He leads one of the biggest companies that competes in the $1.1 billion US sun care category, but Sun & Skin Care Research CEO Stuart J. Straus is quick to point out that his company is battling multinational multibillion dollar behemoths, like J&J and Bayer in the space. But that self-knowledge isn’t deterring Straus from facing off against the big boys in an even more competitive category—the anti-aging skin care segment.
 
Sun & Skin Care Research introduced No-Ad Prevent & Repair and No-Ad Prevent & Brighten, which the company bills as thefirst anti-aging body lotion for the US retail mass market. The products recently made their debut at select Wal-Mart stores, walmart.com, drugstore.com and Texas-based grocery chain HEB as well as food, drug, and mass market retailers. The goal, explained Straus, is to put anti-aging technology, coupled with sun protection, into the hands of every consumer.
 
“People who don’t have a lot of money still want anti-aging benefits,” Straus noted. “And people of every demographic need skin care products with SPF 15 protection.”
 
He claims that at 46 cents per ounce each, No-Ad skin care lotions cost half what competing SPF body lotions do, and yet those other lotions don’t contain No-Ad’s high-quality anti-aging ingredients. For example, the No-Ad Prevent & Repair formula contains purified watermelon extract, which is said to protect against inflammation and irritation, and provide a more even skin texture; aloe vera, which acts as an anti-inflammatory; vitamin A to stimulate cell growth for smoother skin; vitamin B6 to protect against free radicals; vitamin C to fight free radicals, and help smooth and firm skin; vitamin D to impart protective and rejuvenating effects and vitamin E to ease dryness and bolster skin’s UV defense.
 
The No-Ad Prevent & Brighten formula contains vitamin B3 to brighten and boost hydration to reduce redness, minimize dark spots, and increase production of ceramides and fatty acids; argan oil to help diminish the appearance of age spots and brighten skin; sunflower oil; and vitamins C and E.
 
“We have introduced something that’s new and different and will grow the category,” asserted Straus, who said the anti-aging business should be growing even faster than it already is. “One buyer told us it makes a lot of sense since No-Ad is already a 52-year-old authority in sun care.”
 
No-Ad will cross-reference its new skin care offerings with its existing sun care lineup to move consumers toward the mass market skin care section. But even as it grows the category, these No-Ad introductions are simplifying consumers’ daily skin care regimen, according to Straus.
 
“The one thing that consumers in food, drug and mass want is a simplified regimen,” he explained. “They demand the best ingredients, but they want it to be straight forward and simple.”
 
That’s because sun care and anti-aging concepts remain confusing to many shoppers.
 
According to the results of a recent survey conducted by No-Ad:
• Just 5% of Americans apply any type of sun protection to their body daily;
• Fewer than half (48%) agree that short exposures to the sun cause a lot of skin damage; 
• Most Americans (72%) say they only worry about sun exposure if they are going to be in the sun for a long time, such as at the beach, pool and park, and
• A majority (51%) worry more about daily sun exposure on “my face than about other exposed skin, like my hands and arms.”  
 
But even with the launch of these two straightforward, moderately priced formulas, the anti-aging category remains confusing to consumers, especially when it comes to facial skin care, which accounted for nearly 40% of total anti-aging skin care sales, according to a 2013 Mintel report.
 
“We will get into the facial care category and other segments when we have the right to go there,” predicted Straus. “We want to build the lotion business (first).”