Ethically Kate's favourite sustainable sunscreen brands

by Natalie Jones August 23, 2022

woman wearing hat holding man wearing hat around the waist on a rocky beach

Seasick is named one of Ethically Kate's favourite sustainable sunscreen brands

Ethically Kate is a bit of a superstar in the sustainability world...so when we heard she had listed our very own sunscreen as one of her "favourite sustainable sunscreen brands" in her recent blog, we did a little happy dance before shouting from the rooftops "WE'VE MADE IT BIG TIME!"

Her blog discusses the new sunscreen regulations coming into effect later this year. We've summarised some of Kate's key points from the blog and included our point of view on the new regulations below.

"Personally, I’ve been burnt (physically and emotionally) by ‘eco’ sunscreen trials, and I don’t wish that pain on anyone else." - Kate Hall, Ethically Kate, Sustainability Inspirer

New Regulations for Sunscreen in New Zealand

In September 2022, a new law under the Fair Trading Act will make it mandatory for products to meet the Australian and New Zealand sunscreen standard. Consumer NZ CE rightly states that “until now the sunscreen standard has only been voluntary in New Zealand and it was possible to sell a sunscreen that hadn’t undergone any efficacy testing.”

Check your sunscreen is SPF certified

Seasick Sunscreen certified to New Zealand Sunscreen standard

Key tip: look for 'AS/NZ 2604:2021' on the sunscreen label.

One of Kate's key messages from the blog was to check if your sunscreen is SPF certified and if so, by who.

All of our sunscreen products are tested by Dermatest Labs in Australia. This is the same lab that does the independent testing for Consumer Magazine each summer. We could probably get our SPF testing done for a fraction of the price in Asia or USA but we trust that Dermatest has an excellent record and meets Australia's high standards for SPF testing and sunscreen regulations (which are currently much stricter than here in Aotearoa NZ).

What do the new regulations mean for Seasick Sunscreen?

Well nothing really...because we are already certified to the New Zealand Sunscreen standard! We agree that this new regulation is a step in the right direction as Aotearoa NZ has the highest death rate from melanoma in the world so we need sunscreens to be better regulated.

Check out our certified sunscreen range in our online store.

Who is Ethically Kate?

Kate is a talented educator, activist, and blogger who advocates for living and decision making that respects and protects people and the planet. She constantly inspires me and reminds me that sustainability can be fun, silly and it's okay not to be perfect! You can read the full blog and learn loads of other interesting things on her website https://ethicallykate.com