Inside Fré with Azoulay, skin that moves in sun

611 Target stores now carry the line. That count tells how far a texture idea travelled, from a small team blending for sweaty skin to a shelf where a tube has to feel right in one squeeze.

The first users were women who train outside and coach others, and who kept asking for sun care that stayed light when the body heated up. The record describes breakouts, redness, dryness and sun damage, plus daily refusal of thick and tacky SPF. The founders kept that complaint pinned above the bench while they worked on slip, finish and rinse.

Fré Skincare began in November 2016, started by Michael Azoulay and Mickael Bensadoun. Azoulay was born in Morocco in 1978 and arrived in Israel in 2001 after time studying in Paris and New York. Bensadoun was born in Paris in 1978 and arrived in Israel in 2000. They first met in 2014 and wanted a profitable company with social purpose that reached beyond Israel.

The result is clean sun care built around a single tree. At the center sits Argania Active Complex, a patented mix of organic argan oil, argan leaf extract and argan stem cells, matched with 100 percent non-nano zinc oxide. Read through interviews and the plant reads as a working choice. Argan holds through dry heat and bright sun, and that toughness shaped the formulas.

You built the range around Argania Active Complex with argan oil plus leaf extract plus stem cells while most suncare spoke only of filters. What persuaded you about that desert tree, and what proved hardest to perfect by touch.

Argan lives where almost nothing else stays alive. Thin soil, bright sun, sharp change from night to day. Roots grip the ground, leaves limit water loss, kernels keep an oil that stores well. We took that as a practical guide for skin in sun. Our patented Argania Active Complex joins leaf extract, oil and stem cells, so antioxidant care sits beside mineral screen. The balance took effort. Oil can read rich, leaf extract can add tint and scent, stem cell matter asks for careful handling and stable sourcing. We wanted a serum that left pores clear during sweat, a day cream that sat neatly under zinc, a night cream that left skin looking rested by morning. Many trials went into keeping the plant level high and the touch light. We returned to field sense. Pick with care, steep softly, add at levels skin accepts. A plant matters only when it acts inside the formula. For us, argan lets the full routine stay together through sun, sweat and washing.

Your circle is presented as female athletes and coaches, held by the motto when women are strong, the world is strong. As two men, you have said support for women should not come only from women. What that support feels like in daily practice.

I believe in female leadership, I believe women push progress forward and I believe free and strong women carry humanity ahead and we need them at their best, always. When skin feels strong, the day feels strong. For us that line is not a slogan. My mother is a strong woman who set aside the rules of traditional patriarchism to become an ophthalmologist, my father is a gynecologist who helped women give birth. That remained with me. We do not believe support for women should come only from women. If we want to change the world by lifting the place of women in it, I believe the support of men is essential. In practice it starts with listening closely first. Our community tells us what slips in training, what stings the eyes, what leaves a cast, what balls up under sweat. At Fré, my work sits with our wonderful community to shape a potent movement for empowerment and care for nature. If we join all our strengths, I trust we will marvel at what we can shape together as a community. And it means giving back on repeat, through our pledge of one percent of revenue to guard people and planet.

You first met in 2014, one coming from Morocco through Paris and New York, the other from Paris toward Tel Aviv banking, then by November 2016 you had started Fré for active women. What filled those first talks, and why did sun plus sweat set the brief.

We met in 2014 and we both craved something deeply meaningful beyond Israel. I was born in Morocco in 1978 where I lived until 18, then I studied in Paris, and in New York, before moving to Israel in 2001 where I joined philanthropic groups to open equal chances for children, youth and immigrants. I was born in Paris in 1978 where I lived until age 22. In 2000, fresh in Tel Aviv, my first post was investment banker, gathering funds for start ups in high tech. When we met, we agreed the goal was a profitable firm with a potent social purpose. We watched women who train outdoors, who sweat daily, who live under sun. They spoke of breakouts, redness, dehydration, clogged pores. The sunscreens they owned felt sticky or heavy, so they skipped them. That felt wrong to us. We come from the Mediterranean, we adore sun, we wanted protection to feel joyful. So we wrote a plain brief. Clean, effective and joyful suncare, with zero compromise. No sticky sunscreens. No toxic ingredients. A ritual able to shield in the morning, restore at night, and keep skin calm through sweat.

Your mineral SPF uses 100 percent non nano zinc oxide, and a merchandising director praised Protect Me for melting in with a sheer, barely mineral feel. Mineral texture is famously difficult. How did you coax zinc to feel weightless yet still protective.

We began with a refusal. No sticky sunscreens. That set each later choice. Zinc screens well, yet it can drag, leave a cast, or rest on sweat. We refined milling, dispersion and the base around it. The Argania Active Complex helped, because the oil part lets the cream glide thin and even, and the lighter emollients move the mineral instead of letting it pool in lines and pores. We tested on moving skin, not only still skin, because our customer trains, runs, coaches, swims, then reapplies. Protect Me is our multitasking daily facial SPF, sold in SPF 30 and SPF 50, and it holds the antioxidant complex so the day step does more than filter. People call it sheer for a mineral formula, which counts because the best sunscreen is the one you will actually wear. We prefer mineral SPF that feels sensorial and joyful over one that feels sticky and gets skipped. Reapply as labeled, favor shade at midday, and let the texture quietly coax you to use plenty.

