Coola sunscreen spray SPF30, pina colada, 177ml
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Hailing from California, a state that gets on average 3,055 hours of sunshine a year, you’d expect a brand founded there to know a thing or two about suncare. Coola has given itself the strapline "healthy sunscreen people like to wear", and it’s not wrong.
It’s got plenty of benefits, but my favourite is that it’s not greasy, gloopy or horribly thick. I can use it wherever I may be, whether that’s on the beach or out for a walk, and I don’t need to wash my hands afterwards.
I also love that you can use it at any angle. Gone are the days of having to rely on someone to do your hard-to-reach areas. And it’s a continuous spray, so you’re not constantly having to press down a pump. Genius. The formula is a clear mist that sprays evenly onto the skin, can be easily rubbed in, and is quickly absorbed too, so you’re not waiting for ages for it to dry, as it needs to be applied 15 to 20 minutes before going out in the sun.
Coola categorises it as a “classic” suncream – the brand’s term for what we’d usually call a chemical sunscreen – which is designed to absorb harmful UV rays, so your skin doesn’t. This one is SPF30, but the brand does do 50 and even 70SPF. When it comes to UVA protection, the brand confirms it meets the 1/3 UVA/UVB EU standard. The standard’s logo is not currently printed on the packaging, but Coola is looking to change this.
Read more: 10 best sunscreens for your face – non-greasy SPFs for daily protection
Next up on the tick list are the ingredients. First of all, they’re vegan and the sunscreen has a 70 per cent organic formulation. It is also reef-safe, as it does not include oxybenzone and octinoxate. These may all sound like buzzwords, but they’re important. Some chemicals in non-reef safe suncreams can lead to coral bleaching and harm marine life too, which is so damaging that in 2018 Hawaii became the first country to ban these types of products.
Aside from what’s inside, the outside also counts too. This can is aluminium, which is practically infinitely recyclable, but make sure you know if your local council picks it up, or you may need to take it to the recycling centre. Coola says more than 75 per cent of its containers are fully recyclable and plans to extend this to 100 per cent by 2023.
Lastly, Coola doesn’t drip off my skin when the temperature rises. There’s little worse than it beading and just running off your body, leaving you without protection. Sure, I’m not working up a real sweat beyond walking, so I couldn’t say how it fares if you’re working outside, but it’s quickly absorbed into my skin, as opposed to sitting on top like thicker formulas do.
All of this does come with a higher price tag, at about £25 a bottle. But what price can I put on my skin?
I even want to use this product. Thank goodness for my skin that sunscreen has moved onwards and upwards thanks to brands like this. Hopefully, it will save my skin from ever being scorched again. It’s an absolute holiday essential (whenever they can happen again), and for now, it’s even an everyday sunscreen while out and about.
The verdict: Coola sunscreen spray SPF30For any product, its ultimate goal is to make the consumer want to use it – and of course for it to work. Both are accomplished here. Sunscreen is a product lots of people don’t like using but is absolutely essential, so to make it widely appeal is no small feat.
For me, the fact you don’t need to wash your hands after using this Coola sunscreen is the best thing about it, shortly followed by being able to spray it from any direction. Along with its vegan and reef-safe credentials, it’s an impressive product that I will continue to buy again and again, to help me live happily in the sun’s rays.