Five Balms. Five Jobs. One Skincare System.
Which SUI WASSER Balm Should I Use?
One of the things we’ve learned from talking with customers is that we haven’t done a good enough job explaining how SUI WASSER is designed to work. Our balms aren’t simply different versions of the same moisturizer. They’re a skincare system.
Each was designed around a different need created by an active life outdoors: preparing your skin for exposure, supporting it during and immediately afterward, providing deeper care when your skin has really been stressed, supporting the hardworking body, and taking care of your skin over the long term.
Understanding which balm to reach for—and when—is the key to getting the most out of the system.
Coming Soon: Extreme Shield — When You Know It’s Going to Be Brutal
Think: PRE-EXPOSURE
About: We’re currently developing Extreme Shield, the next evolution of our original Saddle Balm. It’s being designed as a heavy-duty barrier balm for the days when you know conditions are going to be brutal. Wind. Cold. Dry air. Friction. Long hours outside.
Extreme Shield will be formulated to create a durable, persistent layer over the skin that helps reduce moisture loss and provides additional physical protection during demanding outdoor exposure. Born from cycling, but designed for much more, Extreme Shield will become the first line of support in the SUI WASSER system—before exposure ever begins.
Tip: Apply Extreme Shield to exposed or high-friction areas before heading outside, followed by your normal broad-spectrum sunscreen where appropriate. Extreme Shield will not replace sunscreen.
Best time: Before extended or particularly demanding outdoor exposure.
Après-Sport — Your Outdoor-Day Balm
Think: EXPOSURE + IMMEDIATE POST-EXPOSURE
About: Après-Sport is the balm we reach for during the outdoor day and immediately afterward. It’s designed for skin dealing with the everyday realities of being outside—sun, wind, cold, heat, dry air, and long hours of exposure.
Tip: Apply a small amount wherever your skin needs additional support during the day, then reach for it again after skiing, cycling, hiking, working outside, gardening, or simply spending hours exposed to the elements. Think of Après-Sport as the everyday bridge between exposure and recovery.
Best time: During and immediately after extended outdoor exposure.
Link: Après-Sport
Recovery+ — When Your Skin Has Had Enough
Think: SKIN RECOVERY
About: Some days take more out of your skin than others. Maybe you stayed on the mountain longer than planned. The temperatures were brutally low. The wind was extreme. You got more sun than you intended. Or your skin simply feels dry, tight, depleted, and uncomfortable after hours outside. That’s when we reach for Recovery+.
Tip: Recovery+ is the more intensive skin-recovery step in the SUI WASSER system. It’s the balm for those nights when normal daily care doesn’t feel like enough and your skin needs some extra attention. Apply a small amount after a gentle cleanse and leave it on overnight.
Using a balm overnight has some inherent advantages when your skin has been stressed by the elements. Recovery+ is anhydrous—there’s no water in the formula. Its oils, emollients, and waxes remain on the skin, forming a persistent protective layer that helps reduce moisture loss and support the skin barrier while you sleep. Meanwhile, carefully selected botanical ingredients help soothe and condition stressed skin and support its natural recovery processes.
Best time: Immediately after a demanding day outdoors, in the evening, or before bed whenever your skin feels significantly stressed by environmental exposure.
Note: When I’m heading out on a multi-day backcountry trip—or when space and weight are limited and I can carry only one balm—Recovery+ is the one I reach for. I keep it in my day pack, my overnight pack, and in my van. It’s our most versatile skin balm and works great from head to toe.
Link: Recovery+
Trail Recovery+ — When It’s Not Just Your Skin
Think: HARDWORKING BODY + SKIN
About: Sometimes the skin isn’t the only thing feeling the effects of a long day outdoors. Frankly speaking, I designed Trail Recovery+ because I’ve abused my body. I retired from competitive Alpine Ski Racing at age 24 after eleven major orthopedic repair jobs, and I still feel those injuries today. Arnica, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary became part of my own routine, so I added them to Recovery+ to create Trail Recovery+. I massage it into those old injury sites, where I find it incredibly soothing, while the Recovery+ base nourishes and conditions my skin.
Trail Recovery+ takes the nourishing balm found in SUI WASSER’s Recovery+ and adds botanicals including Arnica, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary to create a multifunctional balm designed for the active body.
Tip: This is the one we reach for after a long ride, hike, run, ski day, workout, or physically demanding day outside. Massage it into tired legs, knees, shoulders, hands, feet, or other hardworking areas while also conditioning the skin. Trail Recovery+ isn’t really competing with Recovery+. They’re designed around two different recovery needs: Recovery+ = stressed skin. Trail Recovery+ = hardworking body + skin.
