Written by Menswear Style in Interviews on the 28th July 2022

The LifeJacket Skin Protection story began with personal setback. The co-founders were three healthy young men, who thought they were indestructible. But then, several of their friends – all healthy and in their thirties, like them – were hit by cancer. One of them was Jono, the co-founder. Through this experience they learnt that skin cancer – one of the world’s most common cancers – is not only on the rise, but also that most people don’t think about the need for year-round skin protection. That’s especially true of men who are almost twice as likely as women to die of skin cancer. Emboldened, they created LifeJacket, with the single vision of stopping the increase in skin cancer. If only more people knew the facts, the same tragedies that struck their friends could be avoided. Taking better care isn’t just about preventing skin cancer though. They believe year-round protected skin is healthy skin and healthy skin makes you happier and more confident. That’s why they design products that give your skin what it needs – all year round – for long-term skin health.

In a recent episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we interviewed Billy Boulos, Co-Founder of LifeJacket Skin Protection about the founding story of this male focussed skin protection brand which aims to educate people on the harmful effects of sun exposure. Our host Peter Brooker and Billy talked about skin cancer, exposure to UV rays, differences between sun protection and skin protection, why men are affected by skin cancer more than women, how the business was funded, product pricing, testing and regulation, branding and brand awareness.

“We're trying to protect people's skin, which is something that we feel quite strongly about. We believe that needs to be done daily, whether you live in the UK or. The skin is the first line of defence when we are outside and it's the first line of defence to the inside of your body. And in its worst scenario, skin damage equals cancer. But skin damage could just be redness. It could be soreness, itchiness, and it could be discomfort. So we're just trying to address all of those forms of damage through a range of products. The sun is sun is beating down on all of us and it is 90% responsible for skin cancer. It's also 80% responsible for ageing. So UV is going deep into the skin and causing damage to the proteins, and also potentially causing DNA to become damaged.”

This is a shortened transcribed edit of episode 180 of the MenswearStyle Podcast with Billy Boulos, Co-Founder of lifejacketskin.com. You can listen to the full version on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast player.

We sit down with Billy Boulos from LifeJacket Skin Protection to talk about skin damage, skin cancer and skincare for men.