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Long singled out for their compounds that are harmful to health and the environment, sunscreens have been reinvented in recent years to respond to the concerns of a public in search of natural products that respect the planet. While the sweet smell of vacation is beginning to intoxicate men and women around the world, here are clean and innovative formulas that will protect you from UV rays all summer long.
While more than 80% of skin cancers are linked to excessive sun exposure, according to Public health France, the choice of sun protection as the summer holidays approach is of particular importance. If it is advisable to choose a suitable protection factor, as well as a sun product corresponding to each skin and need, men and women are today looking for creams, oils, and other milks which protect the skin from the harmful effects of the sun without harming neither to their health nor to the environment, gradually turning to (more) natural formulas.
Stop Harmful Ingredients
To meet everyone’s expectations, many brands have developed new formulas banishing controversial ingredients and filters, to the maximum for some, completely for others, most often relying on mineral screens – titanium dioxide and oxide of powdered zinc – considered less harmful to the skin. This is the case of the French brand of natural sun protection SeventyOne Percent of which one of the flagship products, the Eco Sun Spray Invisible, is composed of 100% mineral filters to protect against UVA and UVB, whether for adults or children, enriched with vegetable oils of jojoba, sunflower, and organic buriti, to bring other benefits to the skin. A vegan alternative, as a bonus, and made in France, which also works to protect the oceans.
This was not the case a few years ago, but mineral filters have (almost) become the norm today, or at least are an integral part of the product lines of many brands. And when this is not the case, sunscreens today are guaranteed without octocrylene organic sunscreen, a compound questioned by researchers. Bioregena, Korres, Biostheticsor Praïa are among the players who now offer formulas made up of a limited list of ingredients that are as natural and healthy as possible.
(Partly) biodegradable formulas
The chemical compounds present in certain sunscreens are also harmful to coral reefs, and therefore to biodiversity. A finding that has prompted the authorities of some countries to ban sunscreens deemed toxic for reefs – Hawaii and the Palau archipelago, for example. Since then, brands have been reinventing themselves to offer products with less impact on the planet, such as Biarritz Laboratories whose organic Alga Maris range is intended to be non-toxic for marine ecosystems, but also many brands – notably mentioned above – which are already working towards more natural formulas.
Others rely on biodegradable formulas, up to 90% minimum, such as Biotherm with its Waterlover range, but also Garnier Ambre Solaire and its eco-designed milks, or Biosolis and its many organic and natural sun care products. Let it be said, no sunscreen today can guarantee to be beneficial for coral reefs, but betting on natural and/or biodegradable formulas will necessarily minimize your impact on the planet.