Cruelty-free (PETA-listed), largely vegan, organic-farm-to-face SPF
| Ingredient transparency | Full ingredient list read and categorised |
| Ownership | Coola is wholly owned by S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. SC Johnson bought a majority stake in Coola, LLC in late 2019, and founder Chris Birchby sold his remaining stake in 2024, giving SC Johnson full ownership. Coola was founded by Chris Birchby, who launched the sunscreen line in 2007. Coola remains actively trading and is sold through department stores, drugstores and Coola's own website. (Privately held) |
| Where made | No manufacturing site disclosure found; the brand is US based in California. |
| Price | Mid-range |
| Cruelty free | Yes |
| Vegan | Partial |
| Organic | Partial |
| Certifications | PETA Beauty Without Bunnies (cruelty free): genuine, listed under the name Coola Suncare. PETA's own company database confirms it as cruelty free, with neither ingredients nor finished products tested on animals.; Leaping Bunny (cruelty free): not held. Coola does not appear anywhere in Leaping Bunny's full published brand list, which was checked in its entirety.; Protect Land + Sea Certification (reef safety, Haereticus Environmental Laboratory): not held. Coola does not appear among the certified brands featured on the Haereticus Labs website. |
| Sold in mainland China | COOLA does not sell in physical retail stores in mainland China and is listed cruelty-free by PETA and Cruelty Free Kitty, though majority owner S.C. Johnson is not certified cruelty-free. |
| Palm oil | No public disclosure found. |
| Packaging | Recyclable |
| Good On You | No Good On You rating found. |
| EWG | Only two COOLA products carry EWG Skin Deep ratings and no EWG Verified certification was found. |
| External ratings | CFK cruelty-free; PETA |
| Lab tested | SPF tested to FDA standards |
| Clinical studies | Not published |
| Controversies | Cruelty-free status is complicated by S.C. Johnson taking majority control in 2019; COOLA was not among the brands named in Valisure's 2021 benzene in sunscreen petition. |
| Caveat | Still trading in 2026; majority owned by S.C. Johnson since October 2019, and almost all environmental claims are self declared with no report or certification behind them. |
Claims made for this brand that could not be confirmed in a certifier's own register. A brand website is a claim, not a source.
Coola's own support site still markets its sunscreens as reef friendly, stating only that the products exclude oxybenzone and octinoxate. This is the same reasoning that the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office found false and misleading when made by two direct competitors, Sun Bum and Supergoop, both of which were fined in 2025 and ordered to stop making reef friendly and reef safe claims because their formulas still contain other reef harming chemicals such as avobenzone, octocrylene or homosalate. Coola has not been named in that action, but reef friendly or reef safe claims are unregulated marketing terms and Coola holds no Protect Land + Sea certification to substantiate them; the claim should not be published as verified.
Blanket organic claims. Coola markets itself as an organic sunscreen brand and cites the California Organic Products Act standard of at least 70 percent certified organic content, but the active sunscreen filters themselves are regulated as over the counter drug ingredients under FDA rules and are not certified organic. A blanket 'certified organic' claim for the whole product should not be published without that caveat.
Coola PETA cruelty free listing (as Coola Suncare) https://crueltyfree.peta.org/company/coola-suncare/
Absence from Leaping Bunny's full brand list, checked via sitemap: and https://www.leapingbunny.org/sitemap.xml?page=2 https://www.leapingbunny.org/sitemap.xml?page=1
Absence from Protect Land + Sea certified brand list https://www.haereticus-lab.org/protect-land-sea-certification/
SC Johnson majority stake acquisition, 2019 https://cosmeticsbusiness.com/sun-care-brand-coola-sells-majority-stake-to-sc-johnson--159767
Chris Birchby sold remaining stake in 2024, full SC Johnson ownership https://sandiegomagazine.com/everything-sd/living-design/solana-beach-home-tour-coola-founder/
Coola's own reef friendly claim, unsubstantiated by any Protect Land + Sea certification https://support.coola.com/hc/en-us/articles/360059920214-Are-COOLA-products-reef-friendly
Sun Bum and Supergoop reef friendly false advertising settlements for context: and https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/da-obtains-second-reef-friendly-settlement-false-advertising-sunscreen https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/da-secures-first-ever-judgment-lawsuit-against-major-sunscreen-manufacturer-false-reef-friendly
Why there is no score: Partial read. This verdict is provisional. Only part of the catalogue could be read and the certifications listed have not been checked against the certifiers own registers, so the evidence does not yet support a settled verdict. No score is published. Ingredient lists were obtained for 41 products, but the brand's product listing did not respond when the total catalogue size was measured, so the share of the range covered is unknown. Without a denominator a percentage would be meaningless.
