Marketing messages can mislead.

Many sunscreen products use messaging that’s legal but severely misleading. Most “baby safe” or “sensitive skin” products contain dangerous petrochemicals that are anything but safe. Many others claim they’re “reef safe” because they don’t contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, but they use every other petrochemical that make them completely UNSAFE for reefs and any marine life.

Ingredients matter

Regardless of marketing messages, it’s the actual ingredients within a sunscreen formulation that matter. Waxhead ingredients are without equal, from top-grade non-nano zinc oxide to our certified organic list of inactive ingredients. They combine to deliver the safest, most effective, most eco-friendly sun defense available.

Non-nano zinc oxide

For their active sunscreen ingredient, Waxhead products use only non-nano zinc oxide, which is the ONLY active sunscreen ingredient that’s completely safe for humans and marine life and covers the entire UVA-UVB spectrum by itself. Petrochemicals are clearly unacceptable, but both titanium dioxide, which does NOT cover a significant portion of the UVA spectrum, and nano particle zinc oxide, which harms marine life as it enters marine biosystems, also fall well short.

Petrochemicals are toxic

At their best, petrochemical sunscreens trade sun damage for chemical and hormone damage. A single ounce of typical petrochemical sunscreen mimics estrogen in the body, to a level that menopause patients take as a daily supplement. That same ounce delivers an amount of contaminants to the body that one AVOIDS by eating a strict organic, non-GMO diet for an ENTIRE YEAR. Petrochemical sunscreens are also highly flammable, and there are many documented cases of skin covered with sunscreen catching fire when close to open flames. Waxhead sunscreens contain absolutely NO petrochemicals. Ever.

Petrochemical sunscreens don’t really prevent skin cancer

Since 1970s, when “broad spectrum” products, made with oil derived petrochemicals, first began to gain popularity, consumers have continued to buy and use more and more sunscreen. Since 1975, US per capita use has increased by over 300%, while skin cancer rates have almost exactly matched that growth. Clearly, such products do not work as promised, because while they do a fairly good job of preventing surface damage (skin redness or sunburn), they allow deep tissue damage that usually manifests years later as various forms of skin cancer and other biosystem maladies.

Waxhead far exceeds ingredient ban standards

Instead of just eliminating oxybenzone or octinoxate, Waxhead sunscreens don’t contain ANY petrochemicals, meaning they’re TRULY reef safe. Although completely well-meaning, limited petrochemical bans miss two important truths. First, they discount the harm any petrochemical does to humans. This damage is immense and has been a significant factor in the skin cancer epidemic. Second, the bans won’t work for their stated purpose (to protect reefs) because they allow inclusion of several other petrochemicals, each of which harm marine life in their own way. In environmental terms, user-borne petrochemicals, many from products labeled as reef safe (which is an unregulated term), account for an oil spill the size of the Exxon Valdez every three years.

Holistic biochemistry

Waxhead sunscreens are designed using top-level biochemistry knowledge with a complete holistic appreciation for how our formulations react with skin in the sun and how they affect our environment.

Almost all other sunscreens fall into two broad categories. One is petrochemical based brands. These are made by teams of well-funded biochemistry experts with a crucial shortcoming – they lack an appreciation for how their formulations ultimately affect the health of humans and our environment. Akin to scientists who defend the tobacco industry, they see only the bottom line of what is legal and what is profitable. The other category is comprised of products designed using amateur “internet research” formulations. These are made by companies with a well-meaning desire to make healthy products, but with a significant lack of biochemistry knowledge. This manifests itself in products with seemingly good ingredients that have no business being on skin that’s getting hit with UV energy.

Waxhead products nourish skin

Our products don’t just avoid harming skin. They actively nourish it, with certified organic ingredients like extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and jojoba oil, natural vitamin E and vitamin D, shea butter, and beeswax. After a day of wearing Waxhead in the sun, your skin actually feels good.

True cost

While our products are more expensive than common skincare brands, our prices represent a true cost to the world. We source our top-grade ingredients only from reputable, fair-trade, cruelty-free companies that are almost entirely US based. We don’t purchase ingredients from countries with questionable labor or production practices. If we did, we could make less expensive products that would hide the damage done to our customers and our planet.

Eco-friendly Waxhead apparel

We make most of our clothing from recycled cotton and post-consumer plastic fibers. Everything is ethically sourced and printed in the US. Some of our shirts are printed as the order is placed, creating less fabric waste than conventional manufacturing. When you buy Waxhead apparel, you're directly contributing to reducing waste and saving our planet.

We take care of our customers

Actually, we pretty much cherish them. When they have questions about sunscreen, whether we make it or not, we give them our full unbiased info and opinions. In the rare instances when they have problems or complaints concerning our products, we do all we can to make them happy. We take pride in delivering what we call a Zappos-level of customer care, and our customers love us for it.

We take responsibility for our place in the world

Besides making human-friendly, eco-friendly products, we give a portion of our profits and our time to support well-run coastal and oceanic conservation and cleanup organizations. We consider this vital to help preserve fun sunny days for generations to come.

Other good stuff

Waxhead sunscreen ingredients won’t repel fish, won’t harm your gear, and won’t sting your eyes. These benefits don’t matter so much to your health or the environment, but they make for a much more rewarding day in the sun.