In any skin care or personal care brand, there are many products that are easy to formulate palm oil free, but sunscreen has always been a difficult one. The team at Sunbutter have now achieved 2 firsts in the natural sunscreen category in Australia.

The first was back when they launched by having the first mineral sunscreen in Australia registered with the TGA and not in a plastic tube. The product did go through one packaging and formulation tweak to make the thread on the tin deeper and the consistency a little thicker to prevent it from being too runny when it was hot at the beach. If you only ever bought this sunscreen once when it launched and had issues, it's well worth trying again.

The second 'first' is Sunbutter is the first sunscreen company in the world to be certified palm oil free, certified with POFCAP. They use a combination of coconut & castor oil in a water free 'non-aqueous' formula which also means it lasts longer and helps to moisturise your skin.

They originally gained certification in 2019 with the Orangutan Alliance and one unavoidable supplier change and there's no way to guarantee that the one ingredient isn't potentially compromised somewhere along the supply chain. The palm oil industry still has an incredibly long way to go to clean up its act.

Sunbutter then started working with the Orangutan Alliance and POFCAP (Palm Oil Free Certification Trademark) who use the fees that brands pay them for accreditation to research the origins of all the ingredients.

It's not only the sunscreen, but every product in their range that's certified palm oil free. It is not a cheap exercise which is why in our store we mark our palm oil free status as 'Supplier Verified' and 'Industry Verified' so you understand what level of research has been done. We know there are brands that have spoken to all their suppliers who have told them their ingredients are palm oil free, and somewhere down the chain, something slips in that no-one is aware of. Still, there are very few brands that can afford the certification, the research and reformulation needed to completely get it out of their supply chain.

It is still our wish at Shop Naturally that the industry self regulates and cleans itself up as the alternatives to palm oil, while protecting the orangutan, can have their own issues that need to be addressed.

Shop the Sunbutter Sunscreen range online with us.