Reef Relief is the world's first sunscreen designed to feed and nourish coral instead of bleaching and killing it. With this in mind, we had to get creative with our packaging and brand design choices to make our product stand out from the competition of a very crowded sunscreen market, while also making it instantly clear that this product doesn't just protect your skin but also coral.

We also created and designed a whole new sunscreen certification, not just SPF but RPF - Reef Protection Factor - a way to identify that your sunscreen truly cares about coral.

Reef Relief has been soft launched and is currently going through final skin patch testing and will then be available to a global market. We currently have a section of our website where people can sign up to show their interest and be notified first when Reef Relief is available for purchase, which will be soon.

Coral reefs are one of our most important ecosystems, supporting more than 25% of marine life and one billion people worldwide. Our reefs are estimated to have a total global value of £6 trillion per year, because of their provision of food and medicine, contribution to tourism and the coastal protection they provide.

We know that coral reefs are under serious threat from climate change and pollution. But another danger to coral is the sunscreen we wear. While it protects us, when it washes off us in the sea it can be lethal to coral. Over 80% of sunscreens contain chemicals known to bleach and kill coral reefs, such as Oxybenzone, Benzophenone-1, Benzophenone-8, OD-PABA, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, 3-Benzylidene camphor, nano-Titanium dioxide, nano-Zinc oxide, Octinoxate and Octocrylene.

While a few, non-mainstream sunscreens have removed harmful chemicals, calling themselves ‘reef-safe’, we saw an opportunity to do much more.

So we turned one of coral's biggest threats into its solution.

Reef Relief is the world’s first sunscreen that feeds and nourishes coral.

We approached Stream2Sea with our idea as they’re a world-leader in ‘reef-safe’ products. And working with leading marine scientists and cosmetic technicians, we formulated a unique and unprecedented product that removed all harmful chemicals, but also added a bespoke blend of nutrients that coral naturally feeds on.

Also, to address the issue of all other sunscreens that harm reefs, we created a whole new classification that hopefully one day all sunscreens will have to carry – RPF, or Reef Protection Factor.

We first focused on addressing the negative influences of the sunscreen industry, with so many brands mass-producing sunscreen with harmful chemicals and some brands falsely claiming to be reef-friendly. We discovered that very few brands could genuinely claim to be reef-safe. One of these brands was Stream2Sea who were already producing a high-quality sunscreen that didn’t cause damage to coral. We proposed to them that we could go much further and create something with the potential for real and lasting change.

In terms of regulation, we formulated Reef Relief to be ‘Haereticus Protect Land + Sea Certified’, and ensured that it was patch-tested by experts Bionok. We then went into 6 months of rigorous coral testing in association with the University of Derby, supervised by leading coral scientist and Marine Advisor to the United Nations, Professor Michael Sweet.

We currently have made and handed out over 300 bottles.

Every year millions of tourists flock to coral beaches during the holidays applying sunscreen to protect themselves from the sun. What the majority don't know is just how lethal that sunscreen is to the very coral they come to see, with some chemicals like Oxybenzone (found in over 80% of sunscreens) having an  EWG rating of 8 on their toxicity rating scale, meaning it is one of the most toxic ingredients found in cosmetic products, to both humans and coral.

We needed our tourist audience to look at our Reef Relief packaging with the RPF certification and instantly get that this is a product that does more than just protect our skin but protect our oceans as well. We did this through its vibrant coral and ocean colours and illustrative coral focused packaging design to maximise communication to our audience about how much we care for coral.

At the heart of all of our design elements were the curves and colours of the coral reefs, as we needed our product to show people instantly that we are a sunscreen brand that loves and cares about our oceans.

Our choice for using a natural texture to the background was inspired by the bottom of the ocean and the sand, while the colours were inspired by corals found in different parts of the planet, with vibrant and saturated hues representing the life of those beautiful organisms.

The BW Beto font choice was due to its curviness and natural aspect, which also reinforces our will to help the planet and the life underwater.

The illustrations served as the base for the packaging, which later inspired all the communication touchpoints, like social posts, out-of-home, and PR content, amongst others.

The tubes of our packaging are made from sustainable sugar cane resin.

Value for consumer/brand:

Reef Relief is the world’s first sunscreen that feeds coral instead of harming it.

RPF is the first coral-related certification marque for sunscreens - vital because the term ‘reef-safe’ is highly unregulated in the industry.

Product Impact:

University of Derby coral testing showed healthy growth by as high as 8% in some species.

In a 2-week soft launch:

583,671 Social interactions in first 48 hours

1.2 billion reach

711 publications worldwide.