Mineral vs. Chemical Sunscreen: The Ke Kō Difference

The summer of 2021 brough with it at least two news stories about toxic chemicals discovered in different mainstream sunscreen brands. Who wants to slather toxins on their skin!?

Ingredients matter because transdermal absorption means that topical substances can travel into your bloodstream. So why is OUR sunscreen SO MUCH BETTER?

It comes down to the power of non-nano zinc oxide and titanium oxide. Maybe you remember having that white paste smeared across your nose at the beach when you were young? Turns out, that was probably good stuff. Fortunately, we’ve made our Ke Kō formulation blend a lot better! No more white war paint…unless that’s your thing. 

A mineral-based, physical barrier sunscreen – like ours – sit on top of your skin and blocks harmful rays. Chemical sunscreens (not ours!) absorb the rays…and into your skin. A 2019 study found that four substances sometimes included in chemical sunscreens are absorbed into the bloodstream at greater levels than at which the FDA requires topical medications to undergo safety studies to determine possible toxic effects. 

I mean, that sounds very technical, but also a bit scary. Good news for our sunscreen clients, though: Zinc oxide and titanium oxide are generally the only two sunscreen ingredients recognized as safe by the FDA. No worrisome substances in our sunscreen!

Moreover, some of those substances in chemical sunscreens have been found to damage ocean reefs! If you know us, you know we’re all about saving the earth. So, I guess that’s one more reason our sunscreen rocks…it’s marine life-approved!

Ke Kō’s Ko’a Sun Cream – mineral based, UVA/UVB protection, reef-safe, kid/baby-safe, and cruelty free.