Many of you request a Day Cream with SPF from Willowberry and as you will know, we have been exploring the possibility of developing this and have done customer research with you as part of this process.
So I wanted to give you an update on where we currently are with this. In short, it is not a simple product to develop! Here are the challenges we have come up against so far:
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I am struggling to find a manufacturer that can make this for us. SPF is a specialist product, and as such needs a specialist manufacturer that is expert in this. I am struggling to find a suitable manufacturer that works with small businesses like ours (most require product orders in tens of thousands, which is too big for us).
What's more, they need to be able to produce a natural SPF formula for us, and most SPF manufacturers produce chemical SPF formulas. From the small number of potential manufacturers that I have found so far, their product samples haven't been suitable for Willowberry (see the next point below). In short, I haven’t yet found someone who can produce it for us! (If anyone can help us with this, please do get in touch with us at info@willowberry.co.uk)
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An SPF moisturiser needs to be in line with Willowberry's quality standards. Not only do we have the challenge of finding an SPF skincare manufacturer, they also need to be able to produce us a product that is as natural as possible with superior skin results, in line with the rest of our Willowberry skincare.
To produce a natural SPF presents its own challenges, as the formula needs to use mineral SPF (instead of chemical SPF) and mineral SPF presents its own challenges, in that it can be chalky, produce a white cast on skin and be difficult to absorb. While I want to produce an SPF moisturiser for Willowberry, I am not prepared to offer an inferior product within our range and so we need to ensure the formula is right.
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It turns out SPF is a very expensive product to develop. As well as all the usual skincare product development fees, there are additional costs for SPF legal testing, which costs many thousands of pounds. If a product fails the first round of testing (which can easily happen), you have to repay the entire SPF testing fee again, for every round of testing until it passes. This could amount to a huge cost for our business, so this comes back to ensuring we work with an expert in this field (particularly with a natural SPF), to ensure as smooth a testing process as possible.
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There has been a lot of controversy around SPF products in the beauty industry recently. A number of SPF brands were recently exposed as not having anywhere near the sun protection factor stated on-pack (some SPF50 brands were actually found to have as little as SPF4), largely due to the independent testing labs that passed their products.
While this issue has originated from Australian brands, the SPF testing labs that these brands use also do testing for UK brands, so there are potential global repercussions while further investigations take place. When it comes to SPF, I feel a deep responsibility to ensure we are adequately protecting your skin, so I need to feel 100% confident in the product we produce and I will follow this news story as it progresses.
So, we continue to look into producing a Willowberry SPF moisturiser, but it is not a short process and won’t be available anytime soon. While I want to offer a Willowberry SPF moisturiser because so many of you ask for it, I need to ensure it is a high quality, natural product that you enjoy using on your skin and provides you with proper sun protection.
In the meantime, expert SPF advice remains that you should wear a separate SPF sunscreen to your moisturiser, for proper sun protection. So enjoy the beautiful skin benefits that come from our award-winning Willowberry Nutrient Boost Day Cream, and pair it with your favourite SPF sunscreen in your routine, for the best skincare paired with proper SPF protection.
Willowberry is nutritious natural skincare for grown-ups, for your best skin.
A favourite with top make-up artists, Willowberry's luxurious award-winning products protect skin’s natural barrier function, to nourish and revive grown-up skin without telling women to be 'anti-ageing'.
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