COOLA Suncare: Organic Luxury Products Now At ULTA Beauty

COOLA Suncare founder Chris Birchby visited ULTA Beauty in Chicago last week. Chris is from sunny San Diego and grew up spending a lot of time at the beach with his family. He taught surfing and windsurfing lessons and in 2002, when both of Chris’ parents had melanoma scares, Chris started investigating proper sun protection and was inspired to create COOLA. With an elite team of industry professionals assembled, including FDA experts on sun protection, they created a collection of natural sunscreens for every skin type and activity level. COOLA incorporates farm to face™ which describes their sourcing policy for local ingredients and vendors. In 2012 they introduced plant protection™ after revolutionizing the use of plant stem cells and plant phyto-protectors to boost sun protection naturally. I had the opportunity to meet Chris and test some of his certified organic suncare products which are also manufactured using solar power. The products are luxurious and the (all natural) fragrances are honestly amazing. He said was able to start this company because of his success as an online poker player! I had to ask him about the name. Bella Coola is the name of a Native American Indian sun god and yes, they could not stop the COOLA puns so now they just go with them! I think that’s so COOLA!

COOLA ER+ Radical Recovery After Sun Lotion, $32

COOLA offers three distinct lines of certified organic sun protection, including a new Plant UV line and recently reformulated Mineral and Classic collections. Each line is formulated with different active ingredients and offers unique products and the best selling Classic Face Cucumber. Chris recently launched COOLA Environmental Repair Plus line (ER+) for pre+post sun skincare.

I could not resist the COOLA Continuous Sport Spray SPF 30 in Pina Colada, $32 I keep raving about the natural fragrances but there are many unscented COOLA products, too.

COOLA Mineral Face SPF 20 Rose Essence, $36

COOLA Products combine beautifully with ULTA Beauty Products. An ULTA Beauty artist showed me how to mix the Mineral Face Lotion with ULTA bronzer to create a shimmering nude look – for your lips and allover your face! Or use COOLA Lip LUX with a bright lip color and it really lasts. I’ve been wearing this combo and it works. Lip Lux has a great texture that is moist but not too waxy so your lipcolor stays put.  

 COOLA Liplux SPF 30 Original, $12

COOLA Classic Face SPF 30 Cucumber, $32.00

COOLA is available at the finest resorts and spas and at ULTA Beauty! COOLA donates a portion of profits to The American Cancer Society and SaveOurSeas.org – Carol Calacci Products received for review but the opinions expressed are my own.