This was rather surprising to me as a cancer biologist so I started to investigate the scientific basis of sunscreens. I determined that most suncare products were mainly formulated to prevent the skin from tanning – NOT from burning!

This was shocking but it made sense since nothing was working to stop my skin from peeling every time I was exposed to the sun, no matter which brand or how much sun protection I used.

So, I collaborated with a biochemist, a medicinal chemist, and an entomologist and we came up with our own formula specifically targeted to protect against every stage of sunburn, especially “apoptosis” represented by the peeling I was experiencing. In fact, we came up with our own laboratory test for measuring the effectiveness of sunscreens.

When I realized that a suntan and sunburn were two very different physiological processes, Moondust Cosmetics® needed to distinguish between both of them – not only to prevent scientific sunburn (apoptosis), but also to decrease the risk of getting skin cancer which has been linked to sunburns of this type.

Since my name means “moon” I decided to call my company Moondust Cosmetics® and soon after, everyone just started calling me Dr. Moondust®.