Last checked 22 July 2026.
Not yet independently verified. The certifications listed for this brand are as the brand states them. They have not yet been checked against the certifiers own registers, so they should be read as a claim rather than a confirmed fact.
We analysed 41 COOLA products, categorising every listed ingredient by function, origin (raw natural, naturally derived or synthetic) and safety concern. This is not the whole catalogue, so it is reported as a partial read. Percentages show the share of each formula that is natural or naturally derived.
Most common flags: Dimethicone, Fragrance* (Natural), Vanillin, Polysilicone-11, Fragrance (Natural), Fragrance, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Alcohol Denat, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Alcohol Denat. (ORGANIC), Benzyl Alcohol
Coverage: Ingredient lists were read for 41 products. The size of the full catalogue could not be established, so no average is shown.
Analyst note: Ingredient lists were read for 41 products. The brand's total catalogue size could not be measured, so the share of the catalogue covered here is not known.
| Product | Natural | Ingredients | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|
| SunBlur Primer | 72% | 25 | 6 |
| SunBlur Makeup Setting Mist | 86% | 29 | 4 |
| Anti-Aging Hand Cream | 93% | 27 | 1 |
| Clear Sunscreen Spray - California Summers | 83% | 12 | 1 |
| Firming Body Oil Mist | 90% | 21 | 1 |
| Firming Face Oil | 94% | 18 | 1 |
| Dew Good Illuminating Body Melt Lotion | 78% | 32 | 3 |
| Rosilliance® Tinted Moisturizer - Golden Hour | 92% | 37 | 2 |
| Rosilliance® Tinted Moisturizer - Fresh Rose | 92% | 39 | 2 |
| Clear Skin Oil-Free Moisturizer | 92% | 25 | 0 |
| Refreshing Water Plumping Gel Serum | 98% | 45 | 2 |
| Hydrating Sunscreen Lotion - Tropical Coconut | 89% | 37 | 3 |
| Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Stick - Fragrance Free | 83% | 18 | 2 |
| Refreshing Water Hydration Stick | 90% | 31 | 1 |
| Face Sunscreen Lotion - Cucumber | 90% | 42 | 4 |
| Clear Sunscreen Spray - Fragrance Free | 91% | 11 | 0 |
| Clear Sunscreen Spray - Tropical Coconut | 100% | 16 | 1 |
| Hydrating Sunscreen Lotion - Peach Blossom | 90% | 39 | 1 |
| Clear Sunscreen Spray - Piña Colada | 100% | 10 | 0 |
| Tinted Liplux® Lip Balm Sunscreen | 97% | 34 | 1 |
| Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Lotion - Fragrance Free | 83% | 30 | 0 |
| Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Lotion - Tropical Coconut | 98% | 42 | 1 |
| Hydrating Sunscreen Lotion - Piña Colada | 84% | 31 | 3 |
| Face Sunscreen Lotion - Fragrance Free | 84% | 32 | 2 |
| Face Sunscreen Lotion - White Tea | 82% | 34 | 7 |
| Refreshing Water Mist | 93% | 29 | 1 |
| Clear Sunscreen Stick - Tropical Coconut | 95% | 22 | 2 |
| Liplux® Hydrating Lip Oil | 85% | 13 | 0 |
| Day SPF 30 & Night Eye Cream | 80% | 41 | 3 |
| Refreshing Water Cream | 91% | 55 | 2 |
| Sunless Tan Anti-Aging Daily Face Moisturizer | 97% | 30 | 1 |
| Rewakening™ Rosewater Mist | 88% | 17 | 0 |
| Pacific Polish Gentle Sea Salt Facial Exfoliator | 94% | 33 | 1 |
| Zinc Oxide Sunscreen Spray - Fragrance Free | 97% | 31 | 0 |
| Clear Sunscreen Spray - Peach Blossom | 96% | 25 | 0 |
| Makeup Setting Spray | 85% | 20 | 2 |
| Scalp & Hair Sunscreen Mist | 97% | 35 | 6 |
| Sunless Tan Firming Lotion | 96% | 27 | 1 |
| Anti-Aging Sun Silk Drops | 82% | 28 | 1 |
| Radical Recovery® After-Sun Moisturizing Lotion | 100% | 25 | 1 |
| Sunless Tan Anti-Aging Face Serum | 96% | 28 | 3 |
Full ingredient breakdown
The full ingredient by ingredient breakdown of all 41 COOLA products (1176 ingredients, each categorised by function, origin and safety concern) is free with an account.
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