Kelly Slater has spent most of his life in conditions skincare brands typically use as stress tests: salt water, direct sun, heat, sweat, and hours outdoors. Freaks of Nature, the personal-care company he launched in 2024, starts from that experience rather than from the traditional beauty counter.

The brand originally arrived with a deliberately narrow lineup: two mineral sunscreens and Deeper Dive, an ultralight moisturizer. The premise was straightforward—make skincare capable of holding up during serious activity while remaining comfortable enough to use every day. Its Peak Performance SPF 50, for example, was developed as a water- and sweat-resistant mineral sunscreen; Men’s Health later named it a standout after a year of testing during activities including running and hiking.

Two years later, Freaks of Nature is beginning to look less like a sunscreen company and more like a complete performance-care brand.

Its current assortment has expanded into deodorant, face wash, additional sun-protection formats, and electrolytes alongside its original skincare products. The new Barrier Balancing Face Wash uses a gel-to-oil format, while Everyday Endurance Deodorant promises 48-hour odor protection. There are now SPF sprays, larger sun sticks, daily systems, and bundled routines designed around different levels of activity.

The expansion is interesting because Freaks of Nature is approaching grooming from a direction that increasingly makes sense for men: performance first.

For years, men’s skincare was largely marketed around appearance—clearer skin, fewer wrinkles, a better shave. A newer generation of brands is widening the definition. Sun protection becomes equipment for a long run. Moisturizer becomes part of recovery from exposure. Deodorant is expected to survive training rather than simply smell good before work.

In that world, grooming sits closer to footwear, hydration, and technical apparel than traditional cosmetics.

Slater has an unusually credible position from which to make that argument. He has spoken openly about growing up repeatedly sunburned and struggling to find sun protection that worked during prolonged exposure without the drawbacks he experienced from traditional formulas. Freaks of Nature was built partly around solving that problem for himself.

The environmental thinking follows a similar logic. The company says its bottles use recycled ocean-bound plastic sourced through Oceanworks, reflecting Slater’s longstanding relationship with ocean conservation.

None of this requires the customer to be an eleven-time world surfing champion.

That may actually be the most promising part of the brand.

A man who runs before work, spends weekends outside, travels frequently, coaches his kid’s soccer team, or simply wants sunscreen that does not feel like sunscreen has many of the same practical needs at a different intensity.

Freaks of Nature is essentially taking products men have historically treated as optional and reframing them as gear for maintaining the body.

That distinction could become increasingly important as men’s grooming grows beyond the bathroom shelf. The strongest emerging brands are not necessarily asking men to become more interested in beauty. They are connecting personal care to things men already understand: preparation, protection, recovery, and performance.

Freaks of Nature happens to have started with the person who has spent decades testing those ideas against the sun.