Kelly Slater’s Sunscreen Built for Life on the Water
When you’ve spent decades surfing under the sun, you learn pretty quickly what you need from sunscreen. Freaks of Nature, the performance skincare brand co-founded by 11-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, was created around a simple idea: sun protection should be able to keep up with people who actually live outdoors.
Whether you’re surfing, kitesurfing, wing foiling, paddling, running, or simply spending a long day at the beach, Freaks of Nature takes a performance-first approach to protecting your skin.
Built by Someone Who Lives in the Sun
Kelly Slater has spent more than 30 years competing, training, and surfing around the world. After years of testing sunscreens in some of the toughest conditions possible, he wanted something that combined serious protection with ingredients he felt comfortable putting on his skin and taking into the ocean.
That experience helped inspire Freaks of Nature: skincare made specifically with outdoor athletes and active lifestyles in mind. The brand launched in 2024 with a focus on protecting the skin barrier against the sun, wind, heat, sweat, pollution, and other environmental stressors.
100% Mineral Sun Protection
One of the biggest differences with Freaks of Nature is its approach to SPF.
Its sunscreens use 100% mineral UV filters, including non-nano zinc oxide, rather than chemical UV filters. The formulas are also fragrance-free and designed with minimal white cast, making them easier to incorporate into an everyday routine.
The brand currently offers several levels of protection, including Daily Defender SPF 30, Peak Performance SPF 50, SPF 50 sun sticks, and the Solar Shield SPF 30 Spray.
Made to Stay On When You Get in the Water
For watersports, sunscreen isn't very useful if it disappears as soon as you start riding.
The Peak Performance SPF 50 is specifically built for demanding outdoor activities. It provides broad-spectrum mineral UV protection and is rated for 80 minutes of water resistance and 40 minutes of sweat resistance. It's designed to stay put through the conditions surfers and other watersports athletes regularly face.
That makes it especially appealing for days spent surfing, foiling, kiting, sailing, or paddling, when sun exposure can add up quickly and you're constantly moving between water, wind, and direct sunlight.
More Than Just SPF
Freaks of Nature also approaches sunscreen as skincare.
Its formulas are designed with the skin microbiome and skin barrier in mind. The company works with scientists to develop products intended not only to provide UV protection but also to support healthier, more resilient skin when it's regularly exposed to harsh outdoor environments.
For athletes who are outside almost every day, that's an important distinction. Sun protection isn't just something you think about on vacation. It becomes part of taking care of your skin so you can keep doing what you love.
Built With the Ocean in Mind
For surfers like Slater, what goes into sunscreen matters beyond what it does on your skin.
Freaks of Nature says its SPF products are reef-safe and formulated without chemical UV filters or microplastics. The company also uses recycled plastic packaging, including bottles made with recycled ocean-bound plastic sourced through Oceanworks.
It's an approach that makes sense for a brand built around people whose playground is the natural world.
Protection for People Who Don't Stay Inside
Ultimately, Freaks of Nature isn't trying to make sunscreen exciting because sunscreen is exciting. It's making it easier for active people to protect their skin without changing the way they spend their days.
Kelly Slater helped create a sunscreen designed around the same environments that shaped his career: sun, saltwater, sweat, wind, and long days outside.
For surfers, kiters, foilers, paddlers, sailors, and anyone else who would rather spend the day outside than indoors, that's exactly the point.
CHECK OUT FREAKS OF NATURE HERE!
Protect your skin. Respect the ocean. Stay out longer.
