Our top sustainable sun care picks
One of the best parts of summer is being able to enjoy nature for all its beauty in the sunshine. But how do we protect our skin from hidden UVA and UVB rays - while at the same time protecting the sea and sand from the harmful chemicals in many sunscreens on the market. We’ve put together a handy guide to help you decide which sun care products best suit your needs while being gentle to the natural world.
When it comes to skincare, there’s no one size fits all. We all have different priorities, and every body requires different kinds of protection. We’ve broken down our top picks into categories, so you can find sun care products tailored to your specific needs. From sensitive skin to after sun - we’ve got your back!
Best Tinted Sunscreen - Evolve Beauty Climate Veil Tinted SPF
Heading straight from the beach to dinner and want your skin to look extra glowy? Consider a tinted option.
Effectiveness - Climate Veil uses pholyphenol-rich lingonberry stem cells and ultra-hydrating hyaluronic acid to combine skincare with sun protection. It only uses reef safe zinc oxide for ultimate protection from UVA and UVB rays and feels beautifully lightweight and dewy on the skin. It’s only SPF 20 and tinted sunscreens are rarely reliable sole sources of protection so you might want to consider supplementing with a higher factor sun cream throughout the day.
Affordability - At £4.64/10ml of product, Evolve Beauty’s Climate Veil is one of the most expensive products on our list. However, if you’re looking for a bit of sheer coverage, it can remove the need to buy or use any base makeup products in the summer months.
Sustainability - Evolve Beauty is B-Corp certified, animal cruelty free, totally vegan, a living wage employer, and a climate positive business. They’re even the UK’s first plastic negative beauty brand. Climate Veil only uses mineral based, natural pigments and contains reef safe zinc oxide, making it a great, earth-friendly choice. Lots of their products offer refill containers - which we hope to see rolled out for Climate Veil soon.
Best Body Sunscreen - Aesop Protective Body Lotion SPF 50
Looking to protect your beach-bod from the sun’s harsh rays? Here’s our top pick!
Effectiveness - Aesop’s Body Lotion is SPF 50, providing a high level of sun protection containing moisturising ingredients such as Vitamin E and Jojoba oil. It feels lightweight and hydrating, but not greasy or sticky. However, it has quite a strong, distinct spearmint scent which can be off putting for those of us with sensitive noses - although others find the smell really refreshing.
Affordability - At £2.06/10ml of product, Aesop’s Protective Body Lotion is on the more affordable side of our top picks. It also performs a dual function as lightweight lotion aimed at hydrating the skin, not just simply protecting it from the sun.
Sustainability - All of Aesop’s products use responsibly sourced ingredients, are completely vegan and free of animal testing at every level of the supply chain. They’re a certified B Corp and PETA recognised. Almost all plastic they use is recycled PET (consisting of atleast 97% recycled material) made up of household plastic waste. They’ve also been trialing in-store refillable products, which we hope to see on a wider scale soon.
Best Face Sunscreen - Upcircle SPF 25 Mineral Sunscreen
From skin-friendly ingredients to the texture and scent, the fragile skin on our faces has very particular needs - Upcircle is our favourite option!
Effectiveness - Upcircle’s sunscreen feels fantastic on the skin. It’s lightweight and creamy with a subtle (not overpowering!) lavender scent that absorbs seamlessly into the skin, leaving you feeling dewy but never greasy. Their factor 25 blocks 97% of UVA rays and contains skin-friendly ingredients like raspberry seed oil and Vitamins E and A which boost collagen production and nourish your skin. Upcircle may be a little on the pricey side but it’s our top choice for an all-rounder facial sunscreen.
Affordability - Upcircle’s sunscreen is £4.58/10ml, making it one of our more expensive options. It also doesn’t fulfill multiple functions like some of our other options so can feel like a bigger investment. If you’ve got a little extra to spend on your face sunscreen, though, Upcircle does the job perfectly.
Sustainability - Upcircle’s products are vegan, completely cruelty free, and plastic negative. The sunscreen contains reef safe, naturally derived zinc oxide. Upcircle runs a refillable scheme (which includes their sunscreen!) by which you can return your empty packaging and get it refilled. And it’s 20% cheaper if you do so! The packaging is also our favourite type on this list. The sunscreen comes in a glass jar with an aluminium lid making it entirely reusable and recyclable.
Best Option for Sensitive Skin - Odylique Natural Sun Screen
Suffering with prickly heat or finding other options irritating? Give Odylique’s gentle sunscreen a try.
