New SPF and Lip Launches are Catapulting Skin Care’s Buzziest Brands on Social, Data Shows

Call it the summer of SPF.

While it’s typical for a wave of SPF launches to land during the warmer-weather months, the category is seeing heightened momentum this year thanks to increased consumer adoption and a slew of buzzy, first-time entrants — Glow Recipe, Sol de Janeiro and Drunk Elephant among them.

In fact, data from Traackr indicates that the majority of the top 10 skin care brands by VIT (or brand vitality score, a metric which measures a brand’s social media impact, reach and trust) in May benefited from launches in either sun care or the ever-growing lip care category.

“It’s important to plan out your influencer marketing strategy to align with predictable seasonal content trends,” said Kayla Quock, director of brand marketing at Traackr, adding that while skin care is second only to fragrance in terms of overall category VIT growth, “spring is a slower season for skin care, as it’s sandwiched between two seasons — winter and summer — that often see specialized skin care product launches.”

It was self-tanning brand, Tan-Luxe, which took the top spot by VIT in May after inaugurating a limited-edition launch and campaign with its first celebrity collaborator, Paris Hilton. Though data indicates the brand had been seeing steady growth in social media momentum for months, the collaboration bolstered its VIT in May to 22,100 — up 77 percent versus April.

Tan-Luxe x Paris Hilton courtesy of Tan-Luxe

Glow Recipe, meanwhile, nabbed an impactful mix of organic and sponsored mentions for its new Watermelon Glow SPF stick from creators including Monica Hamada, Alexa Johnson and Katie Fang, noted Quock; Neutrogena looked to male fitness influencers like Ashten Barnes (@itsashtenbarnes) and Michael Archer (@_kingarcher) to promote its new sport SPF spray.

Laneige and Summer Fridays, number four and number six on the ranking, respectively, both benefited from new additions to their respective lip balm franchises — the former recruiting Alix Earle for the launch of its blueberry and mango Lip Glowy Balm launches.

The top 10 skin care brands by VIT in May, per Traackr.