Narragansett Lifeguard’s Environmentally Friendly Sunscreen Company Takes Off

May 24, 2018 5:31 pm

By: Tim Studebaker

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – It’s that time of year: sunscreen season. That’s something Rhode Island native Brian Guadagno has spent years thinking about. Guadagno is the CEO and Founder of Raw Elements USA.

Guadagno says, “I’ve been a lifeguard at Narragansett Beach my entire life, 24 years, and that experience there really opened my eyes to using every type of sunscreen imaginable and really identifying issues with the chemical sunscreens and looking for a natural alternative.”

Guadagno tells us he mixed formula after formula before coming up with something that worked.

Guadagno says, “When I started to develop the formulas, I actually started in my kitchen. I turned my kitchen into a lab. And still to this day, when we’re looking at new products, they all start at home with me.”

He says the result of his work in the kitchen is an organic sunscreen made with non nano zinc oxide designed to be better for the environment. That’s especially important in places like Hawaii, which have coral reefs that are being damaged by traditional sunscreens.

Guadagno says, “The state legislature just passed a ban, where they’re banning the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate in sunscreens that are sold in Hawaii.”

Guadagno’s sunscreens are now available nationwide, a huge milestone for that effort that began in his Rhode Island kitchen several years ago.

Guadagno says, “It was a lot of work. It definitely was a major undertaking.”