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Finding a sunscreen free of undesirable ingredients for the skin, the environment and the oceans, is not an easy task. However, many brands have been working in recent years to improve their formulas, and to offer products that are as effective as they are clean and respectful of the planet. As summer approaches, a look back at the latest innovations that will allow holidaymakers to sunbathe with complete peace of mind.
We don’t skimp on sun protection. On the contrary, if there is an investment to be made before going on vacation, it is the purchase of several bottles which will protect you from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays… And for good reason, more than 80% of cancers of skin are linked to excessive sun exposure, as known Public health France, which reminds each year the importance of adopting good reflexes in the face of such sustained exposure. It is a question of privileging the shade, of wearing covering clothes, as well as glasses and a hat, but also of opting for the best possible sun protection according to your phototype and the conditions of sunshine. Things to which is now added the desire of consumers to obtain more natural products, or less harmful to health, which will not contribute – as a bonus – to polluting the seabed.
Healthier formulas…
To meet everyone’s expectations, many brands have developed new formulas banishing controversial ingredients and filters, to the maximum for some, totally 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, one of whose best sellers, the Eco Sun Spray Invisible, is made up of 100% mineral filters to protect against UVA and UVB, whether for adults and children alike, 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.
It should be noted that mineral filters have (almost) become the norm today, or in any case are an integral part of the product ranges of many brands. And when this is not the case, today’s sunscreens are guaranteed without octocrylene organic sunscreen, a compound questioned by researchers. Bioregena, Korres, La Biosthétique, or even Praïa are among the players who now offer formulas made up of a limited list of ingredients, as natural and healthy as possible.
… and more ecological
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 that are less harmful to the planet, such as Laboratoires de Biarritz, whose organic Alga Maris range is intended to be non-toxic to marine ecosystems, but also many brands – notably mentioned above – who are already working for 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.
Free sunscreen?
In France, every year, health professionals and health authorities remind people of the right things to do to protect themselves from ultraviolet rays. A necessity when we know that nearly 100,000 skin cancers are detected each year. A number that has more than tripled in nearly four decades according to the National Cancer Institute (INCa). And France is not the only country where this increase is considered worrying. This is also what has recently prompted the Dutch authorities to install sun protection dispensers in strategic places – schools, festivals, parks – to allow residents to paint themselves free of charge as soon as the sunshine conditions require it, as revealed by the media Dutch News.