Awolune
Your routine
Morning and evening steps built from your skin and your products. Nothing changes without your OK.
The app
Everything about your skin, in one calm place.
Build a routine you’ll keep, understand what’s in your products, see how your skin changes, and ask Luna, Awolune’s AI skincare companion, when you have a question. No streaks, no pressure.
Your shelf
What each product is, what’s in it, and how it fits your skin, read from the label on your own phone.
Skin Progress
A private story of your skin over time, with check-ins and photos at your pace. Only you see it.
Sample
“I get razor bumps every time I shave. What helps?”
Luna: Razor bumps happen when curly hair curves back into the skin. Shave less often if you can, soften the hair first, use a sharp single blade or clippers that leave a little stubble, and shave with the grain. Try not to pick at them. If they keep coming back or scar, a dermatologist can help.
“How do I fade the dark marks my breakouts left?”
Luna: Those marks come from inflammation, so the order matters: calm what’s causing the breakouts, wear sunscreen every day so the marks don’t deepen, then add a fading product if you’d like. Go slowly, since irritation can make new marks. Most fade over months.
“Every sunscreen makes me look gray. Any tips?”
Luna: Untinted mineral sunscreens often look gray on deeper skin. Try a tinted one in a shade that suits you, a sheer gel, or chemical filters. Tints with iron oxides also help with visible light. The best sunscreen is the one you’ll wear every day.
Sample answers from Awolune’s guides. In the app, Luna answers from what you’ve shared.
Meet Luna
Luna is Awolune’s AI skincare companion. Ask about your skin or a product and get a warm, plain answer that fits what you’ve chosen to share. Luna isn’t a doctor, and will tell you when it’s time to see one.
For every phase of life
Skin that changes, cared for your way.
Whatever your age, shade or season of life. Awolune calls you by your name, and uses your pronouns if you choose to share them.
Why it matters
Melanin-rich skin deserves care that knows it.
Darker skin has its own needs, and too often they’ve been an afterthought. In Awolune they’re the starting point.
Daily
Sunscreen is for dark skin too
Sun and visible light can deepen dark marks, more so on deeper skin. Daily sunscreen helps prevent new spots and fade old ones.1
In Awolune Tell it if white cast bothers you, and it suggests what to look for in a tinted sunscreen.
45–83%
Razor bumps are common
Historical estimate
Older studies, mostly of military and clinical groups, put it at 45–83% of men of African descent who shave. Current numbers aren’t known, and razor bumps can be managed.2
In Awolune If you shave, tap “Shaved today” in a check-in and Awolune can show when bumps follow.
Later
Check your skin, everywhere
Melanoma is less common in darker skin but more often found late. It can appear on palms, soles and under nails, so if a spot is new or changing, see a dermatologist.34
In Awolune Luna doesn’t diagnose. Mention a new or changing spot and it will tell you to get it checked.
About 16%
Underrepresented in teaching
In a 2021 review of a leading online dermatology course, about 16% of photos (104 of 666) showed dark skin.5
In Awolune Its guides start from darker skin: dark marks, razor bumps, ashy skin, keloids and more.
Start slow
Retinoids can work for deeper skin too
Retinoids can clear breakouts and fade dark spots. On deeper skin, irritation can cause new dark marks, so dermatologists advise starting slowly: every other night at first, with moisturizer.78
In Awolune If a retinoid suits you, Awolune starts it on two or three evenings a week and asks a few safety questions first.
Our promise
Care, not correction.
Awolune is built never to recommend lightening your overall skin tone. Luna follows that rule, and so do we. What it will do is help you protect your skin and fade dark marks gently.
Why it matters: some creams sold to lighten skin, or as anti-aging and spot treatments, contain mercury. Products tested by Minnesota health officials had from 135 to 33,000 parts per million; the U.S. limit is 1. These were specific products, not all creams. Check labels for mercury, calomel, mercurio or mercurous chloride.69
In Awolune Not sure about a cream? Add it to your shelf and Awolune explains the ingredients it knows, including lightening agents like hydroquinone. Or ask Luna, who explains the risks kindly and without judgment.
Tell Awolune which shade is closest to yours, if you like, using the Monk Skin Tone Scale. It shapes what you see, never what you’re told you should look like. Monk Skin Tone Scale by Dr. Ellis Monk with Google, licensed CC BY 4.0.
Rooted in tradition
Skincare is heritage.
Long before skincare aisles, Yoruba households made ọ̀ṣẹ dúdú, black soap, from the ashes of plantain peels and cocoa pods, with oils such as shea butter.10
Awolune keeps that respect, and pairs it with what dermatology knows today.
The name
Skin of the moon.
Awolune (pronounced ah-WAW-loon) is a coined name inspired by two languages: Awọ̀, Yoruba for skin or complexion, and lune, French for moon. Together: “skin of the moon”, or your skin, through every phase.
Skin
Every tone, texture and natural variation, with roots in West Africa.
The moon
Craters and changing phases, and still it glows. Skin doesn’t need to be perfect.
The journey
Not flawless skin. Knowing yours, and looking after it as it changes.
Awolune isn’t an established Yoruba or French word. It’s an invented name drawing on both, so “skin of the moon” is a poetic reading, not a literal translation.
On your Home Screen
Quietly there, when you want it.
Widgets show tonight’s moon and, only if you allow it, your next routine step. They’re hidden while your phone is locked and cleared when you sign out.
- Reminders are optional, scheduled on your phone, never more than two a day.
- Quiet hours, pause, or turn everything off in one tap.
- No streaks, counts, or “you missed”.
Get the app
Awolune for iPhone.
Awolune is in a private beta on iPhone. The App Store version is on its way, and Android is planned.
Join the betaApp Store · coming soon
Or email support@awolune.com
- Ask to join. Write from the email address you’ll sign in with.
- Get your invitation. We add you to the beta and Apple’s TestFlight app sends you an invite.
- Sign in. Install TestFlight, then Awolune, and sign in with a code sent to your email.
Private by design.
Your records are private to your account. No ads, no selling your data, no third-party trackers, and you can download or delete everything from the app, including your account.
You decide what’s kept
Photos, notes and check-ins stay yours. Luna only looks at a photo you choose to share.
Reminders stay on your phone
Scheduled on your device, with quiet hours and a pause. Nothing is sent from our servers.
Not medical advice
Awolune explains and organizes. For anything painful, spreading or worrying, see a dermatologist.
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology: How to fade dark spots in darker skin tones
- Ogunbiyi A. Pseudofolliculitis barbae: current treatment options. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol, 2019 (reviews older estimates; the current incidence is unknown)
- American Academy of Dermatology: men with skin of color have the lowest melanoma survival rates (2023)
- Association of American Medical Colleges: Why are so many Black patients dying of skin cancer?
- Chu B, Fathy R, Onyekaba G, Lipoff JB. Skin type diversity in the AAD Basic Dermatology Curriculum (2021): 104 of 666 photographs, 15.6%, showed dark skin
- Minnesota Department of Health: skin-lightening products tested by the state contained mercury
- American Academy of Dermatology: 10 tips for clearing acne in darker skin tones
- American Academy of Dermatology: Retinoid or retinol? (starting slowly; on skin of color, irritation can trigger dark marks)
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Mercury poisoning linked to skin products
- Oyekunle JAO et al. Comparative chemical analysis of indigenous Nigerian soaps with conventional ones. Heliyon, 2021
Photographs from Pexels: Polina Tankilevitch, Anete Lusina, August de Richelieu, Lis, Darina Belonogova, cottonbro studio, Tima Miroshnichenko. App screens show sample data.