Body & beauty

Jo Fairley’s Natural Sun Protection Creams

The Beauty Bible guru on the best earth-friendly SPFs

We’re mostly all familiar, now, with the issue of plastic microbeads and ocean pollution – and after a lot of noise was made, from January 2018 these have now been outlawed from use in cosmetics and personal care products. But watch this space because there’s a new hot topic which those of us who spend time on a beach need to bear in mind: the potential damage to the marine environment caused by sunscreens. Hawaii recently took action, passing a bill that makes them the first US state to ban sunscreens that are harmful to coral reefs – the first real sign that this is going to become a new beauty-related ‘eco-concern’. The ingredients in question? In particular oxybenzone and octinoxate – common sun-protective ingredients, which it’s been found can damage coral and cause reproductive and neurological changes in fish, sea urchins and marine mammals.

For me, though, that’s just one reason to seek out natural sun protection – as someone who used to suffer terribly from prickly heat, I eventually discovered that the trigger was chemical sunscreens. I switched to zinc oxide and titanium dioxide-based sun products, and the result was no more itching, redness or lying down in my hotel room mummified in cold flannels for the duration of my holiday. So, here’s what I’ll be packing in my beach bag this summer to protect my skin – and to protect the marine environment I so love to splash around in.

Green People Sun Lotion Scent Free SPF30, from £14.50, greenpeople.co.uk

A really great go-to for anyone with sensitive skin like mine. I like the fact this comes in a small size that can be packed into a handbag to slather on, on unexpectedly sunny days. (We do get them!)

Badger Sport Sunscreen with SPF35, £16.70, amazon.co.uk

As it’s 94 percent certified organic and 100 percent certified natural, this is the one to go for if you’re in and out of the water, love to snorkel, sail, or generally make like a mermaid.

EQ EVOA Organic Sunscreen SPF50, £18.50, lovelula.com

This is the first sunscreen range to be certified as non-toxic to coral reefs and the marine world, and is organically certified by Ecocert. There’s a wide range of SPFs (available on lovelula.com) but the SPF50 is a great choice for anyone who likes the ‘insurance policy’ of the highest SPF available. Even if, in reality (due to complicated calculations that I won’t go into), the protection offered by an SPF50 is only slightly higher than an SPF30.

Lavera SPF20 Sun Spray, £15.95, ecco-verde.co.uk

Prefer a spritz-on sunscreen? Trusted natural brand Lavera offers this great mineral-based, water-resistant sunscreen enriched with skin-friendly calendula and sunflower oils.

Madara Plant Stem Cell Age Protecting Sunscreen SPF30, £29, lovelula.com

I’m a big fan of this Scandinavian brand (and my Beauty Bible testers have always highly rated Madara’s tinted moisturisers) but I recently discovered this brilliant facial protection which also happens to be lightly tinted, adding just a hint of glow as it shields the face.