SPF Is For Everyone: Why We’re Expanding Our Shade Range
We love mineral sunscreen.
It was one of the first products we developed while creating the LASPA Naturals brand, and we believe that everyone should have access to it. Throughout our journey in the natural skincare industry, we’ve discovered the unfortunate truth that not everyone has options when it comes to mineral SPF.
Before we jump into our shade expansion and our reasons behind it, let’s look at the benefits of mineral sunscreen and why accessibility is important for everyone.
The Benefits of Mineral SPF Protection
We’ve talked about ingredients to avoid when shopping for sunscreens, but there are a number of other reasons why you might want to make the switch from chemical to mineral SPF products. In addition to the gentle, skin-friendly, natural ingredients in our formulas, our mineral sunscreens also:
- Shield the sun’s rays and heat away from your skin
- Provide full broad-spectrum protection against UVA/UVB rays
- Feature calming and soothing ingredients and are less likely to irritate sensitive skin
- Are safe for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Protect skin immediately after application
For a full list of mineral SPF benefits, see our detailed blog post here.
The Sunscreen Gap In Today’s Market
It’s no secret that there has been some work to do in the world of sunscreen inclusivity, especially mineral SPF. While looking in our Canadian community, we weren’t able to find many solution-based options for people of colour.
Mineral sunscreens typically feature the active ingredients zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, or a combination of the two to create a physical barrier or “block” from the sun. These two active ingredients are effective at providing sun protection. However, they often leave a white cast on the skin.
Although some mineral sunscreen companies offer a “tint” in their products to counteract the white cast of their active ingredients, the variety of tints available are not deep enough for many members of the BIPOC community to use. We found this lack of inclusivity to be unacceptable and in early 2020, we began work to create a solutions-based tinted mineral SPF for the BIPOC in our community.
Our Shade Expansion
As a Canadian company, we took note of the sunscreen gap and wanted to create options that would work for a variety of skin tones. It is important to us that we develop a product that BIPOC in our community find suitable and effective, rather than a product that is performative. This meant that we spent several months developing and testing to ensure that these new shades are performance-driven. Throughout this development process, we gathered feedback from our BIPOC community and made appropriate changes along the way.
We’re now proud to offer two new shades of our SPF 20 Fluid Matte Foundation: Rich Brown and Dark Umber. Rich brown is a warm, medium-deep shade and dark umber is a neutral deep brown shade. Due to the sheer tint coverage of this formula, these colours will be suitable for a number of skin tones.
Healthy Skin For All
These new shade formulas contain the same healthy, moisturizing ingredients as our existing SPF 20 Fluid Matte Foundation shades. Ingredients like nourishing shea butter, soothing abyssinian oil, and protective zinc oxide. We use only naturally-sourced, certified organic ingredients because we believe in results without compromise.
We want to thank you – our community – for your continued support and honesty through our growth into new shades and products. It is because of your feedback that we are able to create formulas that don’t just fit everyone, but perform for everyone.