Eighty percent of a repellent
is allowed to be a secret.
Federal pesticide labelling requires one ingredient to be named: the active. Everything else can legally be printed as a single line reading "other ingredients, 80%." That is not a loophole anyone is sneaking through. It is the rule. Here are all nine of ours, and what each one is doing in there.
Same product. Two legal ways to describe it.
Both panels below would satisfy a federal reviewer. Only one of them tells you what you are putting on your skin.
Panel A
What the law requires
Active ingredient
Other ingredients
This is the complete, compliant ingredient statement for a registered repellent. One ingredient named out of nine. Every brand in the aisle is entitled to stop here.
Panel B
What we print
Active ingredient
Other ingredients
Named to cosmetic-industry standards, the same convention a moisturiser uses. Nobody made us.
* Reacts during mixing to set the formula's finished pH. We list it anyway.
Eight ingredients. That is the difference between the two panels.
Every one of them, and why it is in there.
Two years at the bench got this list shorter, not longer. Open any of them.
Active ingredient
Picaridin 20% Repels
1-Methylpropyl-2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperidine carboxylate
The active. It is what the EPA reviewed and what the registration is for, and it is the reason the tube can carry an up-to-14-hour claim against mosquitoes and ticks.
It does not kill anything. It sits on the surface of the skin and interferes with an insect's ability to locate or feed on a host, so the mosquito that would have found you does not. Picaridin is one of the active ingredients the CDC names when it recommends repellents.
It is also odorless, and it does not damage plastics, synthetics, or fishing line. Both of those are properties of the molecule, not of anything we did.
Other ingredients
Water q.s. Carrier
Aqua
The carrier. It brings the formula to volume and is what makes this a lotion you can spread rather than a solvent you have to spray.
"q.s." is the cosmetic convention for the ingredient that makes up the remainder. There is no percentage to hide behind it: it is whatever is left once the other eight are in.
Squalane 5% Emollient
A lightweight emollient. It adds slip and softness and is the reason the lotion sinks in instead of sitting on top of you.
Squalane is a skincare ingredient, not a repellent ingredient. Five percent is a serious amount of it. This is the single biggest reason Longsleeve costs what it costs, and it is deliberate: a repellent that feels like something you would put on anyway is a repellent you actually wear.
Glycerin 5% Humectant
A humectant. It draws moisture into the skin and holds it there, which is why the formula does not leave you tight or chalky after it dries down.
Glycerin has been in moisturisers for over a century. Nobody puts it in a bug spray, because a bug spray is not trying to be pleasant.
Alcohol Denat. <5% Solvent
A solvent. It disperses the picaridin evenly through the base so that the protection on your forearm is the same as the protection on your ankle.
It is also what gives the lotion its fast dry-down. Under five percent is a small amount, and it is doing a specific job: an active that is unevenly distributed is an active you cannot make a duration claim about.
Acrylates Copolymer <5% Film former
A film former. It helps the lotion dry down evenly and stay where you put it rather than transferring onto your shirt in the first ten minutes.
This is the quiet one that makes the hours work. A repellent that migrates off the skin is not protecting the skin, whatever the label says.
Phenoxyethanol <1% Preservative
The preservative. It prevents microbial growth in the tube over the life of the product.
Anything water-based needs a preservative system. A formula with water and no preservative is not a purer product, it is a shorter-lived one. Phenoxyethanol is one of the most widely used and best characterised preservatives in personal care, and it is here at under one percent.
Sodium Hydroxide <1% pH adjuster
The pH adjuster. It sets the finished pH of the formula so the lotion is compatible with skin.
It reacts during mixing and is not present in the finished lotion in the form it went in as. Plenty of brands leave it off the list for exactly that reason. We list it anyway, because "we disclose everything" with an asterisk in the middle is not disclosure.
Caprylyl Glycol <1% Conditioner
A skin conditioner that also supports the preservative system, which is why the phenoxyethanol can stay as low as it does.
Two jobs, one ingredient. That is how you end up with nine ingredients instead of fifteen.
Answered by the people who get to answer them.
We are the manufacturer, so our opinion on these is worth less than the CDC's. Here is theirs, with the links.
Children
Picaridin, the active in Longsleeve, is among the actives the CDC names in its repellent guidance. That guidance also covers how to apply a repellent to a child, including keeping it off their hands and away from their eyes and mouth. We would rather send you to their page than paraphrase it.
Source: CDC, ref. 2Pregnancy and breastfeeding
The CDC recommends using EPA-registered insect repellents during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, and names picaridin among the actives. If you want a second opinion on your own situation, that is a conversation for your doctor rather than for us.
Source: CDC, ref. 2Fragrance
There is none. No fragrance, no masking agent, no chemical scent or odor. Picaridin is naturally odorless, which is what makes a fragrance-free repellent possible in the first place. Nothing here is competing with your sunscreen or your dinner.
On the registered labelYour gear
Longsleeve will not damage plastics, fishing lines, or synthetics. That is a property of picaridin rather than a formulation trick, and it is the practical reason a lot of people switch: your sunglasses, your watch face, your rain shell, and your phone case are not part of the transaction.
On the registered labelIf your skin reacts
The label says it plainly: discontinue use and consult a doctor if irritation or a rash occurs. It is fragrance-free, which removes the most common trigger in personal care, but no formula agrees with every person alive.
On the registered labelHow we know the hours
Up to 14 hours against mosquitoes and ticks is the protection time the EPA reviewed as part of registration under Reg. No. 101457-1. Federal registration requires efficacy and safety data before a repellent can carry a duration claim at all.
Source: EPA, ref. 1Nine ingredients. Every one of them named. The law asked for one line. We wrote nine, and then this whole page, because a formula that took two years at the bench to get this short is worth showing you in full.
Sources.
Primary sources for what is on this page. Each links out to the original.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Find the Repellent that is Right for You. Look up a registration number and the ingredients it covers, including this one. epa.gov Federal regulator · registration lookup
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing Mosquito Bites. CDC guidance on EPA-registered repellents, including use on children and during pregnancy. cdc.gov Federal public health agency · use guidance
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Skin-Applied Repellent Ingredients. Picaridin is among the active ingredients the EPA registers for skin-applied repellents. epa.gov Federal regulator · active ingredients
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR 156.10, Labeling requirements. The rule that requires active ingredients to be named individually and permits other ingredients to be stated as a single total. ecfr.gov Federal regulation · what a label must say