Effectiveness - Odylique’s sun screen is free from silicones and fragrances, contains karanja and zinc to boost the UV protection factor, and contains chamomile to calm and soothe the skin. However, their sunscreen is quite thick and can feel slightly greasy after application so if you have textural issues in regards to sunscreen, consider on of our other options.
Affordability - At £3/10ml of product, Odylique is a mid-range, quite affordable choice - and it’s suitable for face and body.
Sustainability - Odylique never uses synthetic chemicals that can irritate your skin and the planet, and all of their ingredients are certified to the Soil Association’s organic standards. They never test on animals, and adhere to all Fair Trade standards as well as using our favourite packaging approach, much like Upcircle.
Best SPF Lip-balm - Aesop SPF30 Protective Lip-Balm
The lips need some love too when it comes to sun care. We recommend Aesop’s lip balm.
Effectiveness - Aesop’s Lip-Balm is SPF 30 for a high level of sun protection, containing zinc oxide, vitamin E, and a range of botanical oils to hydrate and nourish the lips. With all natural, soothing ingredients and a very subtle herbal scent, the lip balm is great for sensitive or sun-exposed lips. It can leave a slight white-cast when layered and has a very slight grainy texture that isn’t for everyone, but it does wonders for protecting your lips in these harsh summer months.
Affordability - At £15.5/5.5g of product, Aesop’s lip balm can feel pretty pricey. It’s our most expensive product on the list per gram of product. Luckily, our lips are the smallest area of our skin! So whilst the lip balm might feel like a big investment, it’ll last you a while. Similar lip balms we looked at ranged from £8-£25 so, for product type, it’s quite a mid-range price.
Sustainability - All of Aesop’s products use responsibly sourced ingredients, are completely vegan and free of animal testing at every level of the supply chain. Almost all plastic they use is recycled PET (consisting of at least 97% recycled material) made up of household plastic waste. So whilst the lip balm packaging is single-use plastic, it has a lower carbon footprint than packaging made of virgin materials. We would love to see a refillable option, though.
Best After Sun - Aesop Petitgrain Reviving Body Gel
So - you didn’t heed our sunscreen guidance and you’ve gotten yourself a little burnt. Not to fear! We’ve got the perfect after-sun to sooth your sun-soaked skin.
Effectiveness - Aesop’s body gel is lightweight and extremely soothing when applied to the skin. It contains aloe vera which can soothe sensitive skin and witch hazel which contains anti-inflammatory tannins to help burns. The gel is fantastic at speeding up the healing process for sun-damaged skin and is especially cooling if stored in the fridge.
Affordability - At £2.06/10ml, Aesop’s Body Gel is very reasonably priced and, hopefully, you’ll be taking the steps to regularly protect your skin from the sun and won’t have to use this product that much!
Sustainability - All of Aesop’s products use responsibly sourced ingredients, are completely vegan and free of animal testing at every level of the supply chain. They’re a certified B Corp and PETA recognised. The body gel is still packaged in single-use plastic, but it does have a lower impact than alternatives made from virgin materials. However, we’d love to see Aesop’s refillable trial extended to multiple stores.
Best Option for Kids - SOS Serum Skincare SPF 50 Sun Cream
When it comes to the particular needs a child’s sun cream must fulfill, SOS is a good bet.
Effectiveness - This sun cream has a light-weight non-greasy feel for kid’s particular sensory needs and leaves the skin feeling hydrated and ready to take on the sun’s rays. It’s also a mineral-based sun cream with factor 50 protection which is so important to keep your little one’s skin safe. It has active plant stem cells to protect the skin as well as Vitamin E, an anti-oxidant and natural anti-inflammatory that will preemptively soothe your child’s skin to keep them feeling their best all summer.
Affordability - The largest size of SOS SPF 50 comes out to £1.75/10ml of product - easily the cheapest option we encountered. The sun cream is also suitable for face and body, making it the only one you’ll need to buy for your kids this summer.
Sustainability - SOS Serum Skincare focuses on using plant extracts, using no animal-derived ingredients and never testing their products on animals. However, as the brand hasn’t yet been analysed for the Green Salon directory, we don’t have a full picture of their commitment to sustainability. This particular product is also packaged in plastic and non-refillable.
If you think you’ve found a truly sustainable and affordable skincare option then email us at info@greensalon.co.uk or DM us on instagram @greensalonconsultancy to let us know!
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It is important to note that we are not a certification body, nor are we auditors, so, like consumers, we rely on companies to tell the truth about their sustainability policies, practices and goals in their publicly available claims.