Face the Future cuts VAT on SPF products to "make daily suncare a habit"

Online beauty retailer Face the Future is on a mission to "revolutionise attitudes towards sun and skin safety" by cutting VAT on SPF products as part of a new campaign.

The 366 Days of SPF campaign has launched following a YouGov survey of over 2,000 participants, highlighting that the UK population is not adhering to SPF guidelines, thus putting their skin health at risk.

It found that beauty standards of seeking a tan currently outweigh attitudes of worrying about the possibility of skin cancer. In fact, the fear of getting sunburn is also greater than that of skin cancer for people in the UK.

Nearly a third (31%) of the population actively seeks a tan, over half of whom do so to look more attractive (53%) and confident (56%), despite the fact that 72% are concerned about the risks.

Meanwhile, almost half of the UK population say they do not follow medical advice on wearing SPF on a daily basis, with 55% only applying it when it is sunny outside and 40% only buying it when they go on holiday. Around one in seven people never apply SPF.

To address this, Face the Future has cut the VAT across its SPF offering until 31 May 2024. This covers a variety of brands, including Hello Sunday, La Roche-Posay, Heliocare and Ultrasun, amongst others.

Julia Barcoe-Thompson, Director and Co-owner of Face the Future, said: "We believe that everyone in the UK has the right to sun safety and skin health.

"At Face the Future, we have suncare products at all price points to ensure that we remain accessible to everyone. However, to further support consumers in their choices, as part of the 366 Days of SPF campaign, we will be cutting VAT on all SPF products.

"We hope that this additional 20% saving will encourage UK consumers to begin or continue their SPF journey."

The new campaign is backed by Amy Callaghan MP, whose VAT Burn campaign calls on the UK Government to remove VAT from suncream products that have a health benefit.

"I'm delighted to be partnering with Face the Future to support its 366 Days of SPF campaign. Too many people still don't protect their skin from the sun, as their research has found, putting them at risk of melanoma and other skin cancers," added Callaghan.

"It's high time the Government took note of these stats and enacted meaningful action to reduce deaths from melanoma and other skin cancers."