1925 Coco Chanel’s must have colour: The iconic designer started a trend in the twenties after lighting up the social scene with her post-holiday glow. Inspired, enterprising Frenchman Monsieur Antonine launches his own tanning lotions, which later became Bain de Soleil.
1936 Nivea puts sun cream on the map: Nivea releases it’s first ever sunscreen in 1936 – Nivea Ultra oil – which was advertised as soothing sunburn. People didn’t yet realise the dangers of sunburn and skin damage but this was promoted as something which eased pain after sun. Many adverts included the weather forecast and warnings about getting burnt even on cloudy days.
1967 Hollwood shows off its tan lines: Despite the invention of SPF (aka Sun Protection Factor) for sunscreen labels in 1962, it seems like The Graduate’s Mrs. Robinson never got the memo — judging by the tan lines she sports in the 1967 film’s infamous scene of seduction.
1971 Barbie adopts SPF: Mattel’s Malibu Barbie hits toy stores with her very own miniature bottle of sunscreen. Whether or not she ever used it is still up for debate.
1981 Aussies get sun smart: Australia, the land of surfers and suntans, unveils a skin cancer awareness campaign called “Slip-Slop-Slap,” which stars a dancing animated duck urging sunbathers to “Slip on a shirt, Slop on the 30+ sunscreen, Slap on a hat.”
1982 Spicoli rules: Sean Penn charms moviegoers as stoner-surfer Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times At Ridgemont High. Even cooler than his devotion to pizza (even during class)? His dedication to sun protection via a thick layer of zinc oxide on his nose.
1997 Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen: Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich pens her now famous “Wear Sunscreen” article, a mock commencement speech to the class of ‘97. One year later, Baz Luhrmann (the director of Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby) repurposes Schmich’s speech in a bizarrely popular MTV hit, “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).”
2003 Ross goes tanning: Friends airs “The One With Ross’s Tan” reminding viewers that, even when it comes to fake sun, too much is never a good thing.
2009 Krispy Kim: Kim Kardashian shares a photo of her with a very sunburnt face and sunglasses marks reminding us of how unglamorous sunburn is!
2011 Julianne Moore defends SPF: In her InStyle UK cover story, the porcelain-skinned star sounds off about her devotion to sun protection for its anti-ageing benefits.
2013 Cameron’s must haves: In an interview, Cameron Diaz explains that her beauty must have is sunscreen. “I grew up on the beach in Los Angeles and use SPF 30.”
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