This sunscreen did not come from a lab formulator or someone else’s base formula. It’s been hard won, because for us it was personal. We wanted something we could not find in any other sunscreen. Natural, high performance and a joy to use.

In 2012, we started with a baseline that we needed a “non nano” zinc. In the beginning, nano was like saying GMO, and like GMO we wanted to avoid it at all costs.

We worked through samples from most major zinc oxide manufacturers, new legislation, definitions and standards, screeds of data and research and howling press releases and forums. It was a big landscape, but the more we learned and the longer we looked, the more convinced we became that the nano/non-nano speak for zinc oxide is marketing rhetoric.

Sixty six formulations later, we believe that the best zinc oxide for sunscreen in the world is the one we now use. The combination of small particles agglomerated into larger particles gives a good wide spectrum of coverage in UVA as well as being balanced in UVB protection. This was not achievable in any zinc oxide until recently.

We not only had to understand the issues well enough to convince ourselves, we had to digest them long enough to be able to bring them to you with confidence.

As humans we are attempting to deal with the hole we ourselves have punched in the ozone. But it’s not only UV exposure that challenges our bodies. It’s oxidative stress from other environmental factors, pollution and the plethora of chemical cosmetics and sunscreens that seem to be so readily available.

We hope that one day, people will look back on this age and say, “What the heck were they thinking?” when it comes to the pollution and chemical product decisions common today.

And as with all things in life, while there are no absolutes, on the balance of every factor we took into consideration, we think Sun Balm is the best sunscreen on the market. Not just because of the zinc oxide that’s in Sun Balm, but because of the way we’ve woven it into a harmonious balance with the support of organic beeswax, plant oils, butters and waxes.

It did not happen easily and we’re grateful to be able to offer something extraordinary to our world.