Meet Le Rub, a new sun protection brand that celebrates the Mediterranean lifestyle

MILAN — An ode to the Mediterranean lifestyle straight from Belgium: What sounds like a strange premise speaks for the unconventional spirit behind the up-and-coming sun protection brand Le Rub.

After all, founders Kim and Raf Maes are unconventional types themselves. The siblings come from different professional backgrounds and brought their combined expertise in beauty, fashion and branding to the joint company they launched earlier this year.

Kim Maes, in particular, is a former makeup artist who has worked as a consultant for leading brands. In addition, she founded the physical and online beauty destination Blos in 2016, which offers a hand-picked selection of exclusive niche brands.. Her brother Raf is an experienced brand developer with a passion for design, branding and photography, and former president and co-founder of watch and eyewear brand Komono.

The combination of these worlds has produced an appealing formula that aims to raise awareness of the importance of sun protection and also make it cooler for new generations. The founders’ mission is to improve the perception of the category with a smart offering of mineral sunscreen and after-sun products that combine high-performance formulas with skincare properties such as lightweight textures, scents reminiscent of luxurious beauty and designer packaging that could encourage consumers even more to use the products in broad daylight.

The approach proved successful and timely given the overall positive momentum the category is experiencing, enabling Le Rub to secure product launches in 80 key retailers across Europe this summer.

“We launched Le Rub 2024 after three years of dedicated formulation and testing,” said Kim Maes. “We were driven by the need to create a high-quality sunscreen range that feels great on the skin, is kind to the planet, but also has cool branding with beautiful photography that is different from most other sunscreen brands,” she added, stressing that spotting a gap in the market initially prompted the duo to act.

“The existing options often forced us to choose between sticky textures that left a white film on the skin and luxury options full of ingredients we didn’t want to use. Our goal was to offer something different and better, something that really stood out, and the response has been extremely positive,” she said.

Maes, who is in charge of research and development, stressed that Le Rub’s products are designed to “not only protect the skin but also care for it” through natural ingredients rich in antioxidants and vitamin D, as well as anti-inflammatory and moisturising properties in vegan and cruelty-free formulas. She added that the supply chain is also designed to minimise emissions by sourcing the natural ingredients from across the Mediterranean, including from small farms in Sicily, Sardinia and a historic distillery in Milan – the city that also houses the laboratory where the brand’s formulas are developed.

The range currently includes five products priced between 44 and 49 euros. These include the Everyday Face Sunscreen, with hyaluronic acid and ingredients such as grape and almond oil; the All-Day Body Sunscreen, which combines grape seed and sunflower oil with glycerin for extra moisture; the After Sun Repairing Face Mask, with a creamy texture based on tomato peel, Sicilian myrtle and cucumber extracts; the After Sun Repairing Lotion, designed to soothe the skin and maximize the tan, and containing shea butter and aloe vera; the Sunset Serum, with a plant-based complex of Sicilian prickly pear, myrtle, cucumber and apricot extract, to name a few.

This month, the company will also launch SPF 50 versions of its Everyday and All-Day sunscreens for face and body, offering a higher level of protection compared to the SPF 30 products already offered. In October, a mineral stick format will also be added as a more convenient on-the-go option, just in time for ski season.

According to the founders, sprays and a tinted SPF range are also in the works for next year, combining sun protection with a touch of colour to further improve skin tone.

The siblings can count on the help of Emily L’Ami of Bodha and Leslie David in the creative process. The former is a Los Angeles-based perfumer trained in aromatherapy who was tasked with developing the signature scent of Le Rub’s products, which is made from natural ingredients such as Italian tomato leaves and Atlas cedar wood to evoke the sun-drenched Mediterranean landscape. The latter is the Paris-based, award-winning creative director behind Le Rub’s packaging and graphic identity, which is inspired by vintage logos from the ’50s and ’60s and Raf Maes’ own photographs that pay tribute to the Riviera aesthetic of the same decades.

The visual aspect helps to increase the appeal of the brand, whose founders decided to give it a name that was “fun and easy” to be in line with the company’s philosophy of simple and pleasant sun protection care.

This spirit helped Le Rub gain attention and land on the shelves of retailers such as Rinascente, LuisaViaRoma and The Beautyaholic’s Shop in Italy, Le Bon Marché in France and Niche Beauty in Germany, to name a few.

Spain is also a top-performing market for the brand, followed by the Benelux region and the Nordic countries. The founders said they also see significant expansion potential in countries such as the UK, Australia and the US, “where sun protection is already integrated into people’s daily routine”.

“We want to offer our customers a personalized shopping experience where they can see, feel and get to know our products first-hand. We are targeting all premium stores that fit our brand values ​​and can help us reach discerning customers who value quality and sustainability,” said Kim Maes.

While the founders aim for further expansion in the physical channel, they are also working to strengthen Le Rub’s online presence by improving the user experience and increasing the reach of its e-commerce through campaigns and digital marketing, as well as partnerships with online retailers and beauty platforms that could help Le Rub reach a wider audience.

“The ultimate mission is to always create meaningful products and meaningful content that celebrate our customers’ view of the world and the things they like… (and) We want to become a strong global sun protection brand while maintaining fun, simplicity and focus without neglecting our values,” concludes Raf Maes.