It was imagined to be the journey of a lifetime.
Scott Russell had flown practically 10,000 miles from New York to the distant Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, chasing excellent surf with a suitcase stuffed with drugstore sunscreen in tow.
“He burned to a crisp on day one,” his spouse, Marisa Russell, informed The Submit.
A neighborhood suncare secret salvaged the adventurous getaway — and impressed Meadow & Bark, a clear magnificence model that has attracted followers across the globe, together with Oprah Winfrey.
A mother on a mission
Marisa, 53, had been excited about sunscreen lengthy earlier than her husband's burn.
“Initially, I used to be simply searching for one thing that may truly keep on my youngsters,” stated the mom of three from Lengthy Seashore, Lengthy Island.
“We reside on the seaside and we're a surf household,” she added, “so my youngsters would come dwelling with crimson welts below their eyes irrespective of how a lot sunscreen I used to be making use of on them all through the day.”
In her quest for an answer, Marisa started researching the merchandise in the marketplace — and what she discovered ranged from disappointing to downright harmful.
The sunscreen dilemma
Sunscreen is meant to defend pores and skin from dangerous UV rays, stopping burns and untimely ageing and reducing the danger of pores and skin most cancers. However not all are created equal.
Of the two,000-plus SPF merchandise offered within the US, nearly 80% failed to satisfy the Environmental Working Group‘s (EWG) standards for security, well being and effectiveness.
As Marisa looked for a sunscreen that may hold her household secure, she found that many chemical formulation contained elements which have been linked to potential well being issues, together with endocrine disruption, reproductive harms and even cancer.
Quickly, she discovered herself trapped in what she calls the “sunscreen dilemma.”
“Not solely did it heal the burns from the primary day, however he didn't burn for the remainder of the journey.”
Marisa Russell on her husband's native Mentawai Islands sunburn remedy
“If all this sunscreen is so dangerous for me, ought to I exploit it and get that type of most cancers, or do I threat it and never put on any sunscreen and get pores and skin most cancers?” Marisa remembers questioning.
To her, mineral-based sunscreens appeared like a safer wager — they didn't comprise the doubtless dangerous elements discovered in lots of chemical merchandise. However they got here with a significant disadvantage.
“There have been hardly any mineral sunscreens in the marketplace that weren't going to depart you with a really dangerous white forged,” she stated.
Inspiration from the islands
A lightbulb went off throughout her husband's fateful surf journey in 2017.
A information touring with Scott, 51, within the Mentawai Islands noticed his extreme sunburn and gave him a domestically made paste for his pores and skin.
“Not solely did it heal the burns from the primary day, however he didn't burn for the remainder of the journey,” Marisa stated.
Her husband bought as a lot paste as he may earlier than touring dwelling, the place the remainder of the Russell household started utilizing it throughout their lengthy days on the water below the beating solar.
Once they began to run low, Marisa felt a pang of panic. However as a substitute of turning again to the sunscreens of her previous, she took to her kitchen, rolled up her sleeves and started working.
The lengthy street to scrub sunscreen
It was 2019, and Marisa was making an attempt to recreate the tropical paste simply from the elements checklist.
“I failed again and again, however I used to be so pushed by the pursuit to do that that I saved going. and I realized via trial and error,” she stated, noting that she joined chemistry teams, took on-line lessons and consulted with herbalists.
“It took nearly 300 makes an attempt earlier than we despatched our first prototype to a lab to check the SPF,” Marisa stated. “I used to be relentless.”
5 years later, Meadow & Bark launched its first FDA-approved sunscreen, Mineral 45, one of many few additionally licensed as secure for coral reefs.
The broad-spectrum product is available in zinc-based shimmer and sport choices which are sweat- and water resistant and may be utilized to the face and the physique.
“Out of the entire sunscreen elements in the marketplace, zinc is the one one that may shield you rather well in opposition to UVA ageing and UVB burning rays,” Marisa stated.
The ‘hero ingredient'
To keep away from the dreaded white forged, Marisa makes use of what she calls Meadow & Bark's “hero ingredient” — thanaka paste, constructed from the bottom bark of timber native to Myanmar.
“It's a magnificence secret for the ladies who reside there, because it brightens and lightens the pores and skin and helps with hyperpigmentation and zits, however it's additionally their sunscreen,” she defined.
“I put it in our formulation to chop the whiteness of the zinc, and it makes for a extra pleasurable expertise and glide,” Marisa stated. “Plus, it's simply so good for the pores and skin.”
Research counsel that thanaka will help reduce inflammation, fight premature aging and stop the expansion of dangerous bacteria on the skin. The ingredient has additionally been proven to guard people from the solar's dangerous rays and even assist soothe burns.
However it's not all sunshine. Some thanaka merchandise have been linked to elevated blood lead levels, which may be dangerous, particularly for youngsters. And whereas typically praised as secure for delicate pores and skin, some individuals should still expertise allergic reactions.
Clear elements, cleaner acutely aware
For Marisa, what didn't go into Meadow & Bark's sunscreens was simply as vital as what did.
The corporate skips coconut oil, a standard ingredient in different merchandise that may clog pores and trigger breakouts. As an alternative, its formulation characteristic elements like crimson raspberry seed oil, sea buckthorn, calendula and shea butter.
“These elements are actually chosen for his or her nourishment and vitamin-packed qualities,” Marisa stated.
Meadow & Bark's suncare merchandise are additionally silicone-free.
“Silicones, in our view, are filler-in merchandise,” Marisa stated. “They don't have any nourishing worth, and so they're dangerous for the atmosphere.”
“We additionally don't use petroleum-based elements,” she continued. “They don't seem to be truly serving to the pores and skin's pure defenses, and so they can comprise poisonous elements which are linked to carcinogens.”
To maximise safety, Marisa recommends making use of Mineral 45 not less than quarter-hour earlier than solar publicity — and reapplying each two hours, even for those who're on land.
“The solar is severe enterprise, and it deserves you truly taking the time to guard your pores and skin,” Marisa stated.
Meadow & Bark presents a spread of unpolluted skincare merchandise past sunscreen. Its best-selling Facial Mist even snagged a spot on Oprah Daily's Best of 2025 Picks, an inventory of must-have wellness and wonder objects for the yr forward.
“Most individuals don't understand you will get medical-grade outcomes from plant-powered skincare — however that's precisely what we ship,” Marisa stated.
