New Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30 and More!

You may have noticed the new look on the Vivant website. That’s just the beginning of some exciting developments we’ve been working on. From new packaging to new products, we’ve been busy bees, and we’re super excited to share it all with you.

First on the list, our brand new Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30. Here, Vivant Director Susan Fulton and Vivant Lead Chemist Vanessa Campos discuss the development process, all the must-know deets, plus a few surprises you can expect from your favorite dermatological line in the next few months.

Susan: Our labs are in Miami and the ocean is our backyard, so when we set out to develop a new sunscreen, making it reef-safe and environmentally-friendly was a top priority.

Knowing that many sunscreens contain ingredients that are hormone disruptors and can cross into mothers’ milk, we wanted our sunscreen to be pregnancy-safe as well.

Vanessa: To achieve these goals, we’re using only physical barriers in our Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30. This eliminates the chemicals that have been shown to be harmful to the environment and the human endocrine system. Additionally, these physical barriers aren’t absorbed, but rather sit on top of the skin to reflect and disperse UV rays.

Susan: We started developing our new mineral sunscreen when, about two years ago?

Vanessa: More.

Susan: How long does it take to develop a product? It’s not as easy as it looks. You can’t just go and whip it up.

Vanessa: Especially in the Vivant line because we have to follow Dr. Fulton’s footsteps and his requirements. I would say it took us some time because of wanting it to be non-comedogenic, first and foremost.

Susan: Why are so many mineral sunscreens comedogenic?

Vanessa: The minerals used in physical sunscreens—titanium dioxide or zinc oxide—can be very drying because of their high pH levels. A lot of them are loaded up with oils to balance the drying effects, and that leads to comedogenicity.

Susan: Can you explain the significance of pH for those who don’t know?

Vanessa: The pH of your skin is about 5.4. Anything that deviates from that can either make you feel drier or irritated. It was really important to me to come up with something that matches your skin as closely as possible without adding pore-clogging oils.

Susan: And without the problem of ghosting.

Vanessa: Exactly. The majority of strictly mineral sunscreens are running at a pH of about 7.5. Plus, the minerals are physical barriers that will protect you from the sun, but they are like chalk or talc. So not only are they drying, but they leave a white residue, that’s difficult to disperse and blend into darker skin tones.

It took a lot of time and effort to work these issues out. I’m really proud of the fact that this formula is non-drying, non-greasy, non-comedogenic, and non-ghosting, but still matting, which I love.

Susan: We were ready to go with the sunscreen before summer, but the packaging has been an issue. Even though we manufacture our own products, getting the packaging completed and American-sourced during Covid-19 slowed things down.

Vanessa: We’ve overcome roadblock after roadblock, and it’s been such a labor of love. Anything that we do now in the lab, we’re always following Dr. Fulton’s footsteps, keeping to his wishes and, in terms of the backbone of the line, staying true to his vision. Meeting all our goals on this sunscreen has been amazing. I’m really excited tor people to try it and let us know what they think.

What else is happening at Vivant?

Susan: When I joined the company, we were still using a lot of packaging that was non-recyclable. That quickly got drawn to my attention, and we started making everything that we use in packaging recyclable. And then we started looking at what else we could address and change in our product line.

We have new packaging coming out that’s streamlined, beautiful, and incorporates a visual code that makes it easy to understand where it fits into your regimen. We’ll also be introducing a new and improved Marine Skin Nourishment Cream very soon.

Vanessa: I came to Vivant way back in 2010, and I was all about the sensory in formulations. Dr. Fulton quickly put me in my place in terms of who we are and what we stand for. But through the years of developing and working on his formulations, it was great to be able to put a little bit of that sensorial goodness and freshness, which I think you’ll see in the new Marine, into Dr. Fulton’s formulations. It’s very true to him. Very true to the line. Very true to our mantra of high percent, good quality raw materials, but just a little tweak here and there that I think everyone will enjoy.

Susan: Yes, it feels very nourishing and luxurious for being a non-comedogenic product.

Vanessa: What about the huge surprise? Should we say it?

Susan: We’re removing a lot of the colors and all of the parabens.

Vanessa: Big excitement! We’re answering a lot of customer wants. Even though I’m a big science freak, and I do stand behind parabens in low percentages, we’re listening to you, and we’re giving you what you’ve asked for. Stay tuned for paraben-free and color-free by the end of the year.

Susan: Plus, a few more new product surprises that are still top secret.

Vanessa: I can’t wait!