In reality, Brotege is a state of mind, but as a company, Brotege’s mission is to create simple and effective men’s products without the cringe. The company was born out of the need to find an affordable all-in-one solution for guys who don’t want to become skincare experts just to keep their faces from looking worn out. Our first product has everything a dude needs to keep that face looking fresh:

• A daily moisturizer with vitamins and minerals to keep that ugly mug from drying out (but with no weird scents and no greasy residue).
• SPF 15 to block out the sun (might be overkill if you’re the kind of dude that’s out till 4 and sleeps till noon, but better safe than sorry).
• Retinol - a Vitamin A-derived key ingredient clinically proven to fight signs of aging.

Yes! Part of the reason we chose a metal tube is because of the impact of plastics on the environment (the other part is that it looks sick af and it feels good to squeeze the shit out of it). The tube is 100% recyclable. Unfortunately, for now, we couldn’t source an alternative for the plastic cap, but that’s something we wanna make happen in the future.

Each tube lasts about a month—unless you're doing weird things with it that we don't want to know about.

Apply every morning (or whenever you rise from your slumber). Use more often if you're out in the sun a lot. Remember: once-a-day Brotege keeps Leatherface away!

No animals (or bros) were harmed in the making of Brotege! Brotege is cruelty free certified by Leaping Bunny. There are also no animal-derived ingredients in Brotege, and we're in the process of being certified by vegan.org. 

We’re frequently asked if Brotege is just for dudes. Our reply is simple: BRO IS A STATE OF MIND. 

Our marketing is obviously geared towards guys, as not only are there many less products available to them, but their education and appetite for personal hygiene is so alarmingly low that we felt morally obligated to help them. We knew that the efficacy of our face moisturizer would appeal to women, and we hoped that they would subscribe to Brotege on behalf of their deadbeat lesser halves. But frankly, we were surprised by how many of them dumped their boyfriends and stole their Brotege.

That’s a roger, my dude!

But for really sensitive skin: if sunscreen usually irritates you, Brotege might not be the best fit. If you experience any irritation while using it, please, for the love of god, STOP and reach out to us for a full refund at bros@brotege.com.

Bro — of course! Our goal is to build a community around our subscribers and make it easy to get what you need delivered every month, but we’re not the mafia-—you can leave whenever you want. Just remember: if you’re in the Founders Club, once you cancel, you can’t get the 50% off pricing again (okay, that part is a bit like the mafia).

If you’re unhappy for any reason, reach out to us at bros@brotege.com for a full refund.

We’re a small, independent company up against the big dogs, and taking care of our supporters—especially the early ones—is our priority. You have one year from the purchase date to request a refund. Just send back the partially used tube (to avoid scammers)—we obviously can't take back fully-used tubes . . . wise-ass.

This is about to get painfully boring, but you asked why retinol is inactive, so now we all have to suffer through an FDA vocabulary lesson.

Why is retinol listed as an inactive ingredient?

Because “active” and “inactive” mean something very specific on an FDA-regulated OTC Drug Facts label. “Inactive” does not mean an ingredient has no benefit. It means that, in the strict FDA drug-labeling sense, the ingredient is not the one treating, curing, preventing, or mitigating a disease or medical condition in that product.

BROTEGE’s all-in-one formula includes sunscreen. In the U.S., sunscreen is regulated by the FDA as an OTC drug and must follow strict FDA sunscreen labeling rules. That means including a Drug Facts panel, which lists the FDA-regulated “active ingredients” (in our case, the sunscreen filters that provide UV protection).

Everything else in the formula, including moisturizers, skin-conditioning ingredients, and retinol, must appear in the “inactive ingredients” section.

However, that does not mean retinol is useless or just filler. On the contrary, retinol is one of the most researched cosmetic skincare ingredients shown to help improve the appearance of texture, tone, and visible signs of aging. But because those appearance-based anti-aging benefits are not considered to be medical conditions by the FDA, retinol is never listed as an “active ingredient” on a Drug Facts panel.

“But I thought retinol was an acne drug?”

This confusion usually comes from the similarity between retinol and retinoids.

Retinoids are the broader family of vitamin A-related ingredients. Retinol is the common form used in everyday cosmetic skincare products for appearance-based benefits, like smoother-looking skin and visible anti-aging support. In cosmetic anti-aging products, retinol is not an FDA OTC drug active ingredient.

Other retinoids are different drug ingredients. For example, adapalene is a retinoid that can be sold as an OTC acne treatment, and prescription retinoids like tretinoin or tazarotene are regulated as drugs when used for acne or other medical indications. Those products have their own Drug Facts panels, directions, warnings, and acne-treatment claims.

BROTEGE uses retinol as part of a daily moisturizer + sunscreen + anti-aging formula. And although some users have noticed clearer-looking skin as part of their overall results, BROTEGE is not an acne medication.

We keep the retinol at a level designed for regular use, because the whole point is getting dudes to do something good for their face on the daily. Prescription-strength retinoids are often used for more aggressive skin turnover, which can come with irritation, dryness, and peeling. That may make sense if a dermatologist tells you to do it, but most guys are not looking for a face routine that requires a calendar, a recovery period, and three days of looking like a molting zombie.

Our philosophy is simple: consistency beats chaos. Slow and steady wins the race, my sickest tortoise.

