Surface Sunscreen: A Refresher Course

I’m not here to give you a classic run down made by some office robot like, “Surface is a premium product at an economical price…etc.”, because that’s not the only thing Surface is and we aren’t just some cubicle monkeys; we’re a family. Seriously, it’s just Guy (the man, the myth, the legend who started it all and the dad), Christine (the mom), Noah (the big brother), and Kirra (me, the youngest). We also like to think of our supporters as family because they mean that much to us. Surface is based in Oceanside, Ca on Wisconsin Ave just a few blocks away from the beach. Guy started Surface to not make just another run of the mill sunscreen company, he saw a vision for living a comfortable, healthy lifestyle in all things under the sun. His original vision for Surface was making it more of a cool lifestyle brand, to some up his thoughts and to quote Guy as well, “we want to be the RedBull of sunscreen.” Not many know our roots and all the interesting stories (which I physically cannot fit in this one blog) we’ve had along this journey, so welcome to “Surface Sunscreen: a refresher course”. Enjoy!

It all started about 12 years ago at a supercross race Guy and Christine went to in Vegas. It was a scorcher! The crowd looked like a bunch of drunk sweaty lobsters wearing their favorite racers jersey.   Being the prepared person she is, Christine brought some basic spray sunscreen with her. Guy was in the middle of spraying his shoulders when a drunk sweaty lobster below him asked if he could borrow some. Guy gladly passed him the sunscreen and watched as everyone else around begged for a spritz, a few minutes later the bottle came back empty. A lightbulb went off in his head while he watched these lobsters pass around the bottle, there was no sunscreen brand speaking to the action sports/off-road audience! If you think about it, sunscreen is based mainly around summertime at the beach but no one really enjoys wearing it, it’s more of a “I guess I should put some on”. You can find peoples main complaint for sunscreen being “feels like you’re wearing thick goop”. Surface was created to target all outdoor enthusiasts and make it a comfortable thing to put on your face and body. 

Guy grew up surfing and always despised wearing sunscreen, plus he says “girls thought it was hot if your nose was peeling and you looked like a surfer,” and Christine grew up in the off-road world loving all things sun and tanning (which included baby oil and tanning beds). Sadly back then there was no information on what sun damage does to your skin. So when the two of them met in Cabo in 1991 they were the ultimate sun loving duo. While consulting with chemists on the original Surface formula Guy brought in his and Christine’s experience of living under the sun and why they always hated sunscreen, the discomfort. Next he thought about the original targeted audience he was wanting to speak to, the off-road and moto world. The chemists (or wizards) and Guy created a formula that was a non-fragrance, lightweight for the skin, and non-greasy sunscreen so the dirt and grime wouldn’t stick to the skin while in the desert or at the race track. Perfect for a desert lover! 

In 2012, Guy finalized the original formulas and Surface Surface Sunscreen was born. In the beginning, the four of us would all pack up our toybox trailer and head to any Lucas Oil race we could to set up a Surface booth. We made custom hats on a 300 degree hat press in 100 degree weather and talked Surface up like no other. Back then we had this very masculine but clean looking all black packaging, two flavors of lip balm, and two sunscreen products. I cannot tell you the amount of people who would try our product and when I’d tell them the dirt wouldn’t stick to them would literally bend down, grab a handful of the dirt, and rub it on their arm. Every time they would all have the same reaction, amazement. I wasn’t lying!