Glow Me + is noted as your ultra light tinted mineral facial moisturizer with SPF in Light Medium and Medium Deep, SPF 30 and SPF 50, with a glowy finish. Tint shade work is exacting. How did you land those opening tones and that luminous finish.

We wanted a morning layer that could stand in for layers. Moisturizer, tint, SPF, and care for the look of early lines and uneven tone. Glow Me + is that layer. We held the touch ultra-light so it moves across damp skin after cleansing and settles with no mask edge. The tint softens the zinc look and lends a soft glow, not foundation cover. Picking Light-Medium and Medium-Deep first let a broad middle fit with two flexible shades that sheer out, while wear tests across undertones taught us more. The finish remains luminous because dry, sun touched skin can seem flat by afternoon, and a little light return helps skin seem rested. Wear it as your daily facial moisturizer with mineral SPF. Warm a pea sized amount between fingertips, press across face and neck, then smooth extra along hairline and jaw where pale residue loves to linger. If you train outside, allow a minute to settle before stepping out.

A plant earns its place only when you can feel what it does in the formula.

Michael Azoulay and Mickael Bensadoun

Fré is now presented as clean suncare in 611 Target stores, after early features in 2017 and 2019 for skincare built to sweat in. Scale changes sourcing and manufacturing. What did you hold onto as volume grew.

Early on we numbered 11 to 50 people with a modest raise, and notice arrived because the range suited active skin that sweats. That shaped our tests. We kept athlete wear tests while expanding into broader retail, including our current home in Target stores. What we guarded was the core. The argan complex remains central, the mineral SPF remains 100 percent non nano zinc oxide, and textures must stay featherweight enough for daily wear. Scale can lure a brand to trade a tricky botanical part for an easy one, or to thicken a base to fill faster. We stayed with organic argan oil, leaf extract and stem cell matter from managed sources, plus multitasking formulas for all skin types including sensitive. Growth also let us extend the steady work, from coral planting to backing girls through outdoor sport, funded by one percent of revenue. A broader shelf means more mornings under sun. The formula still must earn that morning.

Recover Me joins the Argania Active Complex with copper peptides and niacinamide as a nighttime restorative cream. Mornings claim the spotlight, yet your rhythm is protect, repair and glow. What should night deliver.

Morning feels like shielding, evening feels like mending. Sweat, sun, city air and cleansing draw water from skin. Recover Me is our night cream for that part of the rhythm. It mixes our argan complex with copper peptides and niacinamide to deeply moisturize and to support the appearance of firmness and calm by morning. The touch is fuller than our day SPF, yet it still glides cleanly and rests with no weight. Use it after cleansing and serum, when skin stays slightly damp. Smooth over face, neck and the tops of ears where sun gathers. If you trained late and showered, wait till skin cools a little, then spread. Night is also when routine counts most for the look of photoaging. Up to 90 percent of skin aging is tied to sun damage in the stories we share, so day shielding and night care belong side by side. One steadies the surface, the other helps skin look renewed as you rest.

C Me is your concentrated water free face serum with 10 percent VC IP for brightness. Water free vitamin C glides and sinks unlike water based versions. What should a reader sense from that choice.

C Me is a concentrated water free formula with VC IP, an oil loving form of vitamin C, at 10 percent. We picked waterless because it lets the serum feel smooth and keeps the vitamin C stable in the bottle with none of the sharp slip some water based brightening serums hold. On cheek it glides like a light oil and layers neatly under SPF by morning or under cream by night. People reach for it for the look of brightness and more even tone, and for support against the look of sun linked dullness. A few drops pressed over face and neck will do. Give it time. The look of dark spots softens slowly with steady use, sun habits and reapplication of SPF. If your skin runs sensitive, begin with a smaller nightly touch then build toward daily. We held the base simple so the VC-IP could stay the focus, with argan fractions to keep the finish comfortable rather than tacky.

Closing note from the desk

What remains is touch. Leaf, oil and stem cell show up in glide and cushion, in how zinc thins out, in how night cream settles without tack. The founders link strength and community in plain words, and the jars follow by fitting gym bags, sinks and mornings.

Fré aimed to make sun care that active women keep using, clean and light and steady through sweat. The record traces a small crew keeping that feel from first serum to broad retail. Protect by day, restore at night, and let glow read as skin that had enough care.

Product spotlight

Start with Glow Me + for tinted mineral moisture with SPF. On the shelf it offers two soft tint choices, Light Medium or Medium Deep, at 39 dollars for SPF 30 and 42 dollars for SPF 50. It helps guard from sun damage, supports the look of smoother skin and leaves a soft glow. Smooth on each morning as the moisturizer and SPF step.

Keep Protect Me for sheer daily mineral facial SPF. It retails at 35 dollars for SPF 30 and 39 dollars for SPF 50. The 100 percent non-nano zinc oxide mix with Argania Active Complex spreads lightly and sits under makeup. Wear daily as the multitasking SPF, and reapply as directed during sun exposure.