,” she explains. “And we’re very omnichannel. We wanted to be everywhere people already shop.”

Sunscreen Is The Most Important Beauty Product

One of Emily’s strongest beliefs, which DUNE relentlessly educates about, is that sunscreen has been misunderstood for decades.

“I think a lot of people believe you should be wearing sunscreen just for the occasion of lying out in the sun,” Emily says. “But over 90% of aging is caused by the sun.”

And it’s not just a vanity issue, or a concern limited to lighter skin tones.

“Melanoma is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the world,” she says. “Even when you have the most melanated skin, you’re still incredibly susceptible, sometimes more so, because of the misconception that you don’t need sunscreen.”

Her takeaway is blunt: “This sun doesn’t set year-round.”

DUNE’s Heroes 

DUNE’s bestsellers reflect the brand’s core philosophy: protection that does more.

Their original launches—the Mug Guard and Bod Guard—dispense as a mint-green gel and double as daily moisturizers, each boasting a 72-hour hydration claim.

“That’s actually the longest hydration claim achieved in skincare,” Emily notes. “You can dump most of your other moisturizers and use this as a two-for-one.”

All of Dune’s facial formulas are fragrance-free and non-comedogenic, designed to work for sensitive and acne-prone skin. My personal favorite? Mineral Melt, which I’ve been using daily since we met.

“It’s the sheerest mineral SPF in the U.S.,” Emily says, “using a patent-pending proprietary micro-dispersion technology. It’s cloud-like, super hydrating, and incredible under makeup.”

Also worth noting, unlike traditional mineral sunscreens that sit heavily on the skin, DUNE’s formulas are designed to absorb.

“Other gel formulas are very silicone-heavy and sit on top of the skin,” she explains. “Ours soak in. They protect, but they also perfect.”

The Heart of DUNE 

Despite rapid growth and multiple industry awards (11 in three years!!) Emily remains grounded in how DUNE was built: slowly, intentionally, and with humility.

When asked what advice she’d give to younger founders, her answer is simple and disarmingly honest.

“Don’t get bogged down by the end game,” she says. “Think about what you can achieve every single day.”

That might mean researching one retailer, sending one outreach email, or asking another founder for a referral.

“That’s enough,” she says. “One step at a time.”

She also cautions against comparison. “Don’t compare yourself to other brands when you launch. It’s distracting and counterproductive.”

And of course, she touched on leadership.

“Really empower your team,” Emily says. “Coming down on people doesn’t make them do better work or feel more passionate.”

She pauses, then adds: “No one’s perfect. I’m certainly not. But being relatable and encouraging makes people excited to build with you.”

That spirit—human, thoughtful, intentional, and ambitious—is what runs through DUNE. Not just in its formulas, but in the way the brand shows up. 

Protection is meant to feel good, for everyone.