From Andrew Glass and Jessica McGratty-Singer, veterans of the beauty and retail industries, the new sun care brand is kicking off with $20 Melon Daze SPF 30 Face & Body Cream. In the first week of November, two more $20 face and body creams will roll out—Candy Clouds and Citrus Crush—followed by $18 SPF 30 dry oils for the body in the three scents (Candy Clouds, Citrus Crush and Melon Daze), $22 Sea Pearl Sunglaze SPF 30 Face & Body Glaze and $20 Never Seen SPF 30 Invisible Face & Body Cream.

Glass, a serial beauty entrepreneur whose other brands include Wakse and NGS Beauty, met McGratty-Singer, founder of Morton James, a consultancy specializing in travel retail and department stores, about a decade ago through work. They dreamed of building a brand together for years, and the two began to realize that dream when they started developing By the Beach in 2023 to sit in a masstige position in the market where they spotted an opportunity.

“We would meet in places like France or Miami and were like, oh my god, By the Beach would be such a cute name for a sun care brand,” recalls Atlanta-based Glass. “Although we are not by the water, we love it, and it just so happens that a lot of our work trips end up being by the ocean. We wanted to evoke the whole feeling of being by the beach no matter where you are and creating a whole sensory experience to put your mind at the beach every day.”

Making that sensory experience attainable for large swaths of consumers was important to Glass and McGratty-Singer. The masstige tier of skincare has performed strongly. In the first half of 2025, masstige brands led the American skincare market with double-digit growth, according to market research firm Circana. Another market research firm, Mintel, projects 6.7% growth over the next five years for the sun care sector.

“For a 6-oz. SPF cream with the quality of formulations we are producing, $20 is an amazing value. We wanted something that could appeal to the millennial shopper, somebody who is in their mid-to-late 30s or early 40s with hints of nostalgia, but also appeal to the next generation of shoppers with playful branding and scents. We didn’t see anything else on the market like it.”

By the Beach’s packaging is splashed with orange, green and lavender and features a sun logo. The face and body creams have colors that mirror the packaging colors. The brand largely manufactures in Spain, and its chemical sunscreen is infused with botanicals, vitamins and antioxidants for skincare benefits. “They are unlike every other sunscreen—super hydrating, lightweight, no greasy feeling, no white cast and no hint of an SPF scent,” says Glass. “It is an indulgent formula for both the creams and the dry oils.”

It’s taken about $150,000 to ready self-funded By the Beach for market, excluding the amount required to manufacture products for forthcoming retail entrances. Glass conservatively projects the brand could reach $500,000 in its initial year in business. In the summer or fall of 2026, he expects to add to his brand repertoire with Scent Generation, a fragrance brand aimed at consumers 35 and under.

By the Beach isn’t alone in targeting the masstige sun care segment, with lifestyle-oriented brands like Vacation and PoolBar vying for consumers seeking elevated SPF at accessible prices. The brands have secured distribution at major retailers, with Vacation available at Ulta Beauty and Target, and PoolBar diving into CVS.

Glass and McGratty-Singer moved up the launch of By the Beach from spring 2026 to now to be timed with Ulta Beauty’s UB Marketplace debut. Glass says UB Marketplace gives the brand a “great foot in the door” of retail, which it will be quickly expanding upon. By the Beach is in discussions with American retailers, and in the spring, it’s poised to arrive at a retailer in the United Kingdom and 80 cruise ships.

In April, the brand will participate in Boxycharm’s subscription boxes to support its U.K. retail presence. Seeding products to influencers is on the marketing roadmap as well.

McGratty-Singer foresees By the Beach’s distribution as broader than simply traditional retail. “We really want to bring a smile to people’s faces on a cruise ship, at a hotel, in an airport or at an Ulta,” she says. “It’s an exciting way of seeing sun care.”

For its assortment, By the Beach plans to release kits mixing and matching its creams and dry oils with cheerful merch like a beach tote with its sun logo. An after-sun product, spray for hair and large sizes of its cream with a metal handle for carrying on beach or pool excursions are on deck, too. Glass teases, “It will be easy to carry when you have your arms full of other things.”