Meet the makers: COOLA’s new organic skincare range is here!

We’ve been stocking the COOLA range of suncare and self-tanning products from day one here at MARGOT. We believe the brand is one of the best around when it comes to conscious products that really work, while being kind to planet Earth. So we couldn’t be more excited to be launching COOLA’s brand new range of organic skincare products, an innovative collection which supports the skin against our most common modern aggressors – blue light, pollution and ultraviolet rays. 

To get the low-down on these incredible new products and to share more about COOLA’s ethos, we talked with two key members of the brand’s California-based team, founder and chief creative officer Chris Birchby and vice president of innovation, Christina Peng. After working as the CEO and dabbling in everything from accounting, shipping, innovation, marketing and customer service since founding the company in 2004, Chris now concentrates on leading the team’s creative and culture, while Christina heads up brand strategy, innovation and product development across the COOLA portfolio of brands. 

COOLA is a brand known for its incredible suncare innovations, especially with regards to reef safety and the use of organic ingredients. What are some of the other non-negotiables for COOLA when it comes to the suncare range and formulating new products? 

We hold ourselves to incredibly high ingredient and sustainability standards. 70% or more of every product is comprised of certified organic ingredients and meets the strict standards of our “no list,” which goes beyond industry standards.

We also pride ourselves on our Farm-to-Face® philosophy, ensuring that our ingredients are sourced sustainably and support the local communities they come from. All our formulas are antioxidant enriched, and feature Plant Protection®, which is what we refer to as plant-derived ingredients that contain naturally effective skin benefits. 

Additionally, we are committed to the environment, using glass whenever possible and limiting our use of plastic only to when absolutely necessary and ensuring it is 100% recyclable.

Can you talk about some of the exciting sustainability and environmental initiatives at COOLA? 

Sustainability has always been core to who we are since the company began. COOLA was created with a desire to protect our environment and celebrate its wonders with our friends and family.

A key reason we use organic ingredients is to reduce the usage of pesticides that contaminate our waterways and habitats. We’ve always used glass wherever possible, and in recent years, we’ve transitioned away from virgin plastic to tubes made of sustainably sourced sugar cane resin. We’ve also made active efforts to reduce our carbon footprint through changes like shifting to flat-packed boxes and using PEFC certified paper in all of our packaging. 

COOLA’s new skincare range has just launched on our site. What was the catalyst for creating this line? 

As a protection brand, we are always looking for ways we can help our consumers protect their skin better. With the rise of more environmental stressors, we recognised that one critical aspect of skin protection was the health of the skin’s natural defense system: the skin barrier, which is the outermost layer of your skin that’s responsible for keeping nutrients and hydration in, and skin aggressors such as pollution, toxins, and allergens out. That led to the realisation that ultimately your protection is only as good as the health of your skin barrier. We recognised that SPF ultimately was only one step in the routine, and every step in the skincare routine played an important role and could be working a lot harder to support the health of the barrier. 

To truly serve our consumers in our mission to protect the skin, we felt it was not only a natural step but a critical step to expand into skincare and develop a line of healthy, organic products designed to preserve and support the health of the barrier.

The range covers everything you need for a full skincare regimen and particularly targets environmental aggressors. What type of lifestyle are the products best suited for? 

It’s really the modern-day lifestyle. Even prior to COVID, people were spending hours on their phones or were on the go. Screen time has only increased with the pandemic, and we now know that blue light penetrates deeper into the skin than UVA rays. Additionally, there is so much in the air around us that can cause stress to the skin, like pollution, toxins, or even our own stress levels and fatigue. We’ve designed our skincare line to focus on these modern-day aggressors and ensure the barrier is healthy enough to defend against them.

Are there any key ingredients in the range that you’re particularly excited about and what are their skin-loving benefits? 

Every product in the range features specially selected plant-derived actives that naturally deliver each product’s unique skincare benefits. The moisture products in the range also all feature our Full Spectrum 360 technology, which is our proprietary complex that helps mitigate the effects of blue light, pollution, and other skin stressors.

Our hero product, The Great Barrier Cream Fortifying Moisturizer, features a natural sea kelp active sustainably harvested off the coast of California. It is known for its resilience and has been clinically proven to improve the thickness of the skin barrier as well as skin elasticity. We combined this with antioxidant-rich blue algae extract and our blue light active, to create a beautifully lightweight, organic cream that has been clinically shown to fortify skin’s natural barrier. 

Another key ingredient would be the camu camu extract used in our Vital Rush Skin Renewal Serum. It’s an amazing ingredient that is the richest naturally occurring source of vitamin C, with 30 to 60 times that of an orange.

If you had to pick one product from the skincare range that you couldn’t live with now, what would it be and why? 

Christina: That’s a tough one! For a while it was the Great Barrier Cream, but recently it’s been our Vital Rush Skin Renewal Serum! It’s so lightweight and fresh, and I feel the difference on my skin every time I apply it.

Chris: It really depends on what day of the week it is. During the week, I’ve found myself relying on our new Rewakening Rosewater Mist to help keep my skin refreshed and hydrated. When I start getting in a funk from sitting in front of the computer too long, I’ll stand up, stretch and mist my face. It’s a great reset, but also helps mitigate the effects of blue light from the computers I’m in front of all day. Double duty!