Burnd Versus "Big Sunscreen"
How Burnd Is Different From Big Sunscreen
All companies, including burnd, need to make money to exist, otherwise you’re a charity, not a business. But most companies have profits, not your wellbeing, as their number one goal. To get there, they will use cheap ingredients and maybe even not, dear we say, be completely transparent with you. At burnd, we know we can have both a solid company and provide you with honest, high quality, sophisticated products that really work. We do this by leveraging technology as much as possible and selling directly to you. One perfect example of how many other companies try to trick you are the so-called SPF boosters and “all mineral” claims.
SPF Boosters—A Nasty Trick: Many “100% mineral” sunscreens sneak in ingredients like butyloctyl salicylate which act exactly in the same way as organic filters do, but don’t have to be listed as active ingredients. They make the “all mineral” claim, but they’re not. If you see “SPF 50” with only 11% zinc oxide for example, that’s a clue. How can they do this? It’s a regulatory loophole, that’s how.
These SPF Boosters, like butyloctyl salicylate, were first developed for other purposes like emollients or solvents which are listed under the "inactive ingredients" portion of the label. It just so happens that they are chemically virtually the same as the regulated sunscreen actives, so they also filter UV in the same exact way the other sunscreen chemicals do.
While this is currently legal, it’s pretty sleazy. And, because these are unregulated, unlike the regulated sunscreens, manufacturers can use as many of them as they want. While burnd believes that organic screens, when used correctly, are extremely safe, consumers have the right to use what they want on their bodies and not be fooled by unscrupulous companies taking advantage of legal loopholes.
Our Transparency Promise: We list every ingredient and explain why it’s there. No hidden boosters, no fake SPF claims, just honest protection. Every UV filter in burnd is properly listed as an active ingredient and our SPF 41 is earned through legitimate, FDA compliant testing. We use only what we need to get the maximum performance, always choosing the safest, most well-studied options.
