The Business of Beauty: Alicia Tan Dishes on Her New Beauty Brand, Ài Skincare

What does it take to make a sunscreen? Alicia Tan of Ài Skincare tells all in our exclusive for this month’s The Business Of Beauty column.

When it comes to skincare, no one knows their stuff more than Alicia Tan. The influencer and content creator (better known as @aliciatal on the social sphere) has been in the beauty game for years, and she’s taking her love for the industry to the next level with her latest move. Ài Skincare is the debut beauty brand from Tan, and we’ve got the tell-all. 

“Ài is like my love letter to skincare in a way. I really poured a lot of heart and love into it,” she shares. The brand’s first launch is the Heartlight Sunscreen—a lightweight, blendable and cast-less formulation suited for all skin tones and types. We’ve got everything you need to know about the launch, from the inspiration behind the brand to what it takes to get a sunscreen on the market. Read our full exclusive with the beauty influencer-turned-entrepreneur below:

What’s the story behind the name, Ài Skincare?

“My husband Joseph and I had always wanted something simple or minimal for this brand, and we just came up with Ài one day. To me, it’s like a double meaning for self-love. Ài (爱) is the pinyin for the Chinese character for love and sounds like ‘I’ as in yourself, so it kind of just felt perfect. For me, love is a fundamental of life and I also want to spread this to others as well.”

Could you walk us through the formulation of your first product, the Ài Skincare Heartlight Sunscreen SPF50+ PA++++?

“There are five filters in the sunscreen—Univul A Plus, Tinosorb S, Ethylhexyl Triazone, Polysilicone-15, and Tinosorb M. They are all newer gen chemical filters that give high protection and are not as irritating to the skin and eyes as traditional filters like oxybenzone and oxtinoxate. 

“I also wanted good soothing ingredients in the formula. So, you’ll find niacinamide in this formula, which favourite for a lot of people because it helps to kind of control oil as well as well as brighten and even the skin tone. And then I have heartleaf extract—it’s a great ingredient for soothing inflammation. That, and I feel like ‘heart’ makes sense for Ài. Centella Asiatica, or cica, is also in this sunscreen because it’s personally one of my favourite ingredients in skincare. There’s also squalene which is a great hydrating ingredient.

“Another special thing about this formulation is that it has special Dual Fence Technology that has been created by my manufacturer. Basically, the chemical filters in the formula are infused into both the water and oil phases when they formulate the product. I think usually for sunscreens, it’s either in in the water phase or the oil phase. By formulating it this way, where they include it into both phases, the sunscreen gives you a more even layer without any gaps in protection, giving you more uniform UV defence with more resilience.”

What are the logistics involved in launching a skincare brand?

“When I wanted to create this brand, I was very lost. The first thing that I did was search online for manufacturers. There are a lot of manufacturers around but at the same time, there are plenty of not very good ones, to be honest. 

“I’m very picky, especially with sunscreen, so it was a lot of letting them know what textures, ingredients and finishes I wanted, and trialling samples. There’s a lot of miscommunication involved in the process. I was also going to beauty expos in Malaysia and Hong Kong, which was very overwhelming. The whole process felt very intimidating, especially as a person creating a brand for the first time.” 

Sunscreen is notoriously difficult to formulate—how did you settle on the right formulation?

“Most people know that there are mineral and chemical filters, but there are also different new-gen filters that are better for the skin, which is what I wanted for my formula. I had something very specific in mind—I wanted something that was lightweight, hydrating, great for sensitive skin, and that had SPF50 protection. Finding a manufacturer that could achieve exactly the formulation I wanted was hard, but I eventually found the right company in Korea. 

“I was really lucky to find this company, actually. There is a lot of testing involved with sunscreen formulation. You need to be able to trust who you’re working with, making sure that they are testing your product properly. Some countries are not very strict with their SPF testing, so you don’t actually get the full SPF30 or SPF50 rating, even though that’s what is on the label on the bottle. The manufacturer I work with really took their time to test the formulation thoroughly, making sure that it gave the correct protection and that the formulation was stable.

“That actually was another headache. It wasn’t easy to source good packaging. I had a clear vision of something that wasn’t a tube, that had a nozzle that dispensed product easily but wasn’t messy, and it was hard to find what I was looking for. I even tried to go to wholesale websites where they have a lot of different manufacturers in China, but none of the prototypes were of the look or quality that I was looking for. Fortunately, the company that I’m working with ended up also helping me with packaging—they gave me a few options according to my specifications and tested the formulation in the packaging I chose over a few weeks to make sure that it was really stable.”

As a sunscreen product, it’s pretty easy to figure out how to use it, but do you have a specific recommendation on how to apply it?

“I use it every day after my skincare routine. It doesn’t matter whether you have a 10-step skincare routine in the morning or you have a very very simple routine of just a cleanser, toner, serum, and moisturiser. This formulation is just super easy to incorporate because I made sure that the texture doesn’t peel with the other skincare products. 

“Skincare enthusiasts will know that you’re supposed to reapply your sunscreen every two hours. To be honest, I don’t do that as diligently as I should. I don’t usually have the time and it’s hard to reapply it over makeup too. But, in Malaysia, because it’s so hot, if you’re going to be outside playing pickleball or hiking you should reapply this regularly. My favourite way is by using a cushion foundation sponge. Our Heartlight Sunscreen is super easy to blend, so all you have to do is pat it all over your skin until it’s evenly applied. It won’t smudge your makeup too much this way!”

What advice do you have for anybody looking to enter the beauty and wellness space whether it is as an entrepreneur or an influencer?

“The beauty industry is limitless. I feel like it’s never going to die because we all love our beauty rituals, right? But you need passion to make it in this industry. You shouldn’t just jump into this industry just because you feel that there’s a demand there, because it’s also very competitive.

“I can only speak for myself, but for me, I really love beauty and everything about it and that’s why I feel like I’ve been able to stay in this industry for so long. If I really didn’t have the passion, I would have given up a long time ago.”

Is there anything else you’d like to highlight or shout out?

“For now, I’m just very excited for the world to finally try this baby of mine that I have been creating for so long. And I  really hope that you guys will love it.”

Follow Alicia Tan on Instagram here. Follow Ài Skincare on Instagram and TikTok. Shop Ài Skincare here for RM108, and get the Sunscreen and Keychain Holder combo for RM138.