It’s taken a truly remarkable product, one I’d never heard of to get me back snooping. And if it wasn’t for my cousin who lives in Santa Monica California I probably never would have come across the Coola Product range.

The coola story resonates with me. It began when Chris Birchby, COOLA’s founder, was living in Southern California and his parents were both diagnosed with melanoma. I can relate. My Dad who loved being outside was also diagnosed with melanoma. MY cousin who now lives in Southern California, joined us recently on a family holiday. Like the Coola founder she is totally inspired by the healthy California lifestyle around her, and we all want an effective, organic sunscreen that feels nice enough to use every day. When Chris Birchby couldn’t find what he was looking for, COOLA was born.

And what a product. I cannot tell you how amazing the Coola sunscreen is. First of all my cousin is mixed race, my aunt went to Barbados and never came home, so Fi’s skin is freckly like us but the colour of a sunkissed Latina or Brazilian. Us on the other hand are as pale and pasty as they come. Not red heads exactly but we have the same pink skin that burns easily and the milk bottle legs and mind the glare jokes so well worn and over done they produce a yawn rather than a giggle. With the melanoma fear hanging heavy we understand how important sun protection actually is.

Here’s why I am raving about this incredible product. The first reason is the easy of application. “Can you do my back” is no more. My husband who always kindly obliges has been absolved of all sunscreen application responsibility. The ingenious wide spray mechanism means you can do your own back. Yes. One squirt from the top, bam, upper back done, one spray from the bottom, up and under, lower back done. I could do my whole body, back of the legs and bum, completely covered with minimal rub in required. My cousin brought two 177ml containers with her and they lasted the whole 10 days for 5 of us and absolutely no burn or sting for anyone.

And I have the type of skin if exposed at all, any bit missed, shoulders, bum, under arms, tops of the feet, sides, bikini or bathing suit edges, any bit missed in the past you could be sure would be flame red raw, and yet nothing, a miracle.

My cousin whilst she doesn’t have the same skin type that’s susceptible to the burn she has another problem, skin that really dries out she struggles to keep moisturised so natural ingredients like Buriti Oil, Raspberry seed oil, and prickly pear extract are why it’s great for her darker skin type.

The scent, pina colada tropical, sweet and good enough to eat made us all smile. Everyone young and old was happy with the fruity cocktail scent.

The ethical credentials of the Coola brand make it all the more attractive for us. Farm to Face, Antioxidant Enriched, Cruelty Free, Gluten Free, Vegan, Hawaii Reef Compliant.

We had Broad spectrum SPF 30 but there are much higher options 50 and 70 in the range if you need more protection. The kids especially were in and out of the water. On the bottle it says you get 80 minutes of water resistant protection. I doused myself well twice a day and had no problems with any burn. The children, all teenagers now, I encouraged them to spray more frequently keeping topping up the good covering first thing especially the first three or four days. I had bought a can of solarcaine which I’d recommend to anyone for sunburn but we didn’t need it this trip thanks to Coola.

I loved the product so much, with San Diego origins I thought getting more would prove very difficult. The Coola website doesn’t ship outside the US. I immediately went in search online when we returned to the UK in preparation for our next planned trip and found Coola closer to home than I’d ever have imagined. It is distributed by facethefuture.co.uk

In Wakefield Yorkshire, right on my doorstep. IT was meant to be.

I absolutely love love love this product. There isn’t a sunscreen product I’ve ever used or experienced as effective, sustainable, and ingeniously easy to use as this one. Congratulations Coola. You’ve got me. Trying your lip balm products next. I’ve picked SPF 30 • Organic • Lip Balm, Skinny Dip. The Liplux® Tinted Lip Balm Mineral Sunscreen. I’ll keep you posted.