Feature: Hello Sunshine
As the sun starts to melt away winter’s chill and society emerges from its seasonal hibernation, Rosie Greenaway meets the challenger brand set to change the way Brits do beaches.
How many people know the difference between SPF30 and SPF50? Very few, believes Julie Ramos, vice president of marketing at Canadian plastic-free personal care brand ATTITUDE – and in the name of transparency she’s spreading the word.
Simply put, SPF30 blocks 97.4% of UVB rays; SPF50 offers only marginally higher protection at 98% but comes with additional ingredients which this natural brand deems unnecessary. Anything consumers are told to the contrary is ‘really a question of marketing’. “This is science, it’s not something we invented.”
The natural choice
SPF30 was therefore the natural choice for ATTITUDE’s Sunly plastic-free mineral sunscreen range. Easy-to-use and high performing, the travel-friendly solid formats underwent rigorous five-year R&D at the brand’s women-led lab in Montreal, ensuring a smooth texture which glides on easily and leaves no whitening residue. It ticks the vegan and cruelty-free boxes, is dermatologically tested and contains non-nano zinc oxide, meaning it forms a physical barrier on the skin and washes off in the shower, rather than absorbing into the epidermis like conventional sunscreens.
The collection of face and body sticks has something for every beachgoer: Tropical and Orange Blossom for those wanting to stimulate their olfactory senses; Unscented for sensitive skin prone to reaction; Tinted for the perfect ‘no make-up’ look; a dedicated broad-spectrum line for little ones; and a luscious SPF15 Coconut Lip Balm enriched with shea butter and argan oil.
Leave no trace
Designed with younger shoppers and Millennial parents in mind, the branding is ‘fun, cool and fresh’ – the embodiment of long summer days at the beach and peachy sunsets. “We want to be attractive to Gen Z. They’re taking care of the planet, they question what they use, they want a brand that is transparent, and we fit into those values.”
Ramos doesn’t just stand by the product and its smart, biodegradable packaging, but its social and environmental impact. “We tried to create a product that will leave almost no trace on the planet. For every product [sold] we plant a tree. It’s one of the biggest reforestation programmes in the world.” She refers to One Tree Planted, an organization that employs local communities to plant trees which yield edible crops, thereby providing food, work and even education opportunities.
“I think with this collection we are really raising the bar,” says Ramos. The certifier EWG concurs, awarding its prestigious mark across ATTITUDE’s entire range. EWG is widely recognized by US and Canadian consumers, its seal of approval granted only when strict criteria are met, which for sun care means no carcinogens, mutagens or endocrine disruptors.
Setting the tone
Ensuring that from the offset its SPF sticks were ocean-friendly and suitable for all skin tones was key for ATTITUDE, as part of its mission to improve industry standards. “We have a lot of different ethnicities in Montreal, it’s really multicultural. It’s important for us to suit every skin tone,” explains Ramos.
In striving for this the brand answers two consumer priorities in beauty and personal care: reef-safety and inclusivity. Mintel notes the latter as an opportunity for expansion, with significant scope for sales of skin tone-inclusive products among Black consumers; in the US alone, 84% of Black shoppers ‘wish there were more product options made specifically for their skin tone’.
On home soil, Mintel points to innovation which ‘extends beyond functional UV protection’, with 46% of SPF shoppers seeking added skin benefits from sun care. The Sunly range meets this need with its Sensitive Natural option, which contains oatmeal to treat dermatological conditions such as eczema and acne while protecting delicate skin from harmful rays.
Sunly reaches our shores in April, entering the market at a ripe moment; just last year the UK SPF sector surpassed its pre-Covid levels, reaching £367 million, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.25% between now and 2028.
And with our island nation’s famously unpredictable weather unlikely to settle amid changing climate patterns, the category appears brighter than the sun’s corona. Between midwinter skiers, savvy Spring sun-blockers and Indian Summer baskers, retailers should prepare to answer the call of SPF shoppers year-round.
Making waves
Thailand, Hawaii and Palau made waves by prohibiting the UV-filtering substance oxybenzone due to negative effects on aquatic life – with California expected to follow suit – but what’s happening closer to home? Dr Mark Smith, director general, NATRUE, says while achieving a global ban would be a complex legislative task, strides are being made in Europe: “According to a forthcoming amendment to the Cosmetics Regulation, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor … will no longer be allowed in sun care products in the EU once the regulatory update comes into force.”
Smith says over the next ten years NATRUE would like to see more robust scientific data on substances ‘from a human health and environmental perspective’, and further development of new sun-protecting ingredients that are safe and sustainable by design, and which ‘account for the whole life cycle of the substance from manufacture to environmental fate’.
By Rosie Greenaway, editor