Bakslap expansion: Raph McGowan reveals tragic story behind his skin care business empire

Raph McGowan is preparing to expand his skin safety empire but it was a family tragedy more than a decade ago that sparked his product line.

Bakslap founder Raph McGowan has signed a major distribution agreement which will see his lotion applicator available at 22 skin cancer centres across Australia. Picture: Patrick Woods.

A phone call in 2011 which turned Raphael McGowan’s life on its head was the spark for a skin safety company which is about to extend its reach around the country.

The Bakslap founder who formed the company on the Sunshine Coast lost his sister to inoperable melanoma in 2012.

He was cycling with friends across the United States in 2011 when he received a call from his dad telling him his then 30-year-old sister had been diagnosed with inoperable melanoma in the middle of her back.

She passed away in 2012.

Not wanting his sister’s death to be in vain, in 2017, McGowan started researching and developing sun safety products to tackle and raise awareness of alarming rates of melanoma in the country.

He also learned fatal melanoma often developed on a person’s back.

“The rates aren’t going down,” he said.

The Bakslap Lotion Applicator was born enabling people to apply sunscreen in hard-to-reach places with the device which is similar to a back scratcher.

Bakslap founder Raph McGowan has signed a major distribution agreement which will see his lotion applicator available at 22 skin cancer centres across Australia. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The unique device is now sold in 124 outlets in Australia following the deal and will be in 22 skin cancer clinics around the country after landing a deal in early-June with Australian skin cancer service National Skin Cancer Centres.

Mr McGowan, 38, started the company in late-2019 and has since sold more than 100,000 products.

“It’s a business that is conscious of making an impact on peoples’ lives,” he said.

The surf and outdoor junkie said he wanted people to enjoy the outdoors while staying safe.

“We’ve got beautiful beaches, but when you are outside, just be responsible. That’s the underlying message,” he said.

The business – which he described as a “social enterprise” – also sells products online in New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the United States.

Mr McGowan said while the mission was to prevent skin cancer the business needed profit to expand.

“There’s always the two sides of the business,” he said.

His latest partnership ensured his stock was available in-store across the country.

“This is a big step,” he said.

“While Bakslap plays an important role in helping people apply lotion in difficult to reach areas of the body, National Skin Cancer Centres provides each patient with an entire body scan via brand new photography technology, which is saved in the database and compared at future skin checks to ensure any changes are caught early.”

He was eyeing off expansion into the stores in the US in future with more products to roll out.

Originally published as Bakslap expansion: Raph McGowan reveals tragic story behind his skin care business empire