The sunscreen produced and sold by Jessica Alba's The Honest Company is getting a bad rep among parents. The SPF 30 formula, made from mineral-based ingredients, is apparently not doing its job of protecting the skin, and there's a public outrage over it.
According to E! Online, moms have been airing their dissapointment about the sunscreen in the media after children using it have had their skin burned.
"She got really burned on her arms, shoulders, legs face, pretty much everywhere. I was angry," said Gretta Stabler, referring to her six-year-old daughter, Maggie, in a report from NBC Chicago. Stabler said she was drawn to the formula of The Honest Company's sunscreen because it was not "full of chemicals."
"I'm very diligent about using sunscreen on my kids," she told the news outlet. "I have a very strong family history of skin cancer." Due to the incident, the mother posted a warning on her Facebook account; soon after, negative reviews of the product were caught on by the media.
On Costco's website, where The Honest Company sunscreens are sold, the product received an overall rating of two and a half stars with polarizing reviews from 57 users so far. It's the same scenario in Amazon, where the product has only received two stars from 145 reviews. It also shows that at least 76 percent of the consumers were not happy with their purchase.
Alba co-founded The Honest Company, an eco-friendly store catering to babies and kids' grooming and personal care, soon after she had her baby. After five years in the business, the company is already a billion-dollar venture, according to Forbes.
However, it also has its share of critics apart from the disappointed sunscreen users. An article in the New York Post by Julie Gunlock recently accused the actress of lying about her products. "The 'Honest' Company thrives on alarmism, and a false promise of safer, healthier products at a high price," the writer alluded.
Meanwhile, The Honest Company issued a statement to address the controversy regarding the sunscreen via the E! Online report It partly read: "Our Sunscreen Lotion was tested, by an independent 3rd party, against the protocols prescribed by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) monograph for over-the-counter sunscreen products. The results showed that our product is effective and safe for use as an 80 minute water-resistant (FDA's highest rating), SPF 30 sunscreen lotion in accordance with FDA regulations when used as directed."
"We stand behind the safety and efficacy of this product."
