Aloha, I'm Robin. . .

At around the same time that I was falling in love with Hawaii and my future wife, Tatyana, a Russian-German-Italian-American from New Orleans, I was having this epiphany about sunscreen. Tatyana was well immersed in a healthy Hawaii lifestyle, buying local organic fruits and vegetables, already reading labels on products from food, to cosmetics, to cleaning products, and researching ingredients. She also had a problem with mainstream chemical sunscreens because of their toxic ingredients and ineffectiveness, and she introduced me to natural mineral sunscreen.

Although better than chemical sunscreen, the natural ones we tried were hard to apply and left our skin feeling greasy and sticky. Moreover, the oils often separated calling into question whether the active ingredient, zinc oxide, was consistently dispersed through the formulas and actually providing the SPF claimed. We also could not find any natural zinc-based sunscreens that featured natural antioxidant ingredients grown right here in Hawaii.

Our feeling was mutual that the sunscreen market was missing something. My wife is type-A when it comes to the law, so she started researching the manufacturing of sunscreen and the relevant laws. She found that sunscreen is regulated as an over-the-counter (“OTC”) drug, like Tylenol or Advil, and must be manufactured in a licensed drug manufacturing facility that is monitored by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Furthermore, she found that sunscreen must go through all sorts of rigorous testing following FDA protocols, and it must be labeled in accordance with FDA regulations and registered.

Alas, we had identified a need in the market and understood the demanding process to provide it. It was then that we embarked on our five-year odyssey to create reef safe Kōkua Sun Care Hawaiian Natural Zinc Sunscreen, SPF 50 with 80 minutes water resistance, 25% zinc, 7 Hawaii-grown antioxidant ingredients, and FDA compliance. We wanted to create a high performing zinc sunscreen that rubbed in clear and smooth like a moisturizing lotion and was enriched with Hawaiian antioxidant ingredients that would support local farms and businesses.

Over the years, our formulators decided that we were unbearably picky and irritated with us because we refused to settle on a mediocre formula. After several attempts to meet our criteria, one lab told us it would be impossible to achieve what we wanted with natural ingredients. That did not stop us. We kept vetting ingredients and insisting that we keep trying for the cleanest natural formula that also performs beyond expectation, better than anything we could buy. Five years, 3 laboratories and over 2-dozen formulas later, we finally succeeded. It was worth the huge investment of time, money, and labor to do it right and to finally get to use the sunscreen we always wanted!

During all those years in development, we got married and had two children who brighten and fill our lives with purpose. They wear our sunscreen daily and always remind us why we started on this long journey – to work for something we believe in that helps us to live a healthy life deeply connected with family, community, and nature, and to inspire others to do the same. 

The Backstory… what brought us together!

Aloha, I’m Tatyana. When we met, Robin had just sailed back to Oahu after attempting to continue on his sailing adventure around the world. He was headed toward the South Pacific to the northern Cook Islands when he and his father discovered serious damage to the boat that needed immediate repair. Incredibly talented, adventurous, and well travelled, I thought it would be at least interesting to have dinner together. The repairs took a few weeks longer than expected and consequently, one dinner turned into many. During that time we managed to spend lots of time together.

Robin sailed on, but then returned for a while to Oahu to test his land legs. We soon got engaged at Hanakapi’ai Falls after camping on the Nā Pali Coast and had a wedding on the North Shore of Oahu. After our wedding, Robin flew off to meet the boat to finish the circumnavigation. They departed from northern Australia toward Cocos Keeling Island, and then on to Mauritius over the Indian Ocean. They experienced treacherous conditions having skirted the edge of a fierce tropical storm, making communication impossible. A little beat up but alive, Robin thankfully managed to meet me for our honeymoon in South Africa.