Calling All Surf Babes: Why EiR’s Natural Sunscreens and Sports Balms Are Our Weekend Obsession

There’s a lot to envy about surfers: their toned bodies, for starters; their fearlessness and athleticism; those Zen vibes; and now . . . their beauty products. Specifically, EiR, the line of all-natural balms and butters and muds created by Jun Lee, a former competitive swimmer, Muay Thai–er, and motocrosser who surfs Montauk in the summers.

“Needless to say, I’ve had a lot of battle wounds,” says Lee (whose skin care range is named after the Norse goddess of healing). After some major injuries and subsequent surgeries, she found herself battling the less-than-desirable side effects of medicines meant to help her recover. So, Lee consulted with herbalists and acupuncturists and started making salves for herself, eventually testing them out on her East End friends. “Zinc,” a preferred sunblock for surfers, “is really hard to get off skin,” Lee explains. “So dudes just walk around with white stuff on their faces.” Which made them the perfect guinea pigs for EiR’s Sunblock Remover (it hydrates, too!), a blend concocted of aloe- and rose-infused witch hazel. It’s a genius product that you don’t have to be riding waves all day to love (what civilian hasn’t wished for a gentler way to take off sunscreen?).

Really, every EiR product will make you feel like a surf babe (or surf god; it’s unisex, after all), even if you’re not board bound. “I use the Surf Mud + Zinc sunblock every day,” says Lee of her waterproof SPF for the face and hair. “It gives a nice glow.” The company’s Sport Balm has ingredients like jojoba, coconut, olive and essential oils, plus beeswax, and helps prevent blisters and chafing from your gear (New running shoes? No problem). And, as an alternative to something like Neosporin, the Antiseptic Butter balm soothes rashes, cuts, scratches, and insect bites.

All EiR products are made in a commercial kitchen in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, out of non-toxic ingredients (“there’s nothing I wouldn’t ingest,” Lee explains, except for the zinc oxide) before being packaged in chic artisanal containers that use as little plastic as possible. (“There’s so much of it on the beach already,” she says.) Each one is sealed with brightly hued electrical tape; use it for other stuff, says Lee, who basically seems to have thought of everything when it comes to keeping your body, face, and hair feeling and looking great this summer. Now, the surfboard and rash guard are up to you.

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