Shipping is the silent killer of small businesses. Big companies get huge discounts because of their volume, while rates for small brands continue to go up. The goal of Brotege is to be able to make affordable products for regular people, so we try our best to offer discounts on bundles and bulk orders.

Any orders over $50 bucks get free shipping.

The best deal in the house is to get the 3-month discounted bundle as a subscription - you'll get 30% off AND free shipping! (And if you're a new customer you can take an additional 20% off with the code you get for signing up.

The idea that retinol can’t be used during the day is a myth. It’s perfectly safe as long as it’s paired with SPF. Higher SPF always provides more protection, but as you go higher, the product starts to feel heavier. (If you’re going to be in the sun all day, it’s better to reapply sunscreen every two hours regardless of the SPF).

Our goal in making Brotege was to create an easy-to-use daily moisturizer that would protect your skin, fight against aging, and that would be light-weight enough that you wouldn’t even feel it. In order to accomplish that, we had to achieve the perfect balance of retinol, sunscreen, and the viscosity of the formula. Obviously skincare pros would opt to have a stand-alone prescription-grade retinol serum, a separate sunscreen, and a separate moisturizer. But Brotege was made for people who are either too busy, too overwhelmed, or too cash-strapped to deal with a multi-step routine (brotege is for bros, not pros). We created a product that would be affordable, simple, yet highly effective, and we guarantee you will love it or your money back. 

We’re fast as hell - Brotege ships in a day, and delivery takes around 3-4 days after that, depending on location. Shipping’s $5 (free on orders over $50), so you can get that fresh face fast and affordable.

Even though our marketing is ridiculous, we're dead serious about making your face look sick (like slay sick, not deathly sick). We've spent the past 3 years developing one of the best, most versatile, and most affordable men's face care products out there. Packed with essential vitamins & minerals, you will feel the difference instantly or your money back. The cornerstones of our daily moisturizer are SPF-15 (essential to protect your face from sun damage) and Retinol (an anti aging ingredient which is scientifically proven to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles). We are totally paraben free, fragrance free, and free of any unnecessary serums that would make your face feel greasy.

See our full list of ingredients below:

Active Ingredients: Ethylhexyl Salicylate 5.0% (Sunscreen), Benzophenone-3 4% (Sunscreen), Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane 1.5% (Sunscreen), Octocrylene 2.5% (Sunscreen).

Inactive Ingredients: Aqua, Glycerin, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cetyl Alcohol, Silica, Butylene Glycol, Cyclopentasiloxane, Sucrose Polystearate, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cetearyl Glucoside, Cetearyl Alcohol, Carbomer, Cetyl Palmitate, Disodium EDTA, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Sodium Hydroxide, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Retinol, Polysorbate 20, Camellia Oleifera Seed Extract, BHT, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin.

Right now, we’re US only, but international shipping is coming soon. Sign up for our mailing list , and we’ll let you know as soon as we’re shipping beyond the border!

No. BROTEGE is not a mineral-based sunscreen.

Mineral sunscreens usually use zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, or both. Those ingredients can be great, especially for people with very sensitive skin. But they can also feel heavier, feel like they never fully absorb, and leave a white cast that makes a lot of guys stop using sunscreen altogether.

Our goal was different. We wanted to make something guys would actually use every day. Not once before a beach day. Not after someone reminds them. Every day. That meant the formula had to feel light, absorb quickly, avoid the chalky white-cast thing, and still provide broad-spectrum UV protection. So we use FDA-regulated sunscreen filters that let us make the product feel more like a lightweight daily moisturizer and less like traditional sunscreen.

So yes, technically, BROTEGE uses chemical sunscreen filters. But technically, everything is chemicals. Mineral sunscreen filters are chemicals. Plant oils are chemicals. “Clean” beauty products are chemicals too. That does not mean those things are bad. It just means “chemical-free” can be a label that does not really explain what people think it explains.

When people say they want “chemical-free” products, what they usually mean is that they want fewer ingredients they do not recognize, fewer harsh-feeling products, or a more natural approach. We respect that. But safety is not evaluated in the abstract. Natural does not automatically mean gentle, and synthetic does not automatically mean scary. Safety is about the full formulation: the concentration, the product type, the area of use, the exposure level, and the regulatory limits that apply.

BROTEGE is not trying to be the world’s cleanest, purest, fanciest skincare brand. That lane already exists, and there are more products for that audience every day. Nothing wrong with that. But we felt like a lot of people, dudes in particular, were being ignored.

We built BROTEGE for the guy who has not even started yet. The guy who does not know where to begin, does not want a complicated routine, and needs an entry point that will not turn him off to the idea of taking care of his skin. Because even though you can always go deeper, sometimes the hardest part is knowing where to start. We think there is real value in getting guys started on their journey.

So we made something simple, effective, and comfortable enough to use every day. And for us, that meant choosing sunscreen filters that could give us broad-spectrum protection without the heavy feel or white cast that turns a lot of guys off.

Because the best products are the ones you will actually use.

The face cream itself was developed, formulated, and produced right here in the good ol' US of A. Some of our packaging materials were made overseas and shipped here for assembly.

See the full story below, but I just wanted to make something that me & my bros would use, and there was nothing out there that was simple, affordable and spoke to us. I feel like our "demo" is often overlooked by bigger corporations, and I was inspired by other independent companies who just paved their own way - so I said fuck it - who needs savings anyway.