The gap is not protection. It is action.
Consumers understand sun protection. The evidence shows the real challenge is behavioral: remembering, knowing when, and having care available at the moment it is needed.
Sunscreen works. Reapplication breaks down.
A 2023 nationwide United States study of 2,283 regular SPF consumers found that 20% to 60% of regular SPF users do not reapply, depending on the type of SPF product. Reapplication behavior varied with weather, time in the sun, activity and sweating.
of regular SPF users do not reapply, depending on product category
Reapplication rate by condition
Source: Norman et al., Food and Chemical Toxicology, November 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2023.114093. Research affiliations included Beiersdorf, L'Oréal USA, Procter & Gamble, Revlon and the Personal Care Products Council.
We know we should protect our skin. Many of us regret that we did not.
L'Oréal and La Roche-Posay reported results from an epidemiological study of approximately 17,000 people across 17 countries.
regret not protecting themselves from the sun in the past
say they do not protect themselves against the sun throughout the year
Protection is understood. Action is inconsistent. Regret comes later.
Regret happens after the missed action. The opportunity exists before it. What if personal care could intervene at the moment action is needed?
Source: L'Oréal / La Roche-Posay consumer research.
The barrier is behavioral, not performance.
Reported barriers to sunscreen use
Researchers identified integrating sunscreen into routines and using cues to action as strategies for supporting reapplication. The friction WearSpray targets is remembering, knowing when, having it available, stopping what you are doing, finding the product, and applying it.
Source: peer-reviewed behavioral study (PMC).
Contextual prompting nearly doubled adherence.
A randomized controlled study compared a sunscreen control group with a group receiving contextual mobile reminders that combined local weather with a prompt to apply sunscreen.
Average sunscreen adherence
The prompted group was nearly twice as adherent, yet the study used no advanced AI. It did not know the user's habits or activity, did not know when they had last applied, and did not put sunscreen on the wrist. A contextual prompt alone still changed behavior.
Source: randomized controlled study (PubMed).
Sense → Understand → Prompt → Act → Learn.
Sense
Understand environmental and personal context: UV, location, heat, activity, potential perspiration and time.
Understand
The intelligence layer combines those signals with what it learns about the user: routines, activities, skin goals, preferred care and previous applications.
Prompt
Context, not another notification. “UV exposure is high and you have been outside for 90 minutes. Consider reapplying.”
Act
The product is already on the wrist. No bottle to retrieve, no bag to search. Press. Dispense. Apply. Continue.
Learn
Every application and check-in teaches WearSpray, so prompts get more personal and better timed over time.
Wearable UV sensing has already changed behavior.
La Roche-Posay and L'Oréal developed My UV Patch and later My Skin Track UV to monitor UV exposure. Follow-up consumer studies around My UV Patch showed:
of participants applied sunscreen more frequently
sought shade more frequently
Wearable sensing can influence protective behavior. But a step was still missing: the sensor could Sense, Understand and Prompt, yet the user still had to find the sunscreen. WearSpray proposes the fourth step: Act.
Source: L'Oréal / La Roche-Posay research.
These studies do not prove WearSpray will improve adherence. They establish the problem, show that contextual prompting can influence behavior, and demonstrate that wearable UV awareness has already changed behavior.
That leaves a credible hypothesis: if awareness and contextual prompting can influence behavior, removing the final barrier between the prompt and the product may create an even more actionable personal care experience.
Sources
- • Norman et al., 2023. Food and Chemical Toxicology. DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2023.114093. Affiliations: Beiersdorf, L'Oréal USA, P&G, Revlon, Personal Care Products Council.
- • L'Oréal / La Roche-Posay epidemiological study (~17,000 people, 17 countries).
- • Peer-reviewed study of sunscreen barriers (PMC).
- • Randomized controlled study of contextual mobile sunscreen reminders (PubMed).
- • L'Oréal / La Roche-Posay My UV Patch and My Skin Track UV consumer research.