Brief History of Sunscreen with Sun Zapper

Have you ever wondered how and when sunscreen was invented?

Disclaimer: We didn’t invent sunscreen, but we know who did…

Meet Milton Blake. An Australian (like us!) chemist and pharmacologist legend.

Milton Blake developed the first commercial sunscreen for his company, Hamilton in the late 1920’s, early 1930’s.

Other pioneers of sunscreen include L’Oreal founder, Eugene Schuller who developed his own version of sunscreen in 1936.

Schuller was out on a boat when he learnt that the oils he was using to protect his skin from the sun were not effective, this inspired him to create his own sunscreen.

A few years shortly after in 1938, Piz Buin was founded by Franz Greiter, a Swiss Chemist who was climbing Mount Piz Buin on the Swiss-Austrian border when he was sunburnt.

He then made it his mission to create something that would protect the skin against the sun. Gletscher Crème "Glacier Cream” was created in 1946 which is still available from Piz Buin today.

In 1944 Benjamin Green, a pharmacist and airman in WW2, created “Red Vet Pet” which was red veterinary petrolatum designed to protect soldiers in the war from the sun.

Although it provided a physical barrier between the soldiers and the ultraviolet rays, it was described as ‘heavy and unpleasant’.

Post-war, Green took the feedback onboard and added coconut oil and cocoa butter to Red Vet Pet to create a smoother and lighter formula that eventually became Coppertone Suntan Cream.

Franz Greiter didn’t just invent the Glacier Cream, in 1962 he also invented the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) ratings so sunscreens can be standardised.

Five years later in 1967, water resistant sunscreens began to formulate.

In Australia the famous Slip! Slop! Slap! Campaign launched and Sid the Seagull Video aired in 1981.