By Breelyn Vanleeuwen, PA-C | Founder & CEO of Daily Shade
There's an American flag hanging in our manufacturing plant.
I saw it the first time I walked through that facility and something shifted in my chest. Pride, I think. The kind that catches you off guard because you weren't expecting to feel it so strongly in that particular moment, standing in a room full of equipment and white walls and a formula I spent four years of my life building.
That flag means something to me. It was probably Hope of America in 5th grade, or the Stadium of Fire, or maybe the stories I got to hear about my Great Grandfather in the Navy. But I have a deep love of this country. And I am SO PROUD to be born raised and thriving in the U.S.A.
I was left thinking about a question I hear get asked often of founders on The How I Built This Podcast with Guy Raz. I was actually a guest on his show and if you missed that episode listen to it HERE. Because what we have built is genuinely rare, and I don't say that to brag, I say it because I think most people have no idea how rare it actually is and I wanted to talk about that today.
Let's talk about what it means that Daily Shade Sunscreen is made here.
Most people think about sunscreen as something you grab off a shelf. They don't think about where it was manufactured, who made it, under what conditions, or what standards governed that process. I think about it constantly. It's literally my job.
Here's something that might surprise you. In the United States, sunscreen is regulated by the FDA as an over-the-counter drug, not a cosmetic. That changes everything about what manufacturing it actually requires. Manufacturing standards for OTC sunscreen are stricter than cosmetic GMP requirements. Drug GMP compliance includes validated processes, quality systems, laboratory controls, batch traceability, change control procedures, and recall systems. EWGCertified Cosmetics
We're not making a lotion. We're making a drug. And we're making it here, on American soil, under American manufacturing standards, with the oversight that comes with that classification. That is not the easy path. That is not the cheap path. But it is the right path.
Domestic manufacturers face a complex environment with increased competition from imports, rising costs, regulations, and persistent supply chain disruptions. A lot of brands look at that landscape and send their manufacturing overseas. I understand why. The margins are better. The path is simpler. We didn't do that. We're not doing that.
Why it matters to me personally.
I grew up believing in this country. In what it means to work hard, build something from nothing, and do it with integrity. I became a PA-C because I wanted to serve people with my own two hands and I love medicine. I built Daily Shade because I couldn't find a product clean enough for my daughter's skin and decided if it didn't exist, I would make it.
That's not a press release version of the story. That is actually what happened.
And when I walk into that manufacturing plant and see that flag, what I see is the whole thing. The system of oversight that protects consumers (although it is not perfect and I would change some things but that's a topic for another post). The workers making a product I'm proud of. The fact that when someone asks me exactly where and how Daily Shade is made, I can answer them with complete transparency because I have stood in that room and watched it happen. You can't put a price on that.
The self-made piece.
I want to say something about being a woman building a company in America, because it deserves to be said plainly. Women started 49% of new U.S. businesses in 2024, up from just 29% in 2019. That is a stunning shift. Women are building at record rates. And still, only 3% of women entrepreneurs received private capital investment to start their business, compared with 9% of male entrepreneurs. FounderreportsGusto
We are building. We are funding ourselves, bootstrapping, betting on our own ideas when the system isn't always betting on us. And we are winning anyway.
I am a mom of four. A PA-C with 15 years of clinical experience. A founder who spent four years in a lab before she sold a single bottle. I am not a trust fund. I am not a venture-backed darling with a war chest and a PR team. I am a woman from Utah who saw a problem, knew how to solve it, and refused to stop until the solution existed. And most days you can find me on my walking treadmill in my basement putting in the hours behind the computer. The unsexy work that gets done by me everyday.
That is the American dream. Not the myth of it. The actual thing. The version where you earn it.
What "American Made" means in your bottle of Babe Shade.
When you buy Daily Shade, you're not buying something formulated here and manufactured somewhere else. You're not buying an imported product relabeled with a nice story. You are buying something conceived, developed, tested, and manufactured in the United States of America, under FDA drug manufacturing standards, by a woman who will answer for every single ingredient on that label.
That flag in our plant isn't decoration. It's a reminder of what we're accountable to.
This country gave me the freedom to build something. The regulatory framework to build it safely. The consumers smart enough to demand better. And the platform to tell the truth about an industry that hasn't always told it. And to the men and women who have fought to keep our country free, my deepest gratitude wouldn't come close.
I don't take any of that lightly. Not even for a second.
Made in America. By a mom who refused to settle. For families who deserve the real thing. That's Daily Shade.
FAQ
Is Daily Shade sunscreen made in the USA? Yes. Daily Shade is manufactured in the United States in an FDA-registered facility that meets pharmaceutical-grade drug GMP manufacturing standards. We are not imported and relabeled. We are American made, start to finish.
Why does it matter that sunscreen is made in the USA? Sunscreen is regulated as an OTC drug by the FDA, which means domestic manufacturers must meet pharmaceutical-grade production standards including validated processes, batch traceability, and quality control systems. American manufacturing means accountability at every step.
Is Daily Shade a woman-owned business? Yes. Daily Shade was founded by Bree Vanleeuwen, a PA-C and mother of four, who developed the formula over four years after her daughter had a severe reaction to a sunscreen labeled for babies. The company is independently owned and operated.
What makes American-made sunscreen different from imported? American-made sunscreens must comply with FDA OTC drug regulations, including strict manufacturing standards, annual facility registration, and labeling compliance. The FDA has authority to inspect domestic manufacturing sites and enforce those standards directly.
Why is Daily Shade's formula patented? Bree developed a proprietary formula using 20% non-nano zinc oxide as the sole active UV filter, with zero chemical UV boosters, that achieves a ghost-face-free finish without compromising clinical integrity. The patent protects that formulation because nothing else on the market does what it does, the way it does it.
