Honest Sunscreen products (Photo : Twitter)
The Honest Company, an all-natural product line owned by actress Jessica Alba, received viral online complaints on July 31, Friday that its sunscreen Sun Protection Factor (SPF) 30 was not effective. In addition to receiving many poor reviews on Amazon, several disgruntled customers posted photos on social networks such as Twitter, showing bad burns and white residue.
For example, one man uploaded images of his bald head with a major sunburn. His sun exposure had only been one hour.
Buzzfeed reported that the sunscreen did not just result in painful burns. It also created a "white residue," according to Mstars News.
The story started to make headline news when it was picked up by NBC Chicago. An Indiana mother had reported that she put the sunscreen on her daughter three times, but she was still burned.
The Honest Company issued an official statement related to the several complaints. It noted that its Sunscreen Lotion was tested by a third party against the United States Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) protocol for over-the-counter (OTC) sunscreens.
The testing results showed that the product is safe and effective. That is as a SPF 30 sunscreen lotion that is water-resistant for 80 minutes.
Alba's company also noted that the lotion must be applied as indicated on the packaging. That includes shaking it well before a liberal application; and reapplying it after 80 minutes of sweating or swimming, or right after towel drying.
Alba's billion-dollar empire is built on the promise of "safe" and "eco-friendly" household and baby products. The recent consumer backlash could be bad news for the company.
Honest sunscreen also got negative reviews elsewhere. Almost 60 percent of its Amazon reviews gave it a rock-bottom one star. Other unhappy customers expressed their outrage on Twitter.
However, the sunscreen manufacturer noted that customer complaints made on its website regarding its Sunscreen Lotion was quite low. It was less than one percent of all units sold at honest.com, according to People.
