Our Mission
To create products so elevated, effective, and effortless they will fundamentally change the world’s relationship with sun care.
Clair Obscur was created to bring sun care out of the dark ages and into the light.
We believe in making good habits effortless — even elevated
We believe in making good habits effortless — even elevated
Driving behavior change
We want to turn sun care from something we have to do, to something we love to do.
From something we use in the sun, to something we use daily.
From something we forget to do, to something we never leave home without.
From something that interrupts our day, to something that fits seamlessly into it.
From something we wear out of fear, to something we wear out of love.
Designing a new future
To achieve this, we focus on effective, well-designed products that make it easy to adopt a sun care habit.
We invest our time and energy into sharing our sun care knowledge so more and more people will become global sun care enthusiasts.
Our goal is to create solutions that take the friction out of sun protection for everyone. We see a future in which we all lovingly — and easily — protect ourselves from the awe-inspiring power of the sun.
Our Founders
Carylyne Chan
& Emily Hurd
Clair Obscur co-founders Carylyne and Emily hail from opposite sides of the world — Carylyne from Singapore, Emily from the U.S. The two met as co-workers at a fintech company and bonded over a shared obsession with sun protection — and how their different cultural upbringings impacted their approach.
For Carylyne, it was a lifelong preoccupation. She would apply sunscreen on anyone within reach, and gift bottles to reluctant friends, family members, and colleagues. Carylyne felt that the world would be a better, safer place if everyone shared her habit of wearing (and reapplying) sunscreen every single day, even on cloudy days and in colder months.
By contrast, Emily grew up in the States, where tans were commonplace. She was well into adulthood before she recognized the importance of SPF as a daily ritual, not just something to use on the beach. When she was pregnant with her first child, she felt daunted by long ingredient lists and confusing guidance around sunscreen safety.
After airing their sunscreen grievances, Carylyne and Emily decided to change the status quo. In 2020 the pair recruited a team of experts — chemists in Singapore, talented brand and fashion designers, and dermatologist Veronica Rotemberg, MD, PhD of Memorial Sloan Kettering — to bring their vision of better sun care to life. They named their company Clair Obscur, the contrast between light and shadow.
Be the first to get it
In the future, sun care won’t be a chore.