Sun Survival
CVS fine mist sunless tanning spray gives shoppers a healthy glow without the hazard of the sun.
As shopper’s become more knowledgeable about sun care, stores will need to stay on top of trends.
Skin cancer has become a hot topic in the media lately and while the word “cancer” might invoke fear in consumers there are many ways to stay safe in the sun. As reports on skin cancer spread through the public, many men and women are learning how important it is to properly protect oneself and exactly what level of protection they need to do so. Perhaps that’s why private label Suntan Lotion & Oil is up just over 21% to approximately $87 million with a 19% share, according to data from Supermarkets, Drugstores, and Mass Merchandise Outlets, excluding Wal-Mart, for the latest 52 weeks ending May 16, 2010, from SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm.
“One in five Americans are found to have skin cancer in their lifetime,” says healthy skin expert Celeste Hilling, founder of Skin Authority, a skin care lifestyle company. “While that number is epidemic, what is more epidemic is the fact that only one in five people wear sunscreen on a daily basis, even though 94 percent of them know that continued exposure to the sun can potentially cause cancer (source: Harris interactive).”
In the article Sun Care: HDPE Packaging Sizzles found on Beautypackaging.com, Dr. Benjamin Punchard, head of Global Packaging Research, Euromonitor International, writes: Sun care has provided the greatest packaging unit volume growth of any personal care category (albeit from a small base) as consumers learn that having tanned skin is not as healthy as it has previously appeared. Alongside the general growth in packaging units, we see a move to more premium pack types as consumers look to invest in their skins’ future even in times of economic slowdown. With application and re-application being important for efficacy, functional closures (spray and pumps), which provide convenient dosing and/or apply the product evenly, are performing well. It’s not just sun protection that is experiencing unit volume growth—self-tanning is also getting a boost from consumers who want the look without the burn.
In addition to consumers becoming more cautious of the sun, they may be reading reports that lotions themselves could be harmful. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), products with high SPF ratings sell a false sense of security because most people using them stay out in the sun longer, still get burned (which increases risk of skin cancer) and subject their skin to large amounts of UVA radiation, the type of sunlight that does not burn but is believed responsible for considerable skin damage and cancer. Additionally, the EWG has raised new concerns about a vitamin A compound called retinyl palmitate, found in 41 percent of sunscreens. This recently showed up in the press when New York Senator Chuck Schumer called upon the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate the data cited by the EWG linking vitamin A to skin tumors.
Safe Tanning
Self-tanners are a great way to get a healthy summer glow and still actually have healthy skin. CVS Pharmacy, Woonsocket, RI, sells store brand fine mist sunless tanning spray in Deep or Medium at $8.49 for a 5.3-oz bottle. The tanner was found in the store with the suntan lotions, not on other shelves next to the name brand tanners, although it does claim to compare to Neutrogena MicroMist Tanning Sunless Spray 2.
Walgreen Co., Deerfiled, IL, sells Studio 35 Beauty “Bare Legs…only better” in tan, medium or light glow next to Perfection by Sally Hansen. One reviewer on the website said of the product: “I have tried SO many self-tanners, but they’re all the same - they stink, they streak, and they wash off in water. This product, the airbrush, is the answer! I promise!” The reviewer goes on to say it works much better than the national brand.
Top Sunscreens
As recent proof to shoppers that store brand sunscreens are just as good, if not better than, national brands, according to the July 2010 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, sunscreen from Target, Minneapolis, MN, Up & Up Sport Continuous SPF 30, won top honors for being the “Best Buy” sunscreen from Consumer Reports. Walgreens Sport Continuous SPF 50 was also rated as one of the top four tested.
According to Consumer Reports, an outside lab assessed how well each product blocked UVA and UVB rays and how well their claimed sun-protection factor, or SPF—a measure of UVB sunburn protection—lasted on volunteers who soaked in water for 40 or 80 minutes (depending on the length of each product’s water-resistance claim). Trained sensory testers also evaluated how the products felt, smelled, and rubbed in or sprayed on.
The Up & Up Sport Sunscreen Continuous Spray SPF 30 comes in a “value twin pack” of 6-oz. spray bottles for just $9.94. One reviewer on Target.com said of the sunscreen: “I love this product. My household goes through so much sunscreen and the name brands are too expensive, especially the sprays. I actually find that the Up and Up sprays more evenly and gives better coverage than the Coppertone spray. It’s just as sweat proof and waterproof. I don’t have any problem with the smell.”
Walgreens Sport Continuous Spray Sunscreen SPF 50 offers broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection, is water and sweat resistant, and the spray allows for all-over even coverage. A 6-oz. bottle is $8.79.
To compare to Neutrogena Ultra Sheer products, Walgreens has its own Sheer products. Packaged in similar blue and white colors, Walgreens Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen has a trademarked Photostable Complex that claims to provide broad-spectrum UV sun protection– “so your skin is shielded from the damaging effects of both UVA and UVB rays.” The dry-touch formula is fast absorbing with a matte finish. Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, NY, also carries store brand Sheer sunscreens to comparing to the Neutrogena products in blue and white. Wegmans Sheer Oil Free Stick Sunscreen retails at $1.00 less than the national brand.
Shielding Children
“With this protection, I can rest assured, while my baby has fun in the sun,” reads a quote on the front label of a bottle of Mom to Mom Baby Sunscreen SPF 50 Lotion from Safeway, Pleasanton, CA. The new and improved Safeway brand of baby products includes a pink bottle of sunscreen that claims to be pediatrician-tested and made of a PABA-free formula. “With full-spectrum UVA/UVB protection and extreme water resistance, you’ll both have much more fun in the sun. And in the water,” reads Safeway’s website.
CVS has a seemingly endless supply of sun care products, but some notable versions are for children. Its Baby Stick Sunscreen SPF 60+ retails at $7.99 and is perfect for diaper bags and beach bags. Made with ingredients derived from minerals, CVS’s website says it shields babies skin from the damaging effects of both UVA and UVB rays.
Walgreens Kids SPF 55+ Sunscreen Roller appeals to kids in a frog shaped bottle and is good for their ears, noses and faces. Recently the store ran a buy-one-get-one 50% off promotion. The roll-on packaging is easy for kids to apply, but is also on shelves in adult brands as well.
With so many options for sunscreens shoppers should have no trouble protecting themselves from burning, but if they do there’s always 99% Pure Aloe Vera from Trader Joe’s, Monrovia, CA. The gel softens and soothes sunburned and chapped skin and is biodegradable and not tested on animals.
