Why it exists
I live in Tulum. The sun here runs at UV index 12 for much of the year, the air sits at 80% humidity, the water is either salt or cenote, and inside any building the air conditioning is at 18°C twelve hours a day. Four things at once, every day.
What's sold in the pharmacy round the corner was formulated in another climate for another routine. Almost every sunscreen that reaches this coast contains octinoxate or oxybenzone — precisely the two ingredients they check for at the entrance to the cenotes. And almost no brand tells you what each thing does: it tells you what it promises.
Piel de Aquí has no lab: it has standards. A Mexican lab makes the product under my brand, to my spec. What I add is the filter: what holds up in this climate, what passes a cenote check and what doesn't, a range sorted by the moment of the day rather than the type of bottle, and same-day delivery so restocking isn't a trip to Playa.
Who runs it
Me, Claudio Pericón, from Tulum, Quintana Roo. I answer the WhatsApp, pack the orders and do the local deliveries. When you write, a person answers.
I'm not a dermatologist or a cosmetic chemist, which is why this site gives no medical advice anywhere. What I do decide is what gets into the range, what can honestly be claimed about each product — and not to publish anything I can't stand behind.
The five rules
This is what you won't read here, even though it would sell more:
- No invented reviews. The shop opens with none. When there are some, they'll be from people who bought, published as they came.
- No medical promises. These are cosmetics. They don't cure acne, rosacea, melasma or anything that needs a diagnosis.
- No selling through fear. No sun-damage photos, no countdown timers, no fake “only 3 left”.
- No using “natural” as if it meant something. Zinc oxide is a mineral and water is a chemical. What matters is what the ingredient does and how much of it is in there.
- No hiding what a product doesn't do. Every active in the glossary has a section dedicated to exactly that.
What goes into every product
Three things aren't up for negotiation with the lab: a 100% zinc oxide mineral filter, zero oxybenzone and octinoxate, and a biodegradable formula. That's the minimum so what you put on before the cenote doesn't end up fouling the water the jungle lives on.
If you want to read a product's full ingredient list before ordering, message me on WhatsApp and I'll send it exactly as printed on the pack.