In this article:
- Holland & Barrett become the first major retailer in the UK to ban all chemical sunscreens from their stores.
- The company has launched a sunscreen range with an advanced mineral formulation.
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Holland & Barrett has become the first major retailer in the UK to ban all chemical sunscreens from their stores. The health & wellness retailer will now offer only mineral-based sun care products, making its entire sun care range ‘reef safe.’
Mineral and chemical sunscreens use different ingredients to protect the skin against the sun’s UV rays. They also work in different ways: while mineral-based sunscreens sit on top of the skin and act as a physical barrier, reflecting the sun rays away, chemical sunscreens are absorbed into the skin.
Recent studies have shown that not only the human skin absorbs oxybenzone and octinoxate, the most harmful ingredients in chemical sunscreens. Holland & Barrett pointed to research that showed over 14,000 tons of sun cream washes into the ocean each year, causing pollution that harms wildlife and habitats and damaging marine life such as coral reefs, mussels, fish, and dolphins.
“As a business that cares about the wellness of people and our planet, we’re constantly looking at ways to help make beauty shopping more sustainable,” said Jo Cooke, Beauty Trading Director at Holland & Barrett. “When countries started banning chemical sun care ingredients we felt we had to act too. This move gives our beauty customers a range where they do not have to make a choice between being environment safe or skin safe in the sun.”
To coincide with the ban on chemical sun care products, Holland & Barrett has launched a sunscreen range with an advanced mineral formulation in SPFs 15, 30, and 50. Products come in packaging made from recycled plastic and are available now in stores and via the Holland & Barrett website.
In a world where most consumers want to know what the brands they support are doing to address social and environmental issues, becoming the first major retailer in the UK to ban chemical sunscreens is an excellent decision. For the environment and for business.