Best time: After activity or at the end of the day, massaged into hardworking areas.
Link: Trail Recovery+
Alpin-Glow — Your Everyday Facial Balm
Think: SKIN LONGEVITY
About: Then there are the ordinary days between those big outdoor exposures. That’s where Alpin-Glow comes in. Alpin-Glow is our specialized facial balm designed around Skin Longevity—daily nourishment and support for skin that’s going to spend a lifetime outdoors. It contains some of our most specialized facial skincare ingredients, including Squalane, Jojoba, Meadowfoam, Bakuchiol, CoQ10, THDA, Sea Buckthorn, and Wild Carrot.
And this is where some of our customers have surprised us. We hear things like: “I love Alpin-Glow on my hands and arms!” We’re glad you love it. But there’s a reason we made Alpin-Glow a facial balm. It’s one of our most sophisticated—and expensive—formulas. We designed it for the face, where a small amount goes a long way and where those specialized ingredients make the most sense.
Save Alpin-Glow for your face.
Best time: As part of your regular facial skincare routine when your skin isn’t requiring more intensive post-exposure recovery.
Link: Alpin-Glow
So, Which Balm Should I Use?
Most skincare starts with the assumption that life happens indoors. SUI WASSER starts with the assumption that life happens outdoors. That difference is fundamental to how we think about skincare and how we formulate our balms. We begin with the premise that your skin may already be stressed by sun, wind, cold, heat, or dry air by the time you reach for your skincare.
Rather than designing around ideal conditions, we start with the difficult days and ask: how can our skincare best support your skin through them? We formulate our balms with weather-stressed skin in mind, avoiding ingredients we believe are more likely to cause unnecessary stinging or irritation when skin is already stressed. The goal is simple: when your skin has had a difficult day, your skincare shouldn’t make it more painful.
Outdoor life isn’t particularly predictable. There are days you know are going to be hellish. There are days when the plan goes completely out the window. There are days when you’re indoors. And then there’s the weather—the sun, wind, cold, heat, and dry air—that often has plans of its own.
That’s why we don’t assume you live indoors and occasionally venture outside. We assume your day starts outdoors and may very well end there. We don’t assume you’ll always have ideal shade, perfect weather, or unlimited opportunities to reapply sunscreen. We don’t assume you live your entire life in a climate-controlled apartment. We assume you’re as likely to wake up in a tent as you are in a bed.
Our system is built around those realities:
PRE-EXPOSURE → EXPOSURE → POST-EXPOSURE → RECOVERY → LONG-TERM CARE
Instead of trying to create one product that does everything, we built a system around a much simpler question:
What does my skin—or body—need this week?
I know I’m heading into a brutal day outdoors.
Extreme Shield — Coming Soon
Heavy-duty pre-exposure support.
I’m spending the day outdoors.
Après-Sport
Everyday support during exposure.
I’ve just finished a long day outside.
Après-Sport
Immediate post-exposure care.
My skin got hammered today.
Recovery+
Intensive skin recovery.
My muscles and joints got hammered today.
Trail Recovery+
Hardworking body + skin.
It’s a day off. I want our best everyday product for my face.
Alpin-Glow
Daily Skin Longevity.
Different days. Different conditions. Different needs. One skincare system.
SHIELD → SUPPORT → RECOVER → MAINTAIN
Extreme Shield prepares your skin for the difficult days—the most brutal conditions.
Après-Sport supports it through exposure and immediately afterward.
Recovery+ provides additional care when your skin has been particularly stressed by the elements.
Trail Recovery+ takes that recovery philosophy and extends it to the hardworking body.
Alpin-Glow provides everyday facial care supporting our larger goal: healthy-looking, well-nourished skin for a lifetime spent outdoors.
SUI WASSER isn’t built around the idea that one product should somehow do everything. It’s built around the reality that your skin doesn’t need the same thing every day. Some days are easy. Some days are brutal. Some days don’t go remotely according to plan.
Your skincare should be ready for all of them.
That’s the SUI WASSER system.
About the Founder: From ski area operations and competitive Alpine ski racing and coaching to winter cycling, mountaineering, and backcountry skiing, SUI WASSER founder Mya Schaefer has spent much of her life outdoors in demanding conditions. Decades of exposure to sun, wind, cold, (extreme cold), and dry mountain air—and seeing firsthand what that lifestyle can do to skin over time—ultimately led her to begin developing skincare specifically for people who live, work, train, and play outdoors. SUI WASSER grew from that experience and a simple idea: our skincare should be designed around the lives we actually live.
