What's Really in Your Sunscreen (And Why We Went a Different Direction)
Share
Most people grab sunscreen the same way they grab toothpaste — quickly, without reading the back label, trusting that if it's on a shelf, it's fine. We used to do the same thing. Then a few years back, after one too many breakouts and burning eyes on days we were supposed to be protected, we started actually reading the ingredient lists on the bottles we'd been slathering on for years. What we found changed how we think about sun care completely.
Here's what we learned, and why we built our sunscreen the way we did.
The Chemical Filter Problem
Most sunscreens sold today are "chemical" sunscreens. Instead of sitting on top of your skin and reflecting UV rays away, they absorb into your skin and convert UV radiation into heat, which your body then releases. To do that, they rely on a cocktail of synthetic compounds — things like oxybenzone, octinoxate, homosalate, and octocrylene are some of the most common.
The issue isn't just that these are synthetic. It's what happens once they're on your skin.
Studies from the FDA and independent researchers have found that these chemical filters absorb into your bloodstream at levels well above what the FDA typically requires further safety testing for — and they do it after just one day of normal use. Oxybenzone in particular has been flagged repeatedly for hormone-disrupting activity, showing estrogenic effects in lab studies. Homosalate has raised similar concerns. None of this means panic is warranted, but it does mean "approved for cosmetic use" and "fully understood long-term effect on your endocrine system" are two very different things.
Then there's the reef issue. Oxybenzone and octinoxate have been shown to contribute to coral bleaching even in tiny concentrations — parts per trillion, in some studies. Hawaii and Key West have already banned the sale of sunscreens containing these ingredients for exactly this reason. If you've ever gone in the ocean after applying sunscreen, some of what was on your skin went in the water with you.
Fragrance: The Ingredient That Isn't One
Here's a detail most people miss entirely: if a sunscreen lists "fragrance" or "parfum" on the label, that single word can legally represent dozens, sometimes hundreds, of undisclosed chemical compounds. Fragrance formulas are protected as trade secrets, which means companies aren't required to tell you what's actually in there. For people with sensitive skin, this is often the real culprit behind breakouts, redness, or irritation that gets blamed on "sun sensitivity" when it's actually a reaction to an unlisted ingredient.
Nano vs. Non-Nano Zinc — This Actually Matters
Even within mineral sunscreens, not all formulas are created equal. Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are the two main "physical" or "mineral" UV filters — they sit on top of your skin and physically deflect UV rays rather than absorbing them. That's the direction we believe in. But a lot of mineral sunscreens use nano-sized particles of zinc to avoid the heavy white cast that mineral formulas are known for.
The tradeoff is that nano-particles are small enough that there's ongoing research into whether they can penetrate skin more easily than non-nano particles, and whether they pose a greater environmental risk when they wash off into waterways. Non-nano zinc oxide sits at a larger particle size, sacrificing a little bit of the "invisible" cosmetic finish in exchange for staying where it's supposed to — on the surface of your skin, not absorbed into it.
What We Chose Instead
When we built our sunscreen, we started from the opposite direction most brands do. Instead of asking "what will make this feel weightless and blend in perfectly," we asked "what does skin actually need to be protected without introducing more problems than it solves."
That meant building around non-nano zinc oxide as the active UV filter — a mineral barrier that reflects UV rays rather than absorbing them into your bloodstream. It meant grass-fed tallow as the base instead of synthetic emulsifiers and silicone-derived thickeners, because tallow's fatty acid profile is remarkably close to what your own skin produces, which is part of why it absorbs the way it does instead of sitting on top like a film. We rounded it out with jojoba esters for slip and hydration, vitamin E as a natural antioxidant and preservative, and beeswax to help everything hold together and stay water-resistant — all ingredients you could pronounce, and more importantly, all ingredients you could look up and actually understand what they do.
No oxybenzone. No octinoxate. No homosalate. No mystery fragrance blend. No nano-particles washing into the ocean the next time you paddle out.
Reading Your Own Label
You don't have to take our word for any of this — that's kind of the point. Flip over whatever sunscreen is in your bag right now and look at the active ingredients section. If you see "avobenzone," "oxybenzone," "octinoxate," "homosalate," or "octocrylene," that's a chemical sunscreen, working by absorption. If you see "zinc oxide" or "titanium dioxide" listed as the only actives, that's a mineral sunscreen, working by reflection — check for "non-nano" on the label or product description if particle size matters to you.
Then look at the inactive ingredients. If you see "fragrance" or "parfum" with nothing further defined, know that you're trusting a formula you can't actually see.
None of this is about fear. It's about the fact that sunscreen is one of the only products most of us apply directly to skin, all over our bodies, multiple times a day, for months at a time — and it deserves the same scrutiny we'd give anything else we put in or on our bodies that often. We built ours to hold up to that scrutiny. We'd encourage you to hold every bottle you own to the same standard, ours included.
Try a Sunscreen Built on These Principles
If you want a sunscreen that holds up to the scrutiny above — non-nano zinc oxide, grass-fed tallow base, no fragrance, no chemical filters — here's what we make:
- Reef-Safe Tallow & Non-Nano Zinc Oxide Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 — water resistant 80 min, no oxybenzone, no octinoxate, no synthetic fragrance.
- Complete 4pc Sun Care Kit — sunscreen, after-sun repair balm, lip balm, and moisturizing balm. Everything you need for a